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

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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.

Keith Chapman’s new Netflix pre-school series Buddi brings in licensing big guns

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Keith Chapman – the much-loved name behind the likes of PAW Patrol and Bob the Builder, has turned his attention to the early pre-school audience, having joined forces with Unanico Studios and creator, Jason Jameson to develop a new animated pre-school series for Netflix.

Called Buddi, the show is aimed at the early pre-school audience. It will launch on Netflix worldwide on March 20 this year, delivering youngsters a sensory world of imagination and exploration.

Raydar Media, led by managing director Alison Rayson, is managing all rights to Buddi in collaboration with Unanico, Keith Chapman, GCI Film, FroG-Land Productions, Shanghai Motion Magic, and Spider Eye Studios. 

Raydar believes the show’s stunning visual style, coupled with it being non-verbal and early pre-school sets it completely apart from other pre-school series.

A consumer products programme – managed by broadcast licensing expert Valerie Fry – is already in the early stages of development and will be introduced to potential licensees over the coming months; the expectation is that it will deliver a vibrant range of lines where there is currently a gap in the younger preschool market.

Buddi features five friends or Buddis, called Iso, Cini, Vihi, Puna, and Kelta, each distinctively bright and colourful in their own way. The Buddis rejoice in their differences as friends, and explore the nuances of their natural world, caring for their environment as they go along. Together, they discover the wonder of snow, sand, rainbows and mud-fights, and meet many fascinating creatures that test their senses and inhabit the landscape of their home, Buddi Kotti.

Buddi aims to emphasise emotional intelligence and feelings through the imaginative use of music and sound. The melodies of Buddi showcase homemade instruments, so kids can play along to their favourite song. The Buddis express themselves with giggles, squeaks, and coos, which transcend nationalities and cultures, allowing the characters to connect instantly with everyone.

Asmodee Entertainment and Hourglass Escapes unleash the Arkham Horror Files franchise on experiential licensing

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The Seattle-based puzzle room specialists, Hourglass Escapes – renowned in the pop culture circles for its licensed Evil Dead 2 escape room, has partnered with Asmodee Entertainment to unleash a new brand of horror to the experiential genre.

Working with the board game publisher-turned-entertainment studio, Hourglass Escapes has constructed a new Escape Room experience inspired by the Arkham Horror Files tabletop gaming franchise.

The launch will mark the first of its kind for Asmodee Entertainment and Fantasy Flight Games as it delivers “Lovecraftian monsters in the first official Arkham Horror Files escape room in the US.”

Hourglass Escape’s officially licensed Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn Escape Room has become a hit with pop culture fans, having received over 100 five-star reviews.

“It was such an amazing experience developing and opening the Evil Dead 2 Escape Room,” said Hourglass Escapes’ founder and creative director, Seth Wolfson. “We feel so lucky to have a chance to create a new experience based on the iconic board and card games set in the Arkham Horror Universe published by Fantasy Flight Games.”

The concept will launch this summer and will transport participants back to 1927 where the owner of the Gilman Hotel on the coast of Innsmouth has died under mysterious circumstances. Players will have 70 minutes to solve the unnatural mystery or fall prey to its horrors.

As an added level of geekdom, the voice actor of Spider-Man from the PS4 game Marvel’s Spider-Man, Yuri Lowenthal will star as the in-game narrator. Players will also be able to download their characters and costume ideas, as well as receive a special item on arrival that will help their chosen character within the game.

“This new game is going to blow both Arkham Horror and Lovecraftian fans away,” said Wolfson. “Based on A Shadow Over Innsmouth, this will be a story driven escape room with the classic Arkham Horror Files game mechanics woven in.”

Funko, the pop culture lifestyle, and why 2020 is going to be a game changer for its European business

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It’s likely the fact that Funko – in one form or another – can be found in most toy shops on the high street or otherwise today, that the firm’s insistence that ‘it is not a toy company,’ takes some time to comprehend.

As the pop culture explosion that Funko found itself at the centre of mid-way through the last decade continues to surge across the UK, it stands to reason that the purveyor of Pop! has found itself an almost omnipresent figurehead of the trend.

It wouldn’t have escaped many people’s attention that year on year, the Funko brand has been gaining shelf space inch by inch across the retail landscape; most recently it compounded its growth within the toy space with the launch of its ‘revolutionary’ Paka Paka platform into The Entertainer’s boundary-pushing Westfield store – a concept that went on to launch in Forbidden Planet’s Glasgow store, and will be followed with launches in Primark and Smyths Toys.

