After graduating from Sciences Po Paris in 1989, Manuel Catteau was appointed Head of Sales and Acquisitions for AB Groupe and held the position for 3 years. He then moved to Prague and created a TV drama distribution company, as the audiovisual rights market was flourishing in Eastern Europe.
He came back to France and founded ZED, which he is still managing. Independent producer, distributor and publisher for television and digital content, ZED is one of the main French exporters of documentaries in the world.
Manuel Catteau produced renowned history documentaries, amongst which David Korn-Brzoza’s film, Hitler Youth (2×52’ & 90’) which made it to the Top 5 of National Geographic (US) best ratings in 2018. Hitler’s Teen Killers (52’) by Julien Johan encountered as well a large audience success during its broadcast on France Télévisions. He also produced The Korean War (2×52’) by John Maggio, and more recently Hitler’s Desert War (52’) by Yvan Demeulandre, co-produced with Marion Claus.
Meanwhile, he devoted to the production of animal documentaries. The Frozen Kingdom of the Snow Leopard (52’ in 4K) a CCTV9 and France Télévisions copro, directed by Frédéric Larrey was a major success, winning the “Award of Excellence” at the Nature Without Borders Film Festival and the “Best Big Cat Film” award at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival. In 2020, he also coproduced the series Genius Sea Hunters (4×52’ in 4K) by John Jackson and Jérôme Julienne. The following year, he achieved the production of Kalahari, Land of Secret Alliances (2×50’ & 50’ in 4K) by Pierre Stine, which broke audience records in prime time on France 2, and won the “Gold Trophy” at the Deauville Green Awards Festival.
In 2023, Manuel Catteau has worked on several promising projects. He notably co-
produced with Floran Sax and Patrick Morris the series Wild Empire (3×52’ in 4K) with CMG for ARTE & National Geographic. Simultaneously, he achieved the production of The Secret Forest of the Amur Tiger (52’ in 4K) in co-production with CMG and France Télévisions. And, alongside Gaëlle Guyader, produced the docudrama Vikings: The Lost Kingdom (52’ & 90’ in 4K) directed by Alexis de Favitski for France Télévisions and CuriosityStream notably.