THE BIG INTERVIEW: Mel Beer, Head of Licensing & Content Development, HarperCollins

“Unlike entertainment brands that are reliant upon scheduling, ratings or box office receipts, publishing brands are generally timeless,” Mel Beer explains to Licensing.biz.

Beer has plenty of experience within the entertainment licensing sector, kicking off her career at BBC Worldwide where she spent ten years doing a variety of jobs, including booking/contracting for The Archers, business affairs, rights and acquisitions, before managing the Teletubbies licensing programme in 1997. After a brief spell at Benetton F1, she moved to head up toys, gifts and stationery at Warner Bros (working on Harry Potter, Scooby-Doo, The Powerpuff Girls and Looney Tunes).

Stints at balloon and party licensee Amscan, plus Jetix/Disney (where she handled Pucca and Classic Sonic among other brands) and ITV (Coronation Street, Thunderbirds, Bella Sara, Numberjacks) followed, before she arrived at HarperCollins in December 2008.

The read the full interview, click here.