Nevertheless, Funko’s mantra remains. This is more than a toy company, and for the past number of years it has been actively positioning itself as a lifestyle brand, with a portfolio that spans all manner of categories from its vinyl figures, to softlines, bags, purses, wallets and homewares, developed in conjunction with its Loungefly brand.

There aren’t many toy companies, after all, that can lay claim to presence in such a diverse line-up of retailers; and it’s this, diversification, that has just helped Funko’s EMEA operation to one of its better financial years to date.

“We grew significantly in EMEA, it was the strongest growing of the regions internationally,” Andy Oddie, Funko’s managing director of EMEA, tells Licensing.biz. “And it is being a lifestyle company with the lifestyle businesses that we have got, that has helped us in the face of the challenges in the industry.

Funko EMEA managing director, Andy Oddie, says 2020 will be a game changing year

“We are in a broader channel, and that’s allowed us to tap into many different opportunities at retail and through e-commerce. One of the biggest initiatives for us at the moment is with Primark.

“But with our multi-channel and multi-category approach we can attack in certain areas and defend in other areas, and be in a multitude of places that others would maybe fail to reach.”

It came as a surprise to many in the business when Funko’s US division detailed an eight per cent dip in its Q4 2019 results last month, finishing up at $214 million compared to the $233 million the year prior. It was the challenging retail environment of the US that contributed to the majority of the dip.

The story for Funko’s EMEA operations, however, offers a stark contrast. 

“All categories grew and all markets within EMEA – that’s nearly all 116 markets in the EMEA region – grew, and all those sub-markets that look after and feed into them grew,” continues Oddie. 

“In fact, we grew the workforce by 25 per cent and we have opened a new distribution centre in Coventry, which is state of the art with logistics systems and hardware meaning that we can be even quicker to market with our product.

“We are famously quick to develop items, but we have been criticised in the past for being poor operationally. I think this will be a game-changer for us, our operational capabilities will be massively upgraded with this facility.”

The new facility sees Funko move its current operations unit out of Essex and into its new Coventry address, from where it will service the majority of its key customers. A portion will continue to be serviced from the Netherlands distribution centre it opened in 2018. Oddie summarises the past year and a half at Funko making preparations for 2020 to be a game-changing year for the firm.

“Suddenly we are not only going to be quick to the market with product, but able to fulfil it and get it to the customer quicker than before as well,” he says.

“We have got growth, growth, growth, and we have got the new distribution centre – so that all sounds fantastic.”

But Funko isn’t totally immune to the susceptibility that hounds the toy, entertainment, or licensing industry. It’s US business already placed blame for its Q4 dip at the door of a weaker movie slate through 2019 compared to the year prior, while many have already lamented a softer line up still for the year ahead.

“The Disney slate is lighter than it has been previously,” states Oddie. “Warner has a good film out with Birds of Prey, but net – we are in a weaker environment in terms of properties for 2020. I think fortunately we are in the multichannel and with multi-categories.

“We are somewhat guarded from the difficulties of a soft movie slate, simply because we have such a broad product slate which is tapping into every imaginable piece of IP and opportunity, but at some point or another you can’t directly replace something as large as Marvel End Game… you need a lot of bits to replace End Game or Fortnite.

“But we do have all of the armoury available to defend from any lack of content, and, by the way, the 2021 IP slate looks awesome.”

Funko EMEA’s new state of the art logistics centre in Coventry

Visitors to this year’s New York Toy Fair were offered a glimpse at that armoury that not only spanned the diversity of its lifestyle portfolio, but also witnesses Funko make a concerted step into the toy space with the launch of Snapsies: a toy line developed for the younger market that features snap and match technology that allows kids to collect a diverse line-up of characters.

In a move to offer a fully-branded experience, Funko has even launched the line with content created by its in-house team at Funko Animation Studios.

Funko’s lifestyle division Loungefly gives Disney’s Mulan the Funko feel

On top of this, of course, is Funko Games, the tabletop gaming arm to Funko’s pop culture-spanning entity, that brings the brand roaring into the ever growing market for IP-driven board games with a collection that includes the Back to the Future: Back in Time tabletop game, Godzilla: Tokyo Clash, and a left field title that uses the Pan Am license.

With this now all falling under the Funko brand name, it’s increasingly obvious as to how the pop culture specialist is gaining those inches at retail, while the larger – grand plan if you will – for Funko appears to shift into view.

“We will always say that we want more space,” says Oddie. “Space gives us the ability to trade on a linear basis, and we have the product to achieve that. If we have three bays in retailer X, we say if you give us six bays, we will always achieve double what we did in three bays due to the items we have in strength and breadth.

