Category Archives: Entertainment

Harry Potter weaves magic across ecommerce platform Spread Group as sales leap 70 per cent

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has been weaving its magic on the ecommerce platform Spread Group, helping drive UK licensing sales to a 70 per cent leap since the group extended its partnership with Warner Bros in December last year.

Increased demand for items – in particular the women’s hoodies range – themed around the Harry Potter franchise has fuelled a sales surge across the platform, with UK consumers ‘snapping up’ Hogwarts themed apparel. At the same time, another of Warner Bros’ leading franchises, Friends, has been subject to similar demand.

Annina Vettermann, licensing success manager at Spread Group, said: “We have been very surprised and pleased by the huge demand for women’s hoodies for both of these Warner Bros. brands. We think this is a gap in the market and fans have been happy to find merch they want to wear at Spread Group.”

Spread Group’s bestselling Harry Potter design is a gold Hogwarts coat of arms. This is closely followed by individual House hoodies. The most popular is Harry’s own Gryffindor (accounting for 40 per cent of sales). Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are vying for second place (22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively) and those ambitious Slytherins are not far behind either, on 17 per cent.

Meanwhile, the revival of 90s TV hit Friends has seen a rise in demand for its classic brand and images of the Central Perk gang. At Spread Group, sales of tote bags, hoodies and t-shirts have risen for both men and women.

Vettermann added: “2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, but we were delighted to see UK consumers being creative and taking advantage of these newly licensed designs. The strategic partnership has created exceptional results for the Spread Group and Warner Bros. partnership.”

Spread Group currently offers 14 Warner Bros. licenses, including Batman, Wonder Woman, Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes and Superman, in a wide range of products, colours and designs.

The Spread Group side of the partnership covers design, marketing and production, a presence on the Spreadshirt marketplace, Amazon and eBay. This licensing deal made Warner Bros. one of Spread Group’s largest partners. Its consumers can now access over 1,500 Warner designs on the Spreadshirt marketplaces in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia as well as over 1,000 item positions on Amazon.com.

Stateside | Hit pre-school series Bluey makes play for costumes market with Disguise, Inc partnership

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Bluey, the hit children’s animated TV series from Ludo Studio and BBC Studios, is making a new play for the American costume and fancy dress market, thanks to a new partnership with JAKKS Pacific’s Halloween costume division, Disguise, Inc.

Under the partner, Disguise is set to design, market, manufacture, and distribute costumes and costume accessories for the popular animated property, starting this year. The new line will debut as a first-to-market launch at Walmart across the US.

Bluey is an Australian animation series that follows a six year-old Blue Heeler dog, who loves to play and turns everyday family life into extraordinary adventures. Aimed at pre-school children and their parents, the series champions the importance of unstructured play for enhancing children’s creativity and helping to develop their mental, physical and emotional resilience.

The series celebrates the joyful simplicity found in family life, role play, and imagination. A sensation with US audiences since its fall 2019 premiere, Bluey reached 16 million total views across Disney Channel and Disney Junior in Q4 2019.

“Bluey explores the important themes of family life, parenting and imaginative play. It has a huge fan base of preschoolers and parents that will be thrilled with our new line of Bluey costumes,” said Tara Hefter, EVP and GM of Disguise, Inc.

“Our new partnership with BBC Studios has created some exciting new additions to our 2021 line. We expect to see a positive reaction from fans and at retail this fall.”

Suzy Raia, VP consumer products and business development, BBC Studios, added: “Bluey is our fastest growing show in the US and we’re looking forward to this meaningful partnership with Disguise that will bring the Bluey characters to life with their high quality costumes and accessories.

“Bluey fans will now have the chance to dress up this Halloween and be a part of this sweet Blue Heeler family.”

Boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr enters the NFT ring ahead of Logan Paul bout this summer

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The boxing icon, Floyd Mayweather Jr is the latest name to enter the licensed NFT ring.

In conjunction with IronBend – a provider of digital NFTs for prominent personalities – the five weight 12-time world champion has teamed up with Reality Gaming Group, a publisher of mobile games and blockchain-based digital entertainment, and Zytara Labs, to release exclusive NFT collector’s items.

