Acamar Films signs slate of new UK partners for its hit pre-school series Bing

Acamar Films has signed up a slate of new UK partners for its hit pre-school show, Bing, including the likes of Beautiful Game and Kennedy Publishing, as well as further line extensions with Moonpig and a renewed partnership with CBeebies Land at Alton Towers Resort.

Beautiful Game launched Bing wall stickers in late August this year, which are now available direct to customers from its web shop (www.beautifulgame.co.uk) and on Amazon Prime. Founded in 2014, the platform is recognised as a leading official and exclusive home of sports and entertainment wall art.

Sebastian Mather, managing director of Beautiful Game, said: “We are delighted to partner with Acamar for these brand-new wall stickers. Bing is a visual treat, colourful and fun, and will make wonderful wall art for nurseries or play areas. We are sure that Bingsters will love the chance to be surrounded by their favourite character and his friends.”

Meanwhile, Kennedy Publishing launched its Box of … Bing! on 13 August. The deal is for an innovative branded carry box containing a 16-page craft magazine, a 16-page colouring magazine, two fold-out sticker sheets, a fold-out poster, giant sticker story and lots of creative gifts, from paint pots and crayons to cookie cutters and craft supplies.

Priced at £3.99, the newly themed box will go on sale across news-stands every six weeks. Bing will also feature in Kennedy Publishing’s compilation titles, Busy Time and Get Busy.

Moonpig launched first with personalised Bing cards in January 2020 and then expanded the collection to the addition of e-cards from April 2020. The Bing launch has been a great success and Acamar Films is developing more product with Moonpig.

Bing has been resident in CBeebies Land at Alton Towers Resort since 2017 and due to the ongoing popularity of the brand the partnership is confirmed to continue into 2021 with 2 mini shows and Bing and Flop meet and greets. The popularity of Bing is also reflected in merchandise sales with Bing continuing to be the top-selling brand in the retail stores within the CBeebies Land and CBeebies Land Hotel.

Louise Simmonds, head of UK licensing and merchandising at Acamar Films, said: “We are thrilled to announce we are teaming up with these respected partners to offer Bing fans a selection of wonderful new quality products. We are excited to be expanding our Bing licensing programme thanks to our dedicated focus and carefully considered strategy, which has seen strong growth over the past year.”

These deals follow hot on the heels of new toy partnerships with 8th Wonder and MV Sports, with recent NPD data listing Bing among the top 10 fastest growing toy licenses from January to June 2020 in the UK. Acamar Films will be exhibiting at the Festival of Licensing 6-8 October.

Unanico Group to bolster content development, production and licensing under new CEO Leanne Preston

The international independent media company, Unanico Group is looking to bolster its content development, production and global partnership and licensing strategies with the appointment of a new Producer and CEO in the form of Leanne Preston.

The former Nickelodeon executive is set to head up the award-winning team and bring her over 14 years of animation experience to the role as Unanico continues on its mission to expand across the US.

During her time at Nickelodeon, Preston worked on the BAFTA-nominated House of Anubis, before moving into her role as head of development at Red Kits Animation. It was there that she spearheaded the development of the award-winning DreamWorks Classics property George of the Jungle, now airing in over 125 countries, and Ella Bella Bingo, recently sold to over 25 countries.

Prior to joining Unanico, Preston has served as head of production development, animation for Citizen Skull Productions, working on Nickelodeon’s LEGO City Adventures, Youku and international pre-school series Emmy & GooRoo, and Tencent hit Mini Mind Warriors.

Preston also had a stint as director of animation development for production at Gaumont Animation US.

Founded in 2009 by producer Paul Laikin and creative director Jason Jameson, Unanico Group is dedicated to the creation of original 2D, 3D and CGI animation, with a focus on developing and producing in-house IPs, as well as co-developing and co-producing animated IPs from selected partners.