“What we are looking to do is create Funko dedicated experiences and experiential retail execution that is interesting to fans, people spend time looking at it, perhaps there is a TV screen in there and some Funko branding in there, which really supports a much more interesting kind of experience for the customer – which is what everyone is looking for right now.

“The customer needs to be kept in store and needs to be excited about what’s in store. They need to see something new every week, and we can give that. Very few others can put their hand on their heart and say that they are delivering on all of that,” Oddie concludes.

Chris Packham joins creative team behind animated eco-comedy Flora of the Forest

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Conservationist and national treasure, Chris Packham has partnered with the creative team behind Flora of the Forest to provide expert consultation and input into the natural history elements central to the animated pre-school ‘eco-comedy’ series.

In his role – and working with the team at Koko Rose Media – Packham will guide stories towards matters of relevance and interest in the world of conservation and the environment.

Chris Packham is one of the UK’s leading naturalists, a broadcaster, award-winning conservationist, photographer and best-selling author. He is a presenter of the popular shows Springwatch, Autumnwatch, and Winterwatch series, as well as other notable shows such as Nature’s Weirdest Events, World’s Weirdest Events, World’s Sneakiest Animals, andSecrets of our Living Planet. 

His documentaries include Chris Packham: Forever Punk and Chris Packham: 7.7 Billion People and Counting.  Flora of the Forest is the only animated preschool series in Chris’ current or recent projects.

Created by UK artist Jo Rose, Flora of the Forest is an animated preschool eco-comedy starring Flora, a switched-on seven-year old with a passion for nature and a bold mission in life: to someday publish Flora’s Diary of Every Living Thing.

Flora, Toby and Rowan Fox, are Citizen Scientists, friends with a natural-born spark for science, and a relentless curiosity of the natural world. The series is in development with three-time Emmy winning showrunner and co-developer, Karen Fowler.

Packham said: “As a passionate conservationist and campaigner, inspiring people into awareness and action is essential. Flora of the Forest sets out to inspire this awareness and action in very young viewers, with humour, beautiful settings, and wonderfully original characters. I am very much looking forward to helping Flora make an impact on future citizen scientists everywhere.”

Jo Rose, creator of Flora of the Forest, added: “As a nature-inspired artist from the New Forest, I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Chris. Chris has played a significant role in influencing my sustainable art practice as well as informing Flora’s world and the characters in the show.

“My family and I are huge fans of Chris’s environmental and conservation work and my son, an avid bird watcher, is over the moon.”

Princess Anne unveils hand-knitted Doctor Who clothing range from UK luxury brand Corgi

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In a second helping of Doctor Who news, it’s the luxury brand Corgi that has climbed aboard the TARDIS, having partnered with BBC Studios to launch the range of Doctor Who knitwear worn by Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor in the latest series of the sci-fi soap opera.

Corgi’s Doctor Who range will include 100 per cent cashmere socks, wool socks, a cashmere scarf, a wool scarf and a hand-made cashmere and cotton blend jumper, all of which will be from yarns sustainably sourced from UK suppliers.

The knitwear, Corgi has stated, is made using traditional hand knitting techniques and hand finished to the “very highest standard”. All the products are made in the UK at Corgi’s factory in Ammanford, Wales.

 The range was designed by costume designer Ray Holman (Doctor Who, Torchwood) for the Thirteenth Doctor’s costume and is now available to fans across the world for the first time.

 Holman said: “I chose to work with Corgi after visiting the factory and seeing the high quality materials they use and the beautiful products they create. As a small company in the heart of Wales the craft of knitting is still very much alive and we were able to use these skills in the creation of the jumpers, socks and scarves for this range. It has been a pleasure to work with Corgi and create such a wonderful range of garments for The Doctor.”

 Corgi is a Welsh, family-run company producing luxury socks and knitwear. Established in 1892, the company is still located in a small Welsh mining town and has developed a reputation as a leading luxury sock and knitwear brand.

The company was awarded a Royal Warrant by HRH the Prince of Wales in 1988, and continues to supply the Royal family with knitted goods. The launch of the range coincides with a royal visit at the Corgi factory in Wales, with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal arriving to meet staff in her capacity as President of the UK Fashion & Textile industry.

Princess Anne was shown the new Doctor Who range as part of this visit, and presented with a cashmere Doctor Who scarf as a gift.

 Chris Jones at Corgi, added: “We’re very excited to be working with BBC Studios on a product range for Doctor Who. Working with the creative team, we have produced a beautiful line of distinctive knitwear and socks that deliver both style and high quality that we hope fans will love.”

Fox, Universal, and Capcom licensee Fanattik picks up Small Business of the Year award

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The pop culture gift and collectables specialist, Fanattik is celebrating its major win last week when it picked up the award for Small Business of the Year presented by the Federation of Small Business.

