Category Archives: Media & PR

Beano partners with World Book Day to support its Share A Million Stories campaign

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Beano has partnered with World Book Day this March 5 to support its Share A Million Stories campaign for a special edition, one-off comic strip titled A Million Stories in One.

The special strip sees Dennis reading and mashing up classic children’s tales to entertain Bea and Gnasher all in the name of World Book Day. It’s part of the charity’s own campaign calling on kids and families to Share a Million Stories during World Book Day month, running from February to March 29th.

 Alongside the special strip, Beano.com will feature a Story-O-Meter which provides kids with the building blocks to create their own stories. The online tool allows children to use millions of combinations of characters, objects and places to make their very own creations. They will then be asked to share their story with a member of their family or a friend so they can be added to Beano’s totaliser and World Book Day’s Share a Million Stories national total.

The partnership between Beano and the charity builds on Beano’s own rich, 80 year history of championing stories and reading through its use of visual story-telling and humour.

 Research from the 2013 study Books Beyond Time has shown that parents reading with their children for as little as 10 minutes a day can make a significant difference to a child’s achievement levels, while it is according to Egmont’s Print Matters More Study in 2017 that shared reading has the single biggest impact on a child’s independent reading habits.

It’s why World Book Day is calling on everyone in the UK and Ireland to share stories for 10 minutes a day in schools, libraries, bookshops, at home, everywhere and anywhere, to Share a Million Stories together.

 Children can use their £1 token to get a free World Book Day book or get £1 off any book or audiobook from tomorrow, Thursday 27th February. The aim is to get the nation behind the goal of smashing the target and log their story shares at https://www.worldbookday.com/share-a-million-stories/.

Over 400,000 children are already registered. 

Emma Scott, CEO of Beano Studios, said: “We are so happy to have partnered with World Book Day this year. Whether kids are enthusiastic or reluctant readers, Beano has always been a great comic-leap in helping kids to find great joy in reading.

“With World Book Day and our Beano Story-O-Meter at Beano.com, we are getting kids to carry on their reading adventures, so they can make their own stories and let their imaginations run wild.”

 Cassie Chadderton, CEO of World Book Day, added: “We know that children love comics, and that children are more likely to read more when they can choose what they read. World Book Day is very excited to be part of the Beano world, with Dennis, Bea and Gnasher all getting involved to help us Share a Million Stories.

“We hope they’ll inspire many more children to use their £1 World Book Day book token to choose a book of their own.” 

Edutainment Licensing named distribution partner for FUN Union’s adventure series PinCode

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Edutainment Licensing has been named the distribution partner for FUN Union’s new adventure series, PinCode in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as worldwide for school and library digital platforms.

The 3D series for primary school children focuses on the adventures of Captain Pin and his crew and each episode contains an important and valuable science lesson as the crew members, under the leadership of Captain Pin, explore the principles of physics, chemistry and biology while traversing the world.

Each character has its own personality and strengths, bringing humour, fun and friendship to every challenge.

“We are delighted to be partnering with FUN Union to bring quality, uplifting, entertaining and educational content to our partners,” said Denise Deane, owner of Edutainment Licensing.

Diana Yurinova, CEO of FUN Union, added: “Our show highlight positive STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) role models for kids aged six to 11. Edutainment Licensing is specialised particularly in this type of content distribution, so we couldn’t imagine a better partner for PINCODE.

“Today’s children are remarkably creative, inventive and curious. They inspired us every day.”

Entertainment One is ‘figuring out what Hasbro brands to bring to the screen’

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Entertainment One is in the process of ‘figuring out which of Hasbro’s brands to bring to life,’ the company has stated following the toymaker’s $3.8bn acquisition of the content producer-distributor at the end of last year.

Speaking at UK Screenings this month, Pancho Mansfield, eOne’s president of global scripted programming, said that Hasbro has a ‘treasure chest’ of IP that the company is looking closely at as it works out what out of the firm’s some 1,500 brands will translate well to screen.

The obvious choices have already been highlighted, with the likes of Dungeons & Dragons, GI Joe, Power Rangers, Action Man, Furby, and Transformers among them.

“We’re just wrapping our arms around it and we’re excited to begin,” Mansfield told Deadline. “We’re going to continue doing what we’re doing and we have this great treasure chest of IP and worlds to bring to life.”

Much of the noise around Hasbro’s acquisition has – until now – been focused on eOne’s slate of pre-school properties such as Peppa Pig and PJ Masks, giving Hasbro a firmer foothold in the competitive yet highly lucrative pre-school content sector.

For a number of weeks, questions have been left hanging over what this meant for the future of eOne’s scripted drama output.