Unanico Group creates long-form series, films, shorts, illustrated books, casual games, apps, interactive experiences, AR, VR, MR and licensed merchandise. Previous projects include: One Night In Hell, an award-winning animated short film in collaboration with Queen’s guitarist Brian May, the All Dead, All Dead Queen music video (3M+ views on YouTube), and the animation of all three seasons of CBeebies four-time BAFTA-nominated series, Apple Tree House.

Preston is joining Unanico Group following the release of its pre-school series Buddi in March of 2020. Buddi is streaming worldwide as a Netflix Original Series, with executive producer Keith Chapman. Unanico Group is currently in development of multiple other original series and feature films and has industry partnerships in Japan and in China, where the company has successfully distributed Apple Tree House and Koala Brothers to platforms such as Tencent Video, Mango TV and Jetson Huashi and produced Buddi with Motion Magic of Shanghai Media Group.

“Unanico Group is thrilled to welcome Preston to the team, and excited for her collaboration and leadership on their upcoming development slate and productions, including exciting new IPs and music partnerships,” read a statement from the firm.

“Unanico is dedicated to creating quality animation and forming strategic partnerships, with several new projects underway with major companies leading the IP. We’re excited for the upcoming developments from Preston and her team.”

Boat Rocker Studios secures raft of global TV partners for Love Monster

Boat Rocker Studios, a division of global media company Boat Rocker Media, has secured a raft of TV sales for its quirky new pre-school series, Love Monster. The new slate follows the series successful launch on CBeebies in late January this year.

Love Monster has achieved over six million views on iPlayer to date, and has now secured a suite of international broadcast partners, including ABC Australia, CBC Gem Canada, RTE Ireland, YLE Finland, and TVNZ New Zealand. These partners are joined by MBC, the largest private media company in the Middle East, and the Iberian kids’ subscription channel Canal Panda for Spain as well as the free-to-air channel Viu TV in Hong Kong.

The international roll out started with ABC Australia in June 2020.

Love Monster is a 2D animated series that follows the adventures of the one-of-a-kind, huggable hero Love Monster and his friends in Fluffytown. Full of heart and helping pre-schoolers understand different emotions, Love Monster showcases the importance of kindness, empathy, connection and instinct.

The series is based on the bestselling pre-school books by Rachel Bright, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.  The production is a ground-breaking collaboration between BBC Children’s In-House Productions, Boat Rocker Studios and the Chinese kids’ entertainment company UYoung.

Love Monster is executive produced by Tony Reed for the BBC, Chapman Maddox for Boat Rocker and James Chen Gu for UYoung. The UK share of the animation for the series is produced by Karrot Animation and A Productions, whilst a proportion of pre-production on scripts, storyboards and design is provided by UYoung’s studio in China.

Boat Rocker Studios is managing the global content distribution and consumer products program for the franchise, excluding China and South East Asia which is managed by UYoung.

Licensing Link Europe named worldwide licensing agent for Monty & Co

Licensing Link Europe has been appointed to represent the worldwide rights to develop a licensing and merchandising programme around Monty & Co, a new pre-school puppet series from Pipkins Productions.

The series – which completed production of 34 x 11-minute episodes in February – has already been acquired by CBeebies and started airing on the channel from July, 25 this year and thereafter on the iPlayer. At this stage, 52 x 11-minute episodes are planned.

Each episode is written as a mini-drama in the life of wallaby Monty and an eclectic group of characters living above a ‘mend, reinvent and recycle’ shop. Episodes deal with everyday issues of sadness, anger and fear, however all stories and themes are delivered with comedy and song in a happy, safe and loving environment.

Monty & Co has been created by Pipkins Productions, a collective of artists who have previously worked on Pipkins with Hartley Hare (which ran for over ten years in the UK) and subsequently on the Muppet movies, Avenue Q, Spitting Image, the PG Tips Monkey, Mopatop Shop, Chucklevision, Coronation Street and The Famous Five among others.

