Category Archives: Entertainment

Mobile games publisher Exient wants to be the go-to partner for IP owners

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The independent mobile games publisher, Exient is looking to position itself as the go-to mobile games partner for IP owners in the games and entertainment space.

Headed up by Dave Hawkins, the firm has success over the last 12 months with the self-published Lemmings Puzzle Adventure. It had previously built its business providing work-for-hire services on IP such as FIFA, Angry Birds, F1, and more.

Earlier this year, the company unveiled a new corporate brand identity, bringing its Sad Puppy and Donut labels under its new Exient Publishing banner. It is now expanding its headcount across offices in the UK and Malta to support the development and publishing of self-funded mobile games based on IP from the worlds of games, TV, and entertainment.

Exient already has several titles lined up for 2021.

Donut Publishing will remain as a legal entity in the UK in order to service existing titles, however all new titles will be published through Exient Publishing going forward. In addition to development roles, the company is focusing its recruitment on marketing, user acquisition and community management to support its publishing activities.

“The success we’ve experienced with Lemmings Puzzle Adventure has given us the confidence to double down on our publishing activity, so bringing everything under a single Exient Publishing brand was the next logical step in our evolution,” said Exient COO Nusrat Shah.

“We have a pipeline of self-funded projects for 2021 based on really exciting IPs and we’re keen to work with IP holders and brands interested in taking their properties to mobile platforms.”

PlayMonster taps Wind Sun Sky to develop animated Snap Ships series

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The global toy company PlayMonster has teamed up with the award-winning entertainment company, Wind Sun Sky to develop a new animated series based on the firm’s recently launched Snap Ships brand. The series will be developed for streaming on YouTube.

Season one of the series, Snap Ships: Dawn of Battle will take viewers to a future world that is under constant attack from a brutal alien threat, and where the fate of humanity rests with the heroes of the Snap Ships fleet, called The Forge.

The series will aim to expand the appeal of the newly launched Snap Ships toy line, bringing its Build to Battle action play to life with animation, battle scenes, and development of the characters and story line. Essentially, the pilots and villains of Snap Ships have faces, personalities and back stories that will thrill fans as they watch it all unfold onscreen.

The animated series marks PlayMonster’s first venture into franchise-driven content production. Wind Sun Sky, however, boasts vast experience in the business of evolving IP in such a way.

“We were excited about the Snap Ships brand when it was a building system with a few items and some big ideas. Now, after working with Wind Sun Sky and seeing those ideas come to life and grow into thrilling content and story, we’re more excited than we ever have been about a new product line,” said Scott Flynn, VP sales and marketing of PlayMonster.

“Wind Sun Sky is a valuable partner with impressive abilities, and who is easy and fun to work with—it’s a big win for PlayMonster.”

Wind Sun Sky’s creative work on comics, interactive gaming, online programming, and film and TV such as The Walking Dead, Camp Bonkers, Super Dinosaurs, My Singing Monsters and Summoners War is what impressed PlayMonster and led them to reach out and inquire about a potential partnership.

Catherine Winder, CEO and executive producer of Wind Sun Sky, said: “We knew right away that we wanted to be a part of Snap Ships because of its all-around potential. We’re excited to partner with PlayMonster, one of the fastest growing toy companies in the industry, to bring the Snap Ships story to life through multi-platform storytelling.”

Snap Ships invites kids to build, battle and display an exciting array of cool spacecrafts, merging two of the biggest play patterns for boys – action-play and construction.

For more information about Snap Ships, visit www.snapships.com.

The Powerpuff Girls to return as young adults in live-action reboot series from Cartoon Network

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Cartoon Network is working on a live-action reboot series of its hit animated property The Powerpuff Girls that will feature the heroic trio as a group of twenty-somethings looking back no their time as superheroes.

First reported by Deadline, the series has tapped Juno writer Diablo Cody and Arrowverse boss Greg Berlanti to executive produce. The adaptation will feature Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup as disillusioned young adults who resent havng lost their childhood to crime fighting.

As a troupe of kindergarten-aged superheroes, the Powerpuff Girls – who were accidentally created in a laboratory – have spent their lives defending Townsville from evil threats, including Mojo Jojo, a super intelligent chimpanzee.

