Tag Archives: Surge Licensing

YouTube sensation Spy Ninjas set to tour U.S. this autumn

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Surge Licensing has signed an agreement with live-tour company Cut & Mustard to bring YouTube sensation Spy Ninjas to over 30 cities across the U.S.  The announcement was made today by Elan Freedman, EVP Surge Licensing, Spy Ninja’s global licensing agent.

Featuring Chad Wild Clay and Vy Qwaint, Spy Ninjas are a team of YouTubers on a mission to save the internet from Project Zorgo, an evil organization of hackers.  With over 40 million YouTube subscribers and over 13 billion views across its YouTube channels, Spy Ninjas is a certifiable YouTube sensation.

With the new Spy Ninjas Live tour, the Spy Ninjas crew will take their detective, martial arts, and hacking skills from the screen to the stage, crisscrossing through many U.S. cities starting this autumn. VIP packages are available and include a pre-show meet and greet with Chad and Vy, exclusive limited-edition merchandise, VIP lanyard, limited-edition photo signed by Chad and Vy, and early access to merchandise stands. Spy Ninjas Live is expected to visit more than 30 U.S. cities beginning with its first leg this October and November, as well as another run in February and March 2023.

In Spy Ninjas Live, the Spy Ninjas have discovered the presence of a Hacker Sleeper cell across North America and must quickly reach major cities to defeat it.  They are taking over local theatres to use as their headquarters and will have access to surveillance and a team of local Ninja associates — the audience — to dismantle the cell.

“Spy Ninjas quickly became a YouTube sensation with their serialized narrative-based adventures that are truly engaging and a cool combination of spy adventures, clue solving and high-octane ninja action,” says Surge Licensing’s Freedman. “We are confident that Cut & Mustard will bring their superb creative and production skills to make the Spy Ninja’s Live tour a must-attend event for their legions of fans.”

“We are incredibly excited to visit our millions of fans across the U.S. to deliver a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience,” adds Spy Ninjas’ Chad Wild Clay and Vy Qwaint. “Like our YouTube videos, we’ll combine martial arts, stealth, and detective work to battle the Hackers, all with the help of our local Spy Ninja fans.”

“This action-packed and family-friendly show is the first touring production based on Spy Ninjas’ hit YouTube series and is a great opportunity for fans to see their favourite YouTube stars live on stage,” says Tom Greenwood-Mears, Managing Director at live-tour company Cut & Mustard and Executive Producer of the tour. “At the same time, this dynamic show will offer many young Spy Ninjas fans and their families their first-ever live show experience in a theatre as Spy Ninjas continue their mission to save audiences and the internet from the evil Hackers.”

Spy Ninjas is available to view on YouTube and OTT platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Roku, Tubi, and Xfinity On-Demand with new formats of Spy Ninjas in development.

Playmates is the master toy partner for Spy Ninjas with a toy line that features in-show spy gadgets, gear, and non-lethal weaponry.  Fans can role play as their favourite heroes (or villains) using the exact same gear, directly seen in the series.  Surge also signed a multi-faceted publishing deal with Scholastic for the U.S. and Canada, with the first books launching in February 2022. Additional licensing partners include Bentex for apparel, and Event Merch for the Official Spy Ninjas Store.

 

LICENSING EXPO: Q&A with Elan Freedman, EVP, Surge Licensing

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Entertainment development company Surge Licensing represents a wide roster of brands, including Diane Alber, Spy Ninjas, WEBTOON, Epic 7, Stanley Kubrick, Fiesty Pets, Munchkin and more. Licensing Biz caught up with EVP Elan Freedman ahead of Licensing Expo to talk about the company’s latest deals, and what we can expect to see over the coming months.

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Can you tell us, in a nutshell, what Surge Licensing does? What’s your USP? Do you have a particular area of expertise?

Surge Licensing is an IP development and brand management company.  Our ultimate goal with our partners is to evolve their nascent and growing brands into fandoms and franchises. While we engage as agents and advisors and absolutely focus on licensing rights strategies, we see ourselves as a business that helps creators and licensors enhance and fill out their operations to achieve our shared goals.

Can you tell us some of the brands Surge Licensing represents? Which brands will you focus on at Licensing Expo?

Our portfolio of brands is completely community driven. Diane Alber’s publishing brands have an incredible community of parents and teachers seeking the best SEL content for their children and students. WEBTOON has a massive community of manga readers that love to read their titles the way users scroll TikTok or Instagram, and the Stanley Kubrick Archive’s fandom is filled with film buffs and creatives who have been eternally inspired by his work.

We’re presenting Spy Ninjas, which has 46m YouTube subscribers who participate in the videos by finding clues and commenting below the videos. Epic 7 has a diehard fanbase of mobile game players, who make every Twitch stream a #1 viewed event.  We have several vinyl toy properties, like Thimblestump Hollow, where collectors look forward to every single product drop.