Licensing Link Europe will initially be targeting categories including toys, publishing, arts and crafts, role-play, nightwear and daywear.

Ian Wickham, director at Licensing Link Europe, said: “The calibre and collective resumés of the team behind Monty & Co are like a list of ‘who’s who’ in both children’s and adult drama and entertainment. The storytelling, the songs, the production quality and puppetry have a wholesome charm that stands this show apart from anything else on television and FVOD in the UK.

“We believe parents will be very enthusiastic about the content and structure, as Monty & Co delights and enchants their pre-schoolers with its imagination, role-play, fun and a healthy dose of slapstick silliness. It’s gently educational too.”

Nigel Plaskitt, executive producer of Monty & Co, added: “High quality merchandising and publishing are really important to us.  We have always had an overall view of the whole project of reaching out to children and their families, taking the characters into their homes and everyday life.”.

 

The Hachette Children’s Group lands publishing rights for the hit pre-school series Tinpo

The Point. 1888 has partnered with one of the UK’s leading children’s publishers, the Hachette Children’s Group, to adapt the CGI animated television series Tinpo into a wide range of book and activity formats.

The agreement will see the launch of a new range of picture books, annuals, story books, activity books, and novelty books featuring the characters and stories from the popular children’s series.

Since launching in February 2019 via a prime slot on the CBeebies television channel, Tinpo has become a favourite among its pre-school audience in the UK. Combining themes of construction and unconventional problem solving, the main character Tinpo and his team resolve problems in their unique world in ways that are never practical, but always fun.

In addition to the UK, the show just launched last week in Japan on TV Tokyo and last month in Latin America on Nick Jr./Noggin with more broadcaster announcements coming shortly.

The Hachette Children’s Group was chosen as the property’s publishing partner for its record of success in creating award-winning and bestselling books for children of all ages and interests. Its licensed publishing includes Rainbow Magic, Beast Quest and Pokémon.

Bethan Garton, retail and brand director at The Point.1888, said: “This is a wonderful start to what will be a successful licensing programme for Tinpo and its owner, Cloudco Entertainment. Publishing is a key pillar within the programme, allowing the brand to reach an already loyal audience with some crucial products in a popular category.

“Here at The Point.1888, we love working with the Hachette Children’s Group and are delighted to be adding Tinpo to its portfolio of impressive brands.”

Heather Crossley, Pat-a-Cake and Licensing Publisher at the Hachette Children’s Group, commented: “We’re delighted to be constructing a tailored publishing programme that introduces the “Tintastic” world of STEAM to pre-schoolers. Building on the themes of problem-solving, creativity and teamwork, we will combine tried-and-tested formats with innovative ideas to create books that children will come back to time and again.”

Roubina Tchoboian, vice-president of international licensing at Cloudco Entertainment, added: “We have long admired the products that Hachette Children’s Group creates and look forward to seeing the key themes of Tinpo brought to life through what we’re confident will be a successful range of books.”

 

Boat Rocker Studios signs raft of leading UK licensees for pre-school hit Love Monster

Boat Rocker Studios has detailed a raft of new licensees for its popular new pre-school series, Love Monster spanning nightwear, bedding, daywear, and dress-up and accessories.

Love Monster launched on CBeebies in January this year and already it has proved a hit among young audiences. Support for the series has now been highlighted through the signing of some of the licensing industry’s leading names across apparel, home textiles, and dress-up products.

Cooneen has signed for nightwear and underwear, Dreamtex for bedding and home textiles, Blues for daywear and swimwear, and Amscan International for dress up clothing and accessories. This A list roster of renowned partners are launching Love Monster ranges from autumn/winter 2020 and spring/summer 2021.

Kate Schlomann, executive vice president of brand management and content marketing, Boat Rocker Studios, said: “Children have taken Love Monster and his menagerie of cute furry friends to their hearts, and soon they will be able to get even closer to their Fluffytown heroes, with these delightful new ranges.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with these best-in-class companies to build Love Monster into a strong brand franchise.”