Created by Craig McCracken, the show originally aired on Cartoon Network from 1998 to 2005, while also getting a movie in 2002. The series was rebooted in 2016 and ran new episodes up until 2019. It has become a pop cultural phenomenon over the course of its history.

The Powerpuff Girls rebooted series will air on The CW.

Banijay appoints new chief commercial officer to oversee its major licensing push

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Banijay has appointed a new chief commercial officer in the form of Owain Walbyoff to be based in the firm’s London unit in a newly devised role that will span licensing, merchandising, gaming, gambling, and music. Walbyoff will take up the position as of September 1st this year.

Walbyoff has spent almost 20 years working across sales and management in the licensing, media and technology space. In his most recent role in the technology industry, he oversaw licensing, R&D partnerships, and marketing activity, working with brands like LVMH, and Formula 1. 

In 2018, Walbyoff provided consultancy to ITV, helping with strategy and business development across its gaming, gambling, and app portfolio. He also worked with the licensing team on its vast IP offering. Prior to this, he was managing director for Endemol Shine Group’s global licensing business. There he took care of sales and operations for gaming, gambling, licensing and merchandising across its 20-country-strong footprint. 

Reporting to Banijay’s COO, Peter Langenberg, Walbyoff will now devise and execute the group’s overarching licensing strategy and will manage all teams across merchandising, brand licensing, gaming and gambling, and music.

Peter Langenberg said: “Owain has an incredibly strong track-record in the commercial space. With a CV spanning multiple genres and industries, he brings a wealth of knowledge across all disciplines and, having inked a number of stand-out deals in his career, we have no doubt he will be invaluable in strengthening our IP monetisation efforts moving forwards.

“As we build one of the world’s largest content catalogues, we were after a strong entrepreneurial and commercial mind to lead in this area and in him, we have found just that.”

Walbyoff added: “In some ways, it feels like a return and in others, a new, exciting adventure. With an abundance of world-renowned, commercially viable assets, a healthy pipeline of new IP and the most talented combined team, I feel privileged to be leading this department through its next phase.

“Historically, this portfolio has already performed incredibly, so let’s see where we can take it to next.”

The Banijay portfolio which Walbyoff will now represent comprises Masterchef, Deal or No Deal, Peaky Blinders, Temptation Island, Survivor, Tipping Point, Big Brother, Operation Triunfo, Simon’s Cat, Mr Bean, The Biggest Loser, Ready Steady Cook, Black Mirror, Miss France, Eat Well for Less and Crystal Maze.

Australian sleepwear brand Peter Alexander celebrates Father’s Day with Sonic the Hedgehog

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The Australian sleepwear brand, Peter Alexander has launched its first Sonic the Hedgehog branded men’s and boys’ collection, thanks to a new partnership with the home of the iconic video game, comic book, and TV series character, SEGA.

In a partnership brokered by SEGA Brands’ Australian and New Zealand licensing agent, Merchantwise Licensing, the new on-trend sleepwear collection features Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles across a range of men’s t-shirts, trunk pants, baby onesies, boys and junior boys pyjamas, men’s waffle PJ pants, scuffs, and 3D Sonic slippers.

“Sonic the Hedgehog continues to be a truly global franchise spanning games, film, TV, animation, merchandising, mobile and major brand partnerships so following its recent big screen action-adventure comedy release this year, it was perfect timing for the dads and sons range to launch in Peter Alexander – ahead of Father’s Day in Australia and New Zealand,” said Merchantwise Licensing’s general manager of licensing, Kerryn McCormack.

“We look forward to continuing to expand Sonic’s presence in both countries and rolling out further great licensing campaigns for the brand.”

Children’s charity NSPCC is entering the licensing space with Festival of Licensing launch

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The National Children’s charity, the NSPCC is entering the commercial licensing market for the first time, with plans to launch itself into the space at next month’s Festival of Licensing Europe.

The brand will be lead by the NSPCC’s Pantosaurus mascot, a bright yellow, friendly dinosaur known by millions that encourages parents, carers, and teachers to #TalkPANTS and help to keep children safe from abuse. The dynamic, pants-wearing dinosaur is on a mission to share the message, and to help support children to recognise what abuse is.