Can you tell us what makes WEBTOON so exciting, and such a good fit for Surge Licensing? Are there any deals in the works yet, or is it still early days?

Pardon the repetition, but we seek ways of working with fandoms to deliver the programmes they desire. The WEBTOON community is massive and loyal, and it couldn’t be more exciting to build a programme for this audience. It’s a digitally native business, affording a direct relationship with our readers and data to help understand where they are and what they want. Fifteen million U.S. monthly active users, 11.5 billion global monthly page views and a constant stream of innovative content make WEBTOON the ultimate springboard for franchise behemoths (plural)!

Can you tell us more about Spy Ninjas, and how the licensing programme is progressing?

The programme has been growing beautifully. Soon, we’ll be able to share our media plans around animation, a live tour, family entertainment centres and additional YouTube formats. Expect to see Spy Ninjas everywhere shortly. We already have fantastic key partners in Playmates, Scholastic, Event Merch, Bentex and more, but the sky is the limit for Chad, Vy and Ninjas team.

The TOMY [global master toy] deal for Diane Alber is pretty big news. Where else would you like to take the brand?

The TOMY programme is just the beginning of the partnership business.  Diane is selling millions of books per year through Amazon, and we will be scaling the publishing programme globally through key partnerships.  Parents and teachers are demanding arts and crafts, school supplies, apparel, sleepwear, bedding and more. Now that TOMY is anchoring the programme and widening retail support, we’re going to begin diving into these new categories.

What are your goals at Licensing Expo? If you have your ‘dream’ show, what would that involve?

This year’s Licensing Expo is all about finally seeing all of our friends and colleagues. We’re going to gauge success by how many people are hanging out and connecting in our booth. Hopefully we meet plenty of new people as well. Ultimately, we’re looking forward to the party that will be the Licensing Expo show floor. Come by booth J120 and interrupt our meetings! It happens anyway, so let’s all lean into it!

Does the licensing industry ever get old? Or are you seeing any trends/innovations that are exciting you? Experiential/live events? The metaverse? NFTs?…

It truly never gets old. It’s a business driven by creative innovation AND product innovation, so there is never a short supply of inputs and outputs to craft opportunities. Going forward (and currently), we are going full throttle into Web3, but with a long-term approach. We view Web3 as a great disruptor, in the sense that the technologies afford direct communications with consumers/fans in ways never seen before.  We believe Web3 becomes the engine to offer unique experiences, content and product directly to fans who are seeking them. The data capture and direct communications create a flywheel, allowing brand managers to build hyper-targeted programmes, requested by the community.

Surge Licensing will be at Licensing Expo, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, from 24-26 May 2022. 

Surge Licensing and WEBTOON announce exclusive licensing and merchandising partnership

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WEBTOON, the world’s largest digital comics platform, has appointed brand management company Surge Licensing as the exclusive North American licensing agent for the platform. Genuine Entertainment’s Joe LeFavi was instrumental in developing the partnership and will continue to collaborate with WEBTOON and Surge as a strategic advisor in the endeavour.

Surge Licensing has been retained to develop an overall brand licensing strategy for WEBTOON as well as licensing and merchandise programmes in North America for the platform’s individual original IP. Surge Licensing will expand WEBTOON’s licensing and merchandising business, developing franchises through categories that include apparel, fashion collaborations, toys, tabletop games, promotions and more. Among WEBTOON’s existing merchandising work is a capsule collection for Lore Olympus, available at Hot Topic.

WEBTOON is the global leader in digital comics, where some of the world’s biggest comic creators and series have built massive global fandoms. The company has redefined comics for Gen Z and the digital era, with 82 million monthly active users globally and 15 million US users. With 1.3 million titles and 10.5 billion global monthly page views, WEBTOON is home to a new generation of comic creators and fans.

Among WEBTOON’s most exciting creators is Rachel Smythe, whose smash-hit Lore Olympus has more than 1.2 billion global views and 5.7 million subscribers on WEBTOON. The digital comic became a #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel in autumn 2021, and is in development as an animated series from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and the Jim Henson Company. The modern retelling of the relationship between the Greek goddess Persephone and god Hades won a Harvey Award and received nominations for an Eisner Award and a Ringo Award.

A growing number of digital comics from WEBTOON have achieved broad awareness through live-action and animated TV adaptations, including the 2022 zombie apocalypse series, All of Us are Dead, which achieved the #1 position on Netflix at launch in January 2022 and spent 11 weeks in the streamer’s global Top 10 (Non-Eng Series); the apocalyptic horror series Sweet Home, which recorded over 1.3 billion views on WEBTOON and was released on Netflix in December 2020; the global rom-com phenomenon True Beauty, which was adapted into a popular drama in 2021, and will be published as a graphic novel from WEBTOON Unscrolled in 2022; and popular anime adaptations such as Tower of God, Noblesse, and The God of High School.