Love Monster, a quirky, 2D animated 54 x 7’ pre-school series which shares little life learnings from a unique monster with a huge heart, is based on the bestselling pre-school books by Rachel Bright, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books. The show is the result of a collaboration between BBC Children’s In-House Productions, Boat Rocker Studios and the Chinese production company UYoung.

Within the series, Love Monster searches for the right thing to do in a world in which he is one of a kind. Full of heart and helping pre-schoolers understand different emotions, Love Monster showcases the importance of kindness, empathy, connection and instinct. It currently airs weekdays in the UK on CBeebies and has reached over 4 million iPlayer requests since launch in January.

Boat Rocker Studios is managing the global content distribution and consumer products program for the franchise, excluding China and South East Asia which is managed by UYoung.

How Step Inside Productions is breaking new ground in the experiential licensing market

Having made a name for itself amid the Escape Room explosion of the past half a decade or so, Theseus, and moreover its live experiential division, Step Inside Productions is about to embark on a project that makes use of one of the newest formats within experiential licensing at the moment.

Nine years into its business venture of developing the Escape Hunt franchise, Theseus recently unveiled its plans to develop a touring CBeebies-themed interactive pop-up experience for children and parents; a concept that will feature some of the channel’s most popular IP, including Hey Duggee, Something Special, and Sarah & Duck.

Called CBeebies Rainbow Adventure, the concept – one that is already scheduled for regional locations across the UK for the first six months of 2021, but has plans in place that cover at least the next five years – is what the team of IP experts at Theseus has billed as somewhat of a boundary-pushing strand of content consumption for modern audiences.

Just as this is team of experts who have built careers on pioneering in emerging content platforms, including the first VOD deal struck for Warner Bros back in 2003, or the establishment of BT Television and subsequent launch of BT Sport, Theseus and Step Inside Productions is a meeting of talents from across the space, with the aim of innovating in the relatively nascent experiential market.

Licensing.biz takes the chance to catch up with Victoria Molony, director of business affairs at Step Inside Productions to talk about the future of experiential licensing, and how its CBeebies partnership is setting a new precedent in the market.

Hi Victoria, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Let’s start then, by exploring what Theseus and the Step Inside Productions division is…

Theseus was set up back in 2011 by Dan Marks. We have worked together over the years, originally when I was at Warner Bros, then at Universal, then we worked together at BT for a long time, and we have consulted on a variety of different IP brands since then.

Theseus came out of the last bit of work we were doing which was in the Escape Room world for a business called Escape Hunt. From setting up BT Vision and the launch of BT Sport, we have been at the forefront of new ways of exploiting content over the years, looking at and helping IP owners with the latest new route to market.

Dan was part of the team that devised The Wizarding World as the way in which to link Harry Potter with Fantastic Beasts from JK Rowling. I was on the legal side, and we were working for a business called Blair Partnership who owned Pottermore.

Through our work with Escape Hunt, we brokered a deal with BBC Studios for Doctor Who, and that kickstarted an ongoing conversation with the team there.

Aha, and from there, it wasn’t long until Step Inside Productions was born, and you looked at tapping into the rise of the live experience market?

Yes, we felt that the market place is moving and brands are looking for more innovative ways of reaching the consumer. There’s a push back against simply consuming content digitally with brand owners looking to find a more physical connection with their consumers; coupled with the fact that we have reached peak ‘stuff’, and people are looking to spend their disposable income more on experiences rather than on more things.

You also have this situation on the high street where people are rarely going into shops, and the retail landlords are really looking for ways to drive footfall into their shopping centres; you have town council improvement schemes looking for ways to bring people into town.

It takes that holy trinity of things – the wish for physical expression, the wish for people to spend money on things they are connecting with, and the wish for town centres and shopping centres to drive footfall – through which you have this fantastic opportunity to create experiential concepts that draws all of those things together.