#TalkPANTS is an annual campaign created by the NSPCC that gives parents, carers and teachers the support they need to explain the Underwear Rule to young children aged four to eight in a simple and age-appropriate way, without using any scary words or even mentioning sex. 

Each letter of PANTS provides a simple but valuable rule, highlighting that their body belongs to them, that they have a right to say no, and that they should tell an adult they trust if they’re worried or upset.

The licensing programme for Pantosaurus is launching with the agents for the brand, Edutainment Licensing, at the upcoming Festival Of Licensing.

The NSPCC worked with Aardman, best known for being the team behind the famous Wallace and Gromit films, to create the Pants song and video. Featuring Pantosaurus, his family and friends in animated games and dancing, the two-minute upbeat song and catchy lyrics convey the important message in a fun, engaging way that once heard, is never forgotten.

Through a £3 million total media spend across six annual campaigns, the measured awareness of #TalkPANTS and Pantosaurus has successfully reached 2.7 million parents and carers with more than 8 million video views. The PANTS song and video has been used in mass marketing campaigns, the most recent being in August 2020.

“Our licensing strategy for Pantosaurus is underpinned by the huge awareness of the #TalkPANTS campaign, identifying licensees which share the NSPCC brand values,” said Clive Gardiner, head of digital, NSPCC.

“Since COVID19, demand for the NSPCC’s services have reached an all-time high, and it has become necessary to rapidly adapt to the changed times and find new ways to build awareness, spread important messages and generate income so the NSPCC can continue to still be here for children. Working with exciting specialist partners through commercial licensing for the first time can help achieve this.”

Research has demonstrated that Pantosaurus products will help children learn and remember the PANTS rules at their own pace. Many children are visual learners, and licensed products will give parents and teachers an easy, natural way to bring Pantosaurus and his messages into everyday life without scary words.

“It’s better to have these chats little and often and adapt it as the child gets older,” said Denise Deane, owner at Edutainment Licensing. “It will help to reinforce the messages and make sure they remember them.”

Disney’s Mulan will be landing on Disney+ with a UK date and price now confirmed

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Disney’s live action remake of the animated hit Mulan will be streaming on Disney+ rather than hitting cinemas in the UK, and the studio has now revealed the premium price that subscribers will be paying in order to access it.

At the start of the month, Disney revealed its intentions to bypass the cinematic release of the movie in the US, taking it directly to its recently launched streaming platform Disney+. A move that was met with a fair amount of head-scratching by cinemas across the region, the question was posed as to whether the same roll-out plans would apply to the UK.

Originally due to be released in cinemas in March this year, Mulan suffered a number of delays at the hands of the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown measures taken across the world. The live-action remake will now be made available exclusively for Disney+ customers to buy for a premium price, on top of the monthly £5.99 subscription fee.

Disney confirmed that the film would be available for UK customers from September 4 for the additional price of £19.99. It follows the news that it will be made available to US customers from September 4 for a cost of $29.99.

It will also be made available via in-app purchasing on streaming services such as Apple TV, Google and Roku.

The move means viewers who buy Mulan will be able to stream the film multiple times and watch it on a number of devices where Disney+ is available, as long as they have an active subscription to the streaming service.

LEGO partners with Tongal and turns to fans to build new content through LEGO World Builder

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The LEGO Group has partnered with the content creation platform Tongal to launch LEGO World Builder, a new story-development platform that allows the LEGO fan community to develop stories, shows, and more, with direct access to the LEGO creative team itself.

Powered by Tongal’s technology, LEGO World Builder connects a worldwide creator community to the LEGO Group, who can then incubate ideas, collaborate, give feedback, and option or buy the rights to new concepts. The community is open to anyone over the age of 18, who can then pitch their own stories, or team up and collaborate on story worlds with other fans, writers, animators, and designers.

Each year, thousands of creatives send the LEGO Group original ideas for new content and stories. LEGO World Builder is wholly dedicated to empowering this type of creativity. The platform will also include challenges from the LEGO creative teams, where fans can share their own spin on existing LEGO IP.