Noel Hedges, executive VP of acquisitions for eOne has now gone some way to alleviate those fears. He told Variety: “Drama is a huge part of eOne’s business and Hasbro bought the business not to shrink it, but expand it.

“If anything, eOne is now supported by a very complementary business. We will support Hasbro’s in-house IP and now find ways of bringing that to screen internally. Hasbro wants eOne to thrive, and from a distribution point of view, they want us to be the portal through which we can take that content to the world.

“Even if it’s a kids’ brand, it could be integrated into a cross-generational family offering. Hasbro is a family business but there is a lot there that isn’t just in the kids’ space.

Industry backs The Sustainability in Licensing Conference as it readies for June debut

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BBC Studios, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, and ViacomCBS are just a smattering of the industry big hitter to throw their support behind the Sustainability in Licensing Conference, an initiative aimed at breaking new grounds within the licensing industry’s sustainability efforts.

In a show of support for the concept launched in a joint venture by Max Publishing and Helena Mansell-Stopher, founder of the Products of Change Group, the industry has been quick to back the event, with its roster of partners climbing to 20 within weeks of its announcement.

Already the likes of MDR Brand Management, the Natural History Museum, Hasbro, Character World, TDP Textiles, Brandgenuity, Change Plastics for Good, Smiffys, Dreamtex, Kids Industries, and Amscan have got behind the project as it prepares to debut this year.

This roster has been joined by the likes of GB eye, Global Brands Europe, Those Licensing People, University of Oxford, and Discovery Inc.

To be held at The British Library on Thursday, June 11th 2020, the Sustainability in Licensing Conference 2020 is aimed at everyone in the licensing arena, from retailers to licensors, licensees to trade suppliers.

Its aim is to help the industry future-proof its businesses with insight on how to develop sustainable strategies, taking into consideration how a given organisation operates in today’s ecological, social and economic environment.

The Sustainability in Licensing Conference (SILC 2020) will look to inspire and inform as to how the dynamic licensing sector can continue to innovate and grow commercially while not costing the planet.

“Sustainability is so much more than a buzzword, it is and will continue to be, a vital driver of business decisions,” said Mansell-Stopher, conference director and curator. “To drive sustainable growth within the licensing industry over the next few decades will require a radical approach to business practices be it through embracing new materials and production techniques, re-engineering packaging or adopting new marketing methods, all without sacrificing financial growth.

“Our aim with SILC 2020 is to help both future-proof our industry and our world.”

The conference’s agenda will see leading lights and visionaries from outside and within the industry as well as retail experts, sharing their achievements and demonstrating the gains, both environmentally and financially, that can be made.

“The licensing industry is huge and multi-farious – generating US$272 billion at retail at the last count. The brands and properties that feature on all manner of consumer goods across the whole retail spectrum bring so much pleasure to millions of people,” continued Mansell-Stopher.

“I have every confidence that the learnings shared at the Sustainability in Licensing Conference will see some significant gains being made on the environmental front too. We’re all on this journey together, but ensuring we establish a more sustainable footing is no distant wish, it’s very much a necessity.”

Demonstrating its own commitment to the cause, SILC has secured an additional partnership with Offset Earth to ensure the conference is fully carbon offset.

The event’s partnership with Offset Earth will mean that running the conference, along with its attendees, will generate the planting of 720 mangrove trees in Madagascar, an area that houses more than 200,000 species of plants and animals that do not live anywhere else in the world.

However, more than 90 per cent of Madagascar’s original forests have been destroyed, displacing entire animal species and taking away the Malagasy’s ability to farm and live on the land. Entire mangrove estuaries are gone, leaving the bare earth to wash away into the sea.

Funds from SILC 2020 will support the non-profit Eden Reforestation Projects as it continues to reforest the island. Eden is a world leader in responsible reforestation, having already planted 265 million trees and created 2.6 million work days for local communities.

Sustainability in Licensing Conference 2020 – the line-up

Meanwhile, already a content framework for the day has been detailed, highlighting the need for greater change with talks on the following topics:

  • Why change? – 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and what they mean for the industry and the individual
  • How can business contribute towards a sustainable future?
  • Designing out waste – why design plays an important part in the sustainability journey
  • Plastic innovation in packaging and SUPs
  • Collaborations and why these are so important
  • How to unlock sustainable finance and the need to review how we track finance within corporations’ gross domestic product
  • Why we need to move to a circular economy business model
  • Innovation within fashion manufacturing and retail
  • Marketing and communications – both internal and external
  • A panel with leaders from the toy industry, discussing the road ahead and how to manage change collectively
  • What retail requires from the industry
  • A panel with UK retailers, coming together to drive change

Find out how to book your place at this year’s Sustainability in Licensing Conference by clicking here.