So what does your portfolio look like now?

At the moment, we are very focused on the CBeebies partnership, which will be touring the UK for the next six months certainly, and we have the 2021 schedule complete. We plan on having that on the road for up to the next five years. 

We have been really pleased with the interest and demand that some of the regional venues have driven. I think people in the smallest towns and cities around the country aren’t used to getting really high quality entertainment like this. It usually all goes to Manchester or Birmingham, but not so much Hull or Ipswich.

We have other clients in the advisory stage, who are just at the beginnings of their foray into the experiential, and a number at the start of their concept. What we would really like to do is use this as an entertainment format in the same way that TV shows are created, then you use them as vehicles to present content.

Oh, that’s an interesting concept… could you expand on this idea?

Well, we will be looking to find other IP owners as partners to take a similar sort of touring concept on. We believe that live experiences have become a new strand of content consumption for audiences.

We took our cues from the theme parks who do experiential extremely well, such as Disney, Universal, and Merlin. But we wanted to do something that was much more attainable for the majority of brand owners; something that wouldn’t drive all of their budget as a theme park would, but something that ticks that hour or two activity box for families. So, it’s a morning activity, it’s not a day out. It’s something more attune to going to the theatre or an exhibition.

Meanwhile, if you look at the Escape Room concept, you have six or eight people maximum in a group, and most of those sites only have six escape rooms, so you have somewhere between 50 and 70 people per hour attending an escape room. We wanted to do something that is more in the 150 to 200 people an hour, which enables you to be driving revenue to allow yourselves to create something that is a bit more of an in-depth immersive experience.

In the context of CBeebies, it’s such an iconic brand that at its heart has educational entertainment enjoyed by children and parents, and has so much to offer the experiential. Coupled with the fact that you have a consumer market place that is available seven days a week, all year round – we leapt at the chance to work with them.

We wanted, and the BBC wanted, something that would showcase the CBeebies channel, as well as the programming on the channel; so we see the experience we have created as the manifestation of the CBeebies channel, with five different brand experiences within it. We came up with the idea of creating a touring showroom, and the BBC loved it because it fits so well with their public service commitment.

The more ways that you can really connect people with your brand, the stronger the link is, and there is no better way to form a connection with anything than to do it face to face and in person.

How have you seen the experiential market evolve or how is it currently evolving and what changes are being brought about?

The experiential market itself is in a very nascent state really. Theme parks have been around a long time; while the escape room sector has gone from nothing to an enormous number of players across the world in a relatively short period of time. It is probably close to reaching – it maybe too strong to say saturation – but probably looking at some consolidation around the big players refining their offering.

I do think the market place for revenue generating experiential activity is relatively nascent. It’s been popular from a marketing activation standpoint for brands, but not so much as a means of generating revenue. We like to see ourselves as being at the forefront of leading some of the content creation around that, in that middle market of course.

What does the future hold for the experiential market, and its ongoing relationship with licensing in that case?

This is something that all of the major IP owners are looking at. Anecdotally, experience sits within the consumer products arm with many of the Hollywood studios, and they are looking at rebranding and recreating those divisions to really drive experiential, alongside their historic merchandise operations.

I think there will be a trend to consolidate with people pulling together the new formats that we are looking at in the way that escape rooms came out of nowhere. There will be new formats that come in all of the time, and we see our touring model as being one of those.

Coolabi secures new content and licensing partnerships for Clangers

The independent media group, Coolabi Group has secured a raft of new partnerships for the award-winning pre-school property, Clangers spanning a deal with Gulliver;s Theme park Resorts, new episodes on CBeebies UK, and a YouTube Kids series.

A new Clangers licensing partnership with Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts will see the launch of a live experience aimed at families with pre-school children launching this February half term. It features a 15 minute live Clangers stage show with Tiny and Small Clanger, as well as special hotel and birthday packages,

The partnership will run across four locations throughout the year.