“The LEGO Group is known for innovation. As early adopters of open platforms, they have shown true leadership in engaging those who love their products throughout the creative process,” said James DeJulio, Tongal co-founder and CEO. “They were one of the first organizations to adopt Tongal and our creative community, finding success developing and producing content on the platform, and now they have a dedicated environment to take it to the next level.”

The LEGO Group has been leveraging Tongal and its virtual production capabilities since 2012, working with their global creative community to produce video content across social and into streaming.

“As our partner for many years, Tongal has provided us a way to engage with our creative community and LEGO World Builder is an extension of that,” said Keith Malone, senior director of content development at the LEGO Group. “We are privileged to be a brand that stands for creativity not only with our incredible products but also with the experiences we create for our fans. We hope the next Ninjago or LEGO Masters could come from this collaboration.”

Creators can go to worldbuilder.tongal.com to join the community, explore worlds and start creating.

Nick Jr, Acamar and Aardman among licensing line up for Play at Home Fest 2

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Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide is putting the final preparations in place for the second installment of the virtual family festival, Play at Home Fest, this weekend. Following the success of the inaugural event in May this year, major players from the licensing space are headlining the upcoming event.

Nick Jr. is bringing its Blue’s Clues and You! and PAW Patrol, to feature alongside the likes of Acamar Films, Dreamtex, and HarperCollins with Bing; Rainbow with 44 Cats and its party licensee Amscam, while Aardman will be returning to host a Shaun the Sheep model making workshop.

Also joining this weekend’s line-up are Sylvanian Families, Aquabeads, Geomag, Drumond Park, Trends UK, The Essential One and EasyRead Time Teacher. The event, which was created to make the world a more playful place during the COVID19 pandemic, will be accessible to families worldwide on Saturday 29th August. 

Two virtual stages will be streamed live to living rooms, gardens, campsites, holiday cottages, and anywhere else where children aged eight and under and their families are during the Bank Holiday weekend. 

The event will be hosted by up and coming kidfluencer, Sisi from Sisi’s World, star of West End Musical, Matilda, and daughter of TV presenter Nigel Clarke. She will be guiding and entertaining children and their families during the Bank Holiday weekend. 

The first Play at Home Fest accrued an incredible 71,000 views and was streamed into the homes of 14,000 families, with social media impressions reaching 750,000 on Good Play Guide channels alone. 

“We were blown away by the success of the first Play at Home Fest, and it was a no-brainer to bring families together again for more fun during this period when playful experiences are needed more than ever,” said Amanda Gummer, founder and CEO of Dr Gummer’s Good Play Guide.

“I’m really pleased to have been able to support some amazing brands during a period when marketing and promotion has been particularly difficult, while also bringing fun and play to the forefront for consumers. The calibre of the acts signed up again for this weekend’s event shows just how beneficial this initiative has been for all involved.”

Hasbro extends representation deal with WildBrain CPLG to cover CEE and Turkey

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Hasbro has extended its agreement with the sport, lifestyle, and entertainment licensing agency, WildBrain CPLG to cover both CEE and Turkey. The move is an extension of the deal it had with the firm, naming it the Hasbro sub-representative in the Nordics and Benelux regions as of January 1st this year.

Under the agreement, WildBrain CPLG will now represent Hasbro’s merchandise, publishing, promotions, and short-term location based entertainment business across Benelux, Nordic, CEE, and Turkey regions.

“We are moving our direct business to an agent model in CEE and Turkey as both regions have tremendous growth potential for our consumer products business,” said Marianne James, vice president of Hasbro Consumer Products in EMEA. “We believe that the strength of WildBrain CPLG to cover Benelux, Nordic, CEE and Turkey will allow us to scale our efforts in a meaningful way.

“WildBrain CPLG will develop our strong portfolio of brands such as Nerf, Monopoly, Play-Doh, and My Little Pony.”

Maarten Weck, executive vice president and managing director at WildBrain CPLG, added: “We are very pleased to extend our geographical footprint to represent Hasbro in CEE and Turkey, where we see tremendous opportunity for their leading family brands.

“The addition of these new markets to our remit strengthens our strategic relationship with Hasbro and gives us even more opportunity to synergise our European efforts, without losing the local touch.”