The Light Fund’s Licensing Lolz comedy night returns for 2020 with new venue

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The Licensing Lolz, an evening dedicated to comedy and raising money for the licensing industry charity, The Light Fund, is making its return for the third consecutive year this year, taking place a new and bigger, better location.

This year’s offering of laughter – at both the evening’s comedians and (more likely) your colleagues’ expense – will take place on April 23rd at The Albany on Great Portland Street, London. Doors will open at 6pm and the comedy evening will commence promptly at 7.30pm… so walk in late at your own risk.

“It’s a great chance to catch up with your industry colleagues whilst being entertained by some very funny comedians – £40/ticket with food included, tickets are limited so get yours soon,” said Sabrina Segalov, event organiser on behalf of The Light Fund.

Money raised from the evening will go towards to charities backed by The Light Fund.

The Snail and the Whale, Shaun the Sheep, and Moominvalley among finalists in British Animation Awards 2020

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The Snail and the Whale, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, and The Tiger Who Came to Tea have all been named among the finalists in this year’s British Animation Awards.

Rewarding the very best in British animation across a variety of categories, the British Animation Awards – now in its 24th year – attracts the great and the good from across the industry to its biennial celebration of the craft.

This year’s ceremony will be held at London’s BFI Southbank on March 12th 2020, where it will unveil the latest names to join the list of illustrious winners from past years.

This year’s finalists included in the Best Voice Performance category are renowned British actors Sally Hawkins (Paddington, The Shape of Water) and Bella Ramsey from Game of Thrones, who are nominated for their work on The Snail and the Whale and as Hilda in Hilda – The Hidden People respectively.

They are up against strong competition from the cast of The Rubbish World of Dave Spud and young newcomer Clara Ross for The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

The Best Long Form category includes nominations from the likes of Aardman Animations and its A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon; two festive favourites from Magic Light Pictures, Zog and The Snail and the Whale; The Tiger Who Came to Tea from Lupus Films, and Aliens Love Underpants And…Panta Claus from Tiger Aspect.

Contenders for the Best Children’s Series award include The Amazing World of Gumball from Cartoon Network, the Shaun the Sheep series from Aardman, Moominvalley from Gutsy animations, The Rubbish World of Dave Spud from Illuminated Films and 101 Dalmatian Street from Disney.

Up for the Best Animation in a Commercial award is The Wind in the Willows for The Wildlife Trusts, the commercial Whatever You Call It by Moth Studio for Marie Curie and the organic baby food NatureNes by Studio AKA for Nestle.

Meanwhile, the family favourites Hey Duggee, The Adventures of Paddington and Clangers are each nominated for the Best Children’s Pre-School Series award.

Some of the leading British animation courses are represented in both Best Undergraduate and Best Postgraduate Student film categories including nominees from Falmouth University School of Film and Television, University of Creative Arts in Farnham, Arts University Bournemouth and the Royal College of Arts London. In an encouraging sign for the industry, all four finalists in the Best Undergraduate category are women.

New for 2020 is the Best Social Good Award, while four additional award categories will be announced on the night.

BAA director, Helen Brunsdon, said: “Animation leads the way in visually imaginative and innovative forms of storytelling. From a record number of submissions, I am delighted to see rich and diverse talent make it through to the final stages of the various categories.

“The nominated finalists for 2020 are shining examples of the best in the business. I wish them all the best of luck and look forward to the big night on March 12th at the BFI South Bank where all will be revealed.”

The awards themselves (the BAAs) are unique artworks, featuring sheep, created especially for the occasion by a range of leading international and UK animation artists: a measure of the worldwide respect felt for British animation.

Read the Toy Fair special issue of ToyNews today for plenty of licensing updates…

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The Toy Fair special issue of ToyNews is ready to read online, on your smart device or iPad – giving you look at the year ahead and the trends that will be hitting the toy industry the most.

It’s the first ToyNews of 2020, and of the decade, making this not only – with London Toy Fair right around the corner – our Toy Fair issue, but also our chance to cast our predictions for what’s going to be setting the agenda for the coming year.

And it’s packed with news of all the latest developments within toys and licensing, too; whether that’s talk of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe, the latest good news story from the licensing powerhouse that is Games Workshop and the Warhammer franchise, or what plans Formula One now has for toys and the wider licensing space.

Of course, we’ll be diving into Spring Fair once again, and stop by with pop culture licensing specialists, Fanattik and Pyramid International to get their takes on the scene.