The NFTs will drop ahead of the highly anticipated bout with the YouTuber-turned-boxer, Logan Paul.

The launch will feature a limited-edition digital collection celebrating the legacy of Floyd Mayweather’s life and career, including animations, artwork and rare memorabilia from Mayweather’s personal keepsakes. Each piece in this unique collection will be secured and protected using blockchain technology, enabling the verification of ownership and authenticity of each collector’s item.

 The pieces are being designed by Reality Gaming Group in partnership with Iron Bend and Zytara Labs, and will be launched on May 26, 2021, ahead of Mayweather vs. Paul fight scheduled for June 6th. Reality Gaming has done NFT collections for the hit TV Show Dr. Who and is in partnership with the British Broadcasting Company in a variety of NFT initiatives.

 Speaking about his NFT launch, Floyd Mayweather said: “I started from nothing and beat all the odds to achieve what I did in my career and I think that’s the American dream. I don’t look at myself as a celebrity – I look at myself as an icon, one who made it. My name will always live on for the things that I did and the mark that I left in sports. These digital collectibles give everyone a chance to be part of the Mayweather Legacy.”

 Dan Sobol, co-founder and CEO of IronBend, added: “We’re incredibly grateful to be selected by Floyd Mayweather as his exclusive partner in this journey of celebrating his life’s legacy in the digital universe.

“We are excited to be collaborating with a great team to present Floyd’s timeless digital collectibles to generations of his fans to memorialize the legend of this iconic athlete.”

 Morten Rongaard, CEO of Reality Gaming, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with Floyd Mayweather to create a unique NFT collection that will be loved by his fans around the world. The officially licensed content will be of the highest quality and fans can start collecting the limited-edition items secure in the knowledge that they will own a unique piece of Floyd Mayweather’s legacy.”

For more information about the upcoming Mayweather NFT drop, please visit https://floydnft.com

The LEGO Group unveils F.R.I.E.N.D.S Apartment Set complete with Janice minifigure

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Ready? Altogether now: Oh. My. God.

It’s official. The LEGO Group has just detailed the launch of the new LEGO F.R.I.E.N.D.S Apartments Set, a 2,048 brick set that allows fans to recreate their favourite scenes from the now iconic Warner Bros. sitcom.

Setting the scene of some of TV comedy’s most memorable moments, the build features both Monica and Rachel’s, and Chandler and Joey’s New York apartments, as well as – quite possibly – TV’s most famous adjoining hallway.

The new release from The LEGO Group follows the success of the LEGO Ideas Central Perk set released in 2019 and arrives complete with features and props – including the moment Monica put the Thanksgiving turkey on her head, and the one where Joey and Chandler had only a canoe as furniture, as well as the episode in which Phoebe’s dollhouse went up in flames.

Other accessories from the show include the Poking Device; Gladys, Phoebe’s creepy art piece; the cheesecake that falls on the floor; Pat the Dog; the chick and duck, and more.  The set also gives fans the real sense of the original filming studio with set lights and allows them to display both apartments either separately or linked together with the hallway.

The set also arrives with new minifigures of the gang in some of their most memorable outfits; Rachel’s iconic plaid skirt; Ross’ too tight leather pants; Monica in an apron; Phoebe in a classic floral look; Chandler in a suit and loud designer tie; and Joey wearing all of Chandler’s clothes.

And for the first time ever, Janice will also feature as a minifigure in a classic over-the-top gaudy outfit.

Anderson Ward Grubb, LEGO Set Designer said: “Following the success of the LEGO Ideas Central Perk set, we wanted to develop another tribute to this iconic TV show with a focus on the famous apartments. We worked directly from production photos of the set as well as watching and re-watching a lot of episodes so we could capture as many iconic moments as possible.

“One fun challenge was figuring out how to represent some aspects that change over the course of the show that appear in some episodes and not in others. I am looking forward to seeing if the eagle-eyed fans will spot them.”