The popular film and video game licensee currently boasts partnerships with some of the biggest studios on the scene, including the likes of 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Bethesda, Microsoft, and Capcom. Fanattik was handed the accolade at an event held on Friday, February 28th.

The award has added to what Fanattik MD, Anthony Marks has already earmarked as a major year for the fast-growing company who has made a big name for itself in the pop culture gifting space.

“2020 is going to be a huge year for us, the response from retailers who visited the Fanattik stand at Spring Fair was better than we could have hoped for and to now follow that up with this award is a great way for us to start the year,” said Marks.

Fanattik product has previously been nominated for Gift of the Year several times in the past.

“But this award is extra special as it honours the whole team from the warehouse to buying and shows that a small company producing high quality items can compete with the major players in the gift industry,” Marks added.

For further information on the Fanattik gift and collectible ranges contact hello@fanattik.co.uk

Publishing, licensing, and the rule-breakers that have shaped its success

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A particularly enjoyable piece of trivia is that there is very real evidence to suggest Agatha Christie was one of the first Britons to learn to surf standing up. Added detail that she did so off the shores of Honolulu and Cape Town at the height of the roaring ’20s, only adds to the image of vivacity of the author known for pioneering new grounds in British literature through the creation of two her best loved characters, Hercule Poirot and Ms Marple.

Both, believe it or not, have been the subject of successful licensing endeavours in the past and present, that have taken the characters and their worlds into the physical and digital gaming space, consumer products, and, of course, countless television and film adaptations – many of which will be broadcasting on any given channel right now, as you read this.

History has long been written – but often overlooked – by the women holding the pen, while it’s arguable that the licensing industry has long been influenced by the creations that emerged from their pages. Tove Jansson, the Swedish-speaking Finnish author, as we all know, was the mind behind Moomins, Beatrix Potter brought us the world of Peter Rabbit (et al), Rowling handed us Harry Potter, Mary Shelley gave us Frankenstein’s monster (yes, that totally counts), and actually the list goes on.

In doing so, however, each had to break the rules of their era, help set new precedents, and pioneer in a space heavily enveloped in patriarchy. Licensing, by extension, has always managed to champion those rule-breakers and help create a legacy around their works. Recently though, Timbuktu Labs – the owners of the Rebel Girls IP – has striven to take this one step further.

It’s well recognised that the publishing sector has long been a favoured pitch of the licensing industry, seen by many as a fertile ground for some of the most impactful and longstanding licenses and licensing programmes in the space today. Only this week has Dr Seuss Enterprises detailed this year’s plans with Random House Children’s to celebrate the author’s 116th birthday, while the Roald Dahl Story Company has seemingly written a new future for the world’s number one children’s storyteller through its boundary-pushing partnership with Netflix.

When it comes to licensing, classic book properties really do know how to go the distance. But with such a deep well of classic children’s literature to draw from, and up against some of the most iconic characters and brands to emerge from them, it’s no small undertaking to launch modern day book properties to the same effect.

David Walliams has largely been credited with revitalising the children’s book scene in recent years, with licensing success beginning to emanate from some of his most popular titles, including the likes of the Billionaire Boy stage show, or the Gangsta Granny board game, among various other partnerships in place, or on the way. Since his embarkation on a journey into children’s books, Walliams has – to date – sold 25 million copies across his portfolio of some 16 titles, proving that no matter how popular the classic IP remains, there’s still plenty of room to reach contemporary audiences, with a spin on the contemporary messages.

And what are contemporary audiences asking for more and more? Well, better representation of the women of history that have helped shape society today is always a good start.

The Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a book series well aware of the demand for a contemporary shake-up among the book cases today. In a few short years, the series has sold over 4.5 million copies and has been translated in nearly 50 languages, taking its stories and accounts of just some of history’s best known -and the not so well known – trailblazing and pioneering women to audiences worldwide.

Its success in fact, has sparked the foundation of the Rebel Girls lifestyle brand, one that unites publishing, podcasts, digital content, and consumer product licensing, through which the values to educate and empower girls through storytelling are shared. Its global success to date is reflective of shifting audiences not only in the publishing space, but the wider market, for stories, and brands, that empower and speak out in a new way.

“The brand reaches beyond the hugely successful book series to connect Rebel Girls across multiple platforms,” Louisa Skevington, licensing executive a Rocket Licensing, the team responsible for Rebel Girls’ UK licensing programme, tells Licensing.biz.

“The Rebel Girls podcast has achieved over three million downloads between two seasons, and its digital presence is steadily growing, establishing Rebel Girls as a distinctive lifestyle brand beyond its core publishing. Rebel Girls is keeping ahead in this competitive market.”