On top of this, new episodes of the BAFTA winning show Clangers will air on CBeebies in March and will conclude series three. Narrated by Sir Michael Palin, the new eight x 11’ episodes will follow the Clangers on a host of new experiences and adventures.

The stop-motion animation series of Clangers is also continuing its global expansion on YouTube, by bringing more episodes to YouTube Kids in the US. The first 10 episodes of series three launched this week on the streaming service.

The recently launched YouTube seriesThe Tiny and Small Clanger Show, which has accumulated over 500k views so far, uses hand puppetry and is produced by Wildbrain Spark and Coolabi Productions.

Available to watch now on the Clangers official YouTube channel, the short-form series follows Tiny and Small as they embark on lots of educational adventures together from learning about recycling and nursery rhymes, to finding out more about music, shapes and counting.

Available for licensees, Tiny & Small Dreams will feature a unisex palette on a clean white base, with pops of colour, flat character art, stitching detail and applique details. The range will be launching on the Clangers official store this quarter.

Director of content at Coolabi Group, Michael Dee, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be starting the new year with some brand new Clangers episodes on CBeebies and also celebrating our core pre-school family audience by focusing on the youngest members of the Clangers family, Tiny and Small, with a series of creative new brand extensions including live experiences and licensed apparel.

“YouTube is an essential platform for content creators to reach preschoolers. The Tiny and Small Show is full of educational messages, songs and adventure, and we are confident that it will resonate and be embraced by little Clangers fans across the globe.”

BBC Studios taps Step Inside Productions to launch first CBeebies-themed experiential pop-up tour for kids

BBC Studios has tapped the London-based experiential production company, Step Inside Productions, to develop and manage the first CBeebies-themed interactive pop-up experience for children.

The CBeebies Rainbow Adventure has been designed for children under the age of six and their parents, families, or carers, delivering a transportable, inflatable CBeebies-themed structure spanning 350 square meters.

It contains an array of immersive activities based on CBeebies favourites, including Hey Duggee, Something Special, Sarah & Duck, Go Jetters, and Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures.

CBeebies Rainbow Adventure launches its year-round tour of the UK in April 2020, debuting at Ealing Common, before moving on to Brent Cross, Hull, Ipswich, Richmond, and York. Further UK locations will be announced in due course.

Step Inside Productions is part of Theseus Agency, which consults to clients in entertainment and media to develop new products, brands and business strategies and to source and execute commercial deals.

The company specialises in designing, producing, licensing and operating experiential entertainment formats and combines the vision and extensive experience in entertainment business, rights and design of its partners – Dan Marks, Victoria Molony and Samantha Hardingham – to develop and operate new experiential formats.

Dan Marks was the deputy managing director of British Telecom’s consumer division and CEO of BT TV. He has also held senior executive positions at Universal Studios Networks Worldwide, ProSiebenSat1 and TV3 Russia.

A best-selling author and experienced architectural designer, Samantha Hardingham has curated exhibitions in the UK and Europe. She led on the design of the CBeebies Rainbow Adventure.

Victoria Molony is a qualified lawyer and experienced business affairs adviser specialising in media, entertainment and telecoms. She has advised a range of clients including international broadcasters, Premier League football clubs and J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore on licensing, exploitation and distribution matters.

Marks said: “We’re incredibly excited to be launching CBeebies Rainbow Adventure into the experiential market. The rich insights and cross-sector experience that the partners bring have enabled us to take a truly holistic approach to the creation of new entertainment experiences.”

Mat Way, global director, live entertainment, at BBC Studios, added: “We are thrilled to be working with Step Inside Productions on the first ever CBeebies interactive pop-up experience. CBeebies Rainbow Adventure is an innovative, inspiring and fun way of bringing CBeebies branded activities to the UK regions.”