LEGO The Friends Apartments set is available exclusively for LEGO VIP members from May 19th and from LEGO Stores and www.LEGO.com/Friends-Apartments from June 1st, 2021.

’80s animated series The Raccoons makes play for retro and environmentalism licensing

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The Raccoons is the latest animated property to be jumping the decades and making a play for the retro licensing space, helping fans and viewers who grew up with the show put to rest that fundamental question: what on Earth kind of aardvark is Cyril Sneer anyway?

First created in 1985, the animated TV series followed the day to day life of three raccoons: Bert, Melissa, and Ralph as well as their friend Cedric the aardvark and his greedy businessman father, Cyril. For two decades, the series engaged the imaginations of families across 180 countries.

Today, The Raccoons has tasked The Point. 1888 with bringing to market a raft of new branded products in accessories, babywear, socks, gifting, plush and more as the retro revival trend continues to gather pace among millennial and Gen Z audiences today.

With a wealth of entertainment brands already on The Point.1888’s books including Moomin, Molang and Moon & Me, The Raccoons is another significant win and comes just one year after the agency was appointed by 75 year old children’s brand Moomin to support its comeback and raise its brand licensing game.

With an underlying message of conservation and environmental protection running throughout the series, The Point. 1888 has already added nature charities and forests to the brand’s licensing strategy.

Olivia Wiggett, The Point.1888’s Associate Commercial Manager, said: “The Raccoons is such a wonderful, nostalgic brand that resonates with so many people across the world. We are so delighted to be working with the amazing team at The Raccoons, and can’t wait to start bringing the brand to life in the licensing space. Not only that, but because The Raccoons are such a perfect fit for nature charities and forests, we have added this to their strategy.”

Kevin Gillis, President of Run With Us Productions, added: “The Raccoons have had the honour of having a strong and environmentally-conscious fan following in the UK since Bert Raccoon first moved to the Evergreen Forest. As we recognize the growing critical importance of understanding our fragile global eco-system, we look forward to working with The Point 1888 in connecting with and supporting our many loyal and invaluable fans.”

Product development and marketing plans are now underway and The Point.1888 will be commencing talks with potential licensees and retailers in the next few weeks.

Little Brother Books welcomes LOL Surprise, Barbie, and Fortnite to the annuals roster

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LOL Surprise, Barbie, Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft will each be expanding their presence across the children’s Annuals market, thanks to a bolstered new portfolio of titles to launch from Little Brother Books.

The UK Annuals publisher is preparing to launch a range of six new titles this spring/summer, which will include three Fun, Play and Learn titles hitting shelves this May, featuring the popular toy brands LOL Surprise and Barbie. The pair will be joined by World of Dinosaurs.

This season will also see the launch of three Ultimate Gaming Guides, including GamesWarrior’s Ultimate Guide to Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft.

All six titles will feature new content created exclusively by Little Brother Books and will each be priced at £5.99. The series will go on sale this mlnth across Amazon, TJ Morris, Sainsbury’s, Smyths Toys, and other book retailers.

Little Brother Books believes that high visibility at retail is key to driving impulse sales and has been successful in placing 1000s of dedicated FSDU/POS in major retailers over recent years.

Matthew Reynolds, MD at Little Brother Books, said: “Our mid-year Annuals and Gaming Guides launching this season are testament to our success in refreshing this market and I’m thrilled that we have six titles to delight parents and children alike this summer with six of the hottest properties in the market.

“Despite 2020’s challenges, Little Brother Books once again dominated the Annuals market, and we retained our position as the number one publisher in this sector for the third consecutive year with unrivaled distribution for our leading brands.

“2021 is shaping up to be even more successful with other major retailers coming onboard, as well as exciting new brands joining our portfolio.”

The Point. 1888 nets Farshore for CoComelon book publishing in the UK, Eire and Poland

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The hit preschool property and leading children’s series, CoComelon has bolstered its portfolio of international licensees once more, this time tapping Farshore for children’s book publishing across the UK, Eire, and Poland. The deal was brokered by Moonbug’s European licensing agent, The Point. 1888.