As ever, we kick off proceedings with the usual ToyNews wealth of ever-engaging and always exclusive content thanks to our Big Interview with Mattel’s VP and country manager, Michael Hick as we explore why 2020 is going to be a major year for the global toy powerhouse – and it’s not only with thanks to the return of He-Man…

Setting the tone for how we foresee bigger movements from the retail space, and the industry as a whole, towards inclusivity and accessibility for all of its audiences, we explore topics of autism and the toy industry, as well as games and puzzles and mental health, and all those wonderful people pushing this industry and the important messages ever-forward.

Our cover star of this month’s feature-packed issue, Generation Media, talks us through its evolution over the past decade, and, as we embark on a whole new one, sets out just what might be in store for the children’s media space.

As Asmodee UK announces its partnership with Mojo Nation to check out the art and design talent with the UK university student’s scene, we explore the topic of the evolving artwork of board games and tabletop titles, and how important it is to driving the success of some of the scene’s biggest sellers.

Of course, we at ToyNews like to champion the talent of the industry’s rising stars… and it turns out, you lot do too. This year, we have been inundated with nominations for our annual 30 Under 30 – sponsored by Gameplan Europe – making the task of whittling it down to just 30 a very difficult one indeed. It’s uplifting to see this industry continue to nurture and celebrate the talent of the up and coming generation, as well as to see the parameters of this business extending wider year after year.

Then, as Hornby turns 100 this year, we sit down with the hobby and model specialist to discover just how the team will be celebrating, and find out what plans this heritage and staple of British history and culture has got planned to continue to grow its audiences well into the future.

From one Great British success story to another, ToyNews talks exclusively to Games Workshop, a thriving retail, gaming, and licensing business that continues to go from strength to strength, as well as get the inside, exclusive track on Formula One’s plans to enter the toy space this year. Both making for a fascinating read this season – if we do say so ourselves.

There’s more to come still, as ToyNews dives into this year’s toy fair offerings with show guides covering Spring Fair, Nuremberg’s Spielwarenmesse, and of course, London Toy Fair.

On top of this, no ToyNews would be complete without its run of exclusive regulars, including the agenda setting opinions from industry voices, the latest industry insights, and our expert panel of retail specialists.

Read all of this and more here.

Warner Bros’ Pam Lifford and WWE’s Stephanie McMahon to receive WIT’s Wonder Women Awards Honours

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Warner Bros Global Brands and Experiences president, Pam Lifford will join WWE chief brand officer, Stephanie McMahon in becoming the 2020 Honourees of Women in Toys, Licensing, and Entertainment’s 16th Annual Wonder Women Awards.

This year’s ceremony will see Lifford take the WIT’s Mentor of the Year Award, while McMahon will receive the WIT Changemaker Award.

Lifford is responsible for strengthening consumer engagement across Warner’s iconic characters and Global Franchise businesses, including, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, Themed Entertainment and fan-focused brands, DC, HBO and Cartoon Network properties.

Her oversight includes domestic and international licensing, worldwide marketing, business and legal affairs, finance, and retail business development related to some of the most highly regarded entertainment franchises in the world.

In Lifford’s first year at WBCP, she increased overall business by 47 per cent and has continued a consistent growth trajectory ever since. She spent 12 years at Disney, rising through the ranks to become a member of the consumer products executive leadership team as Executive Vice President.

With more than 25 years of experience, Lifford is a widely respected industry veteran, who embraces the power of collaboration and mentorship and was recently installed in the LIMA Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, as WWE Chief Brand Officer, McMahon is responsible for the company’s Brand, Community Relations and Pop Culture strategies, and represents WWE as its global brand ambassador.

Among her many contributions, she has been the driving force behind WWE’s women’s evolution, which has given female performers an equal share of the spotlight both in and out of the ring. Adweek has included McMahon in their list of the Most Powerful Women in Sports for the past four years and recently recognised her as a 2019 Brand Genius.

She was also recently named to Forbes’ Most Influential CMOs report. In 2014, McMahon and her husband, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, established Connor’s Cure, a fund dedicated to fighting pediatric cancer, which has raised $3 million to date and has helped more than 400 families.

“Pam Lifford and Stephanie McMahon are two extraordinary and exemplary women business leaders, and we are thrilled to honour them for their commitment and overall impact on advancing women both within and beyond their own organisations,” said Genna Rosenberg from GennComm and Jennifer Caveza, from ViacomCBS, Wonder Women Awards Co-Chairs.

The 16th Annual Wonder Women Awards, held on Sunday, February 23 at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, coinciding with Toy Fair New York, honours top female executives, thought leaders, entrepreneurs and other change makers for their extraordinary accomplishments and impact within the toy, licensing and the entertainment industries.