“We’re bringing comics to a new generation of readers around the world,” says Eugene Kim, Head of Business Development at WEBTOON. “WEBTOON comics and creators already have huge global fandoms, so the time is right to begin offering fans new, fresh, and unique ways to  celebrate the comics they love. We’re excited to begin our partnership with Surge Licensing to create memorable experiences beyond our platform.”

“Given that WEBTOON is the #1 comic book entertainment app in the world with massive engagement and awareness, the possibilities for creating dynamic brand programs for their original IP are endless,” says Elan Freedman, Surge Licensing EVP. “In the U.S. alone, WEBTOON touts over 15 million monthly users, which is tremendous with room for major growth. We look forward to introducing the WEBTOON brand and its key titles to potential partners at the upcoming Licensing Expo.”

Genuine Entertainment’s Joe LeFavi stated: “WEBTOON has redefined how creators and fans alike can share and celebrate their favourite stories with a global audience. Boasting one of the biggest fandoms and a veritable treasure trove of IP, it’s an enormous opportunity to build meaningful programmes and give this inclusive community more ways to engage with the content and creators they know and love. And since Surge has been championing comic creators since first taking TMNT from comic racks to riches… suffice it to say, they were an ideal fit for the job.”

Surge Licensing and WEBTOON announce exclusive licensing and merchandising partnership

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WEBTOON, the world’s largest digital comics platform, has appointed brand management company Surge Licensing as the exclusive North American licensing agent for the platform. Genuine Entertainment’s Joe LeFavi was instrumental in developing the partnership and will continue to collaborate with WEBTOON and Surge as a strategic advisor in the endeavour.

Surge Licensing has been retained to develop an overall brand licensing strategy for WEBTOON as well as licensing and merchandise programmes in North America for the platform’s individual original IP. Surge Licensing will expand WEBTOON’s licensing and merchandising business, developing franchises through categories that include apparel, fashion collaborations, toys, tabletop games, promotions and more. Among WEBTOON’s existing merchandising work is a capsule collection for Lore Olympus, available at Hot Topic.

WEBTOON is the global leader in digital comics, where some of the world’s biggest comic creators and series have built massive global fandoms. The company has redefined comics for Gen Z and the digital era, with 82 million monthly active users globally and 15 million US users. With 1.3 million titles and 10.5 billion global monthly page views, WEBTOON is home to a new generation of comic creators and fans.

Among WEBTOON’s most exciting creators is Rachel Smythe, whose smash-hit Lore Olympus has more than 1.2 billion global views and 5.7 million subscribers on WEBTOON. The digital comic became a #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel in autumn 2021, and is in development as an animated series from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and the Jim Henson Company. The modern retelling of the relationship between the Greek goddess Persephone and god Hades won a Harvey Award and received nominations for an Eisner Award and a Ringo Award.

A growing number of digital comics from WEBTOON have achieved broad awareness through live-action and animated TV adaptations, including the 2022 zombie apocalypse series, All of Us are Dead, which achieved the #1 position on Netflix at launch in January 2022 and spent 11 weeks in the streamer’s global Top 10 (Non-Eng Series); the apocalyptic horror series Sweet Home, which recorded over 1.3 billion views on WEBTOON and was released on Netflix in December 2020; the global rom-com phenomenon True Beauty, which was adapted into a popular drama in 2021, and will be published as a graphic novel from WEBTOON Unscrolled in 2022; and popular anime adaptations such as Tower of God, Noblesse, and The God of High School.

“We’re bringing comics to a new generation of readers around the world,” says Eugene Kim, Head of Business Development at WEBTOON. “WEBTOON comics and creators already have huge global fandoms, so the time is right to begin offering fans new, fresh, and unique ways to  celebrate the comics they love. We’re excited to begin our partnership with Surge Licensing to create memorable experiences beyond our platform.”

“Given that WEBTOON is the #1 comic book entertainment app in the world with massive engagement and awareness, the possibilities for creating dynamic brand programs for their original IP are endless,” says Elan Freedman, Surge Licensing EVP. “In the U.S. alone, WEBTOON touts over 15 million monthly users, which is tremendous with room for major growth. We look forward to introducing the WEBTOON brand and its key titles to potential partners at the upcoming Licensing Expo.”

Genuine Entertainment’s Joe LeFavi stated: “WEBTOON has redefined how creators and fans alike can share and celebrate their favourite stories with a global audience. Boasting one of the biggest fandoms and a veritable treasure trove of IP, it’s an enormous opportunity to build meaningful programmes and give this inclusive community more ways to engage with the content and creators they know and love. And since Surge has been championing comic creators since first taking TMNT from comic racks to riches… suffice it to say