CoComelon is a preschool phenomenon currently dominating the digital space and, according to the firm, is set to become one of the biggest global preschool brands across all categories. It is the number one children’s and educational channel on YouTube worldwide, seeing more than 100 billion views globally.

The Moonbug series has spent the most consecutive days in Netflix’s top ten programs across both adult and children’s shows, and in 2021 it has been the most streamed Netflix show beating Bridgerton to the top spot.

Launching with two titles in October 2021, Farshore will publish CoComelon’s most watched and popular songs in bright, bold board book format for preschoolers to sing along with, followed by further publishing in 2022.

CoComelon Bath Song Board Book includes the main character JJ and his brother TomTom from the hugely popular and catchy Bath Song episode. Children can sing along to another much-loved classic with CoComelon Wheels on the Bus Board Book.

Zoe Masters, brands and licensing publisher at Farshore, said: “We are delighted to be publishing CoComelon in this joint deal with HarperCollins Poland. We are incredibly proud to bring Moonbug’s hugely successful entertaining educational content to life in our book publishing.

“At Farshore we are committed to ensuring a love of reading from an early age, and our CoComelon titles will provide fun and engaging books for children to share and enjoy time and time again. The books are launching in 2021 and we couldn’t be happier with the response from retail we have received so far.”

Katie Wilkinson, senior commercial manager at ThePoint.1888, added: “Farshore’s purpose is to make every child a proud reader so I am absolutely thrilled that we are working with them on this epic brand. Cocomelon has joined the digital kid’s entertainment space and achieved growth like no one has seen before, currently it is the most viewed You Tube channel in the world and second most subscribed.

“This lends itself to publishing perfectly and I’m excited to see the first titles later this year and then the ever growing title list rollout in 2022 and beyond.”

CoComelon Bath Song Board Book and CoComelon Wheels on the Bus Board Book publishes on 30th September 2021, for children aged one to four.

Paddington Bear is taking over the British Library this summer with exclusive exhibition

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Paddington Bear is taking over the British Library this summer with the launch of a special, family-friendly exhibition celebrating 60 years of one of the world’s most beloved bears.

Paddington: The Story of a Bear will run at the library from July 9th to October 31st with an exhibitions spanning the 60 years since the character was first published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 1958. The exhibition will feature over 50 books, documents, film clips, and original artworks as it explores the creation of Michael Bond’s Paddington in full.

The exhibition will also feature activities for visitors to practise their hard stares, take their own self ‘pawtrait’ and follow the trail of marmalade left by Paddington, as well as a special printed guide for families. Two local primary schools in Camden – Argyle Primary School and Edith Neville Primary School – have been working with the Library since November 2020 to create new content for display in the exhibition for all visitors to enjoy. 

Paddington is a timeless and universal story of desire for home, acceptance and a sense of belonging, which appeals to all ages. Featuring books, documents, film clips and original illustrations, highlights will include, a First Edition of A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond, illustrated by Peggy Fortnum, the original review of A Bear Called Paddington by Barbara Ker Wilson in 1958, and a selection of photographs and memorabilia of Michael Bond on loan from his family.

It will also feature clips from the Paddington movies and sound recordings such as Michael Bond talking about the process of creating Paddington’s stories, as well as original illustrations of Paddington stories by artists including Peggy Fortnum, David McKee and RW Alley.

Alison Bailey, lead curator of Paddington: The Story of a Bear, said: “Paddington: The Story of a Bear is a fun, family-friendly exhibition recalling the many faces of Paddington we’ve come to know and love in original artwork, books, and scenes from TV and film adaptations.

“This exhibition reminds us why, over 60 years on from his creation, Paddington still resonates with people of all ages, wherever they are in the world. We hope visitors enjoy following this loveable bear on his adventures and discovering his stories.”

Sophie Kopaczynski, CEO at Copyrights Group said: “As Paddington brand owners we are delighted to be working with the British Library on this fantastic exhibition. 

“The exhibition invites families and fans – old and new – into the world of Paddington, full of adventure and kindness, through a wide variety of mediums, books to original artworks, letters to objects, film footage to exclusive TV clips. 