Rocket Licensing recently detailed the first UK licensees for the Rebel Girls brand in Gibsons Games – who has developed a contemporary puzzle range based on the look and message of the brand, with a card game to follow this summer – and Portico Designs, which will be launching an extensive range of products, including back to school stationery, gift items and lunch ware.

Of course, the launch of the brand in this way, and the messaging behind it couldn’t be more timely.

“With the rise of the #metoo movement, and the increasing awareness around the importance of equality and representation, Rebel Girls is filling a space in the market that continues to grow,” added Skevington. “And Rebel Girls has a clear mission that translates into product strategy. The brand looks to identify products in need of refreshing and inspiring updates, considering impact on education, gender and environment.

“The product, like the brand, aims to be forward facing in its ideas and approach. The universal message of Rebel Girls spans a wider demographic than many publishing titles.”

From here, and working closely with the Rebel Girls US based brand owner Timbuktu Labs, Rocket Licensing is already eyeing its next move, and, with a style guide currently being finalised, we won’t be waiting too long to see what happens next.

“We are currently targeting product categories such as nightwear, daywear, social stationery, accessories, and health and beauty, while developments in licensing are supported by the ongoing growth of the brand itself, which continues to expand upon its core collection – just recently it launched two new chapter books: Junko Tabei Masters of the Mountain and Dr Wangari Maathai Plants A Forest,” continues Skevington.

“This summer it will release a fifth chapter book: Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage, while autumn will mark the release of its third anthology, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 immigrant Women who Changed the World.”

 

The Asmodee Group is opening its games portfolio up to interactive and video game developers

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The Asmodee Group, a powerhouse in tabletop gaming and board game entertainment, is looking to bring its portfolio of brands and IPs into the interactive video games and digital games market.

In the firm’s latest move, it is opening the floodgates to developers in the video gaming sector, eyeing partnerships for physical game brands within its portfolio, including the likes of Dobble (Spot It), Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Braintopia, Small World, KeyForge, or heavyweight titles like Legend of the Five Rings and Twilight Imperium.

The boardgame goliath is urging developers looking for publishing partnerships, including development and marketing supports, to connect with Asmodee Digital via the unit’s COO Nicolas Godement. Developers and publishers looking to create interactive titles under license meanwhile, are being guided towards the Asmodee Entertainment team.

With more than 250 Asmodee games and IPs in the company catalogue, there are many exciting new opportunities for developers and publishers in the interactive games market.

“Asmodee has established a world-leading platform for developing and publishing authentic and compelling digital versions of the best board and card games,” said Nicolas Godement, Asmodee Digital’s COO.

“Now, while we can’t wait to disclose some of the exciting titles we have been working on, and to sign new ones, we also look forward to working with the experienced licensing team at Asmodee Entertainment to further expand the range of interactive games based on our sterling array of Asmodee properties.”

Andy Jones, head of Asmodee Entertainment, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity for developers, publishers and of course, Asmodee Entertainment to enter into many new licensing partnerships and further explore the wealth of Asmodee titles through interactive games across all platforms and genres.

“We encourage developers and publishers to get in touch at licensing@asmodee.com, and meet up with us at GDC in March.”

Bologna Licensing Trade Fair rescheduled for May as Italy is kept on lockdown after Coronavirus outbreak

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The Bologna Licensing Trade Fair has been rescheduled to later on in the year, owing to the latest European outbreak of the Coronavirus that has seen Italy go into lockdown in the last few days.

Originally scheduled for March 30th to April 1st this year, the Licensing and Book fair have both been rescheduled to take place this May, Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 as the country deals with what has been cited as the largest outbreak within a single European country so far.

Italy confirmed this week that the number of cases of Coronavirus within the country had now risen to 229, with seven deaths now recorded. Eleven towns across Lombardy  -where the outbreak emerged suddenly on Friday last week, and Veneto have been quarantined for at least the next 15 days.

The majority of those that have died from the Coronavirus in Italy have been elderly people who had also been suffering from other health issues. The latest was an 80 year old man in Milan.

Around 50,000 residents in the towns under lockdown have now been told to stay at home and avoid social contact, while schools, shops, and businesses – apart from chemists and some supermarkets – have been closed.

The Bologna Licensing Trade Fair made public its shift in dates via its social media pages and its own website where it will continue to post updates throughout the day.

Global analysts have warned of a major knock on effect on the worldwide economy as production throughout China still remains – at large – on lockdown with many of its factories closed under quarantine. The full-scale of the impact on industries and businesses is yet to be measured.