“It is always a pleasure to be able to introduce Paddington to a new audience and to offer new and exciting content for existing fans.”

There will be a series of events and adult learning courses inspired by the exhibition, as well as workshops for families and relaxed openings for children on the autism spectrum.

School groups can enjoy exclusive timed slots including free, activity-led facilitated workshops for Primary students.

Toei Animation celebrates Goku Day with new Dragon Ball Super movie announcement

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Fans worldwide received a special surprise this Goku Day –  the annual Dragon Ball celebration – when Toei Animation revealed that a new Dragon Ball Super film will be released in 2022, marking the second film based on the Dragon Ball Super manga title and anime series launched in 2015.

The Dragon Ball phenomena began in 1984 when Japan’s well-known manga from Akira Toriyama premiered in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, becoming a top ranked title throughout its 10 and a half years of publication. Since then, the manga’s popularity has continued to grow with a record of 260 million copies sold worldwide and counting.

Dragon Ball’s ever-increasing popularity has seen it has expand beyond manga to include TV animation, movies, games and merchandising. Now, 37 years after the launch of the original manga, Dragon Ball continues to evolve.

The 2022 film follows the success of its first movie release in 2018, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which achieved over $120 million at the worldwide box office.

Planning for the new film project was kicked-off in 2018, before the release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, with the goal of telling a large-scale story that would build on the enthusiastic response for the previous theatrical series and the current global fervor for Broly.

Akira Toriyama himself has picked up his pen to deliver a story ‘for the fans.’ From the story composition to character design to the lines of the script, Toriyama has ‘worked with the greatest attention to detail and highest quality standards’ to create what Toei has billed as a ‘Dragon Ball movie unlike any other in its history and one that will surely be a blockbuster with fans.’

Akira Toriyama, creator of the original story, screenplay, and character design, wrote a special message to Dragon Ball fans. A signed copy of this message is available here.

The Emoji Company and WildBrain launch new 2D series Emojitown in major brand extension

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The Emoji Company and WildBrain have forged a far-reaching content and licensing partnership to launch Emojitown, a new, digital first, animated series based on the emoji brand, as well as a new consumer product extension programme around it.

Under the partnership, WildBrain’s AVOD network and digital studio, WildBrain Spark, has teamed with the Emoji Company to co-develop and co-produce Emojitown, a new 2D series targeting teens and young adults.

WildBrain Spark, which holds exclusive global distribution rights to the new series, will premiere Emojitown on YouTube with a dedicated channel launching at the end of May, when viewers will be able to enjoy the first four episodes of the fast-paced, language-agnostic show, followed by additional episodes rolling out weekly.

Meanwhile, WildBrain’s global licensing agency, WildBrain CPLG, will handle worldwide licensing and merchandising rights for Emojitown, building on the agency’s extensive and already successful program for the Emoji brand across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and other territories. WildBrain CPLG will work with Emoji Company and licensees to develop Emojitown products across key categories for teens and young adults.

Marco Huesges, founder and CEO of Emoji Company, said: “This is a significant development for the Emoji brand, bringing our globally recognizable icons into the digital-content space. With their preeminent reputation on digital platforms, including YouTube, and their deep understanding of licensing and brand amplification, WildBrain Spark and WildBrain CPLG are the ideal collaborators for our push into new content creation and consumer products for the teen and young-adult audience. Together we will take this hugely exciting step in the evolution of Emoji.”

Maarten Weck, EVP and MD of WildBrain CPLG, added: “Building on our strong relationship with the emoji company, this expanded partnership combines the strengths of the much-loved emoji brand with our creative and collaborative capabilities across consumer products licensing, digital-content production, and AVOD management.”

Rachel Taylor, commercial director of WildBrain Spark, said: “With its universal appeal, the Emoji brand is ideal for the creation of an animated digital-first content offering, and our creative team has produced a funny, wry and edgy series, underpinned by bespoke data and insights drawn from our premium YouTube network.

“We’re delighted that the emoji company saw us as the right partner to co-develop and launch this extension of its brand for today’s digital-savvy audience of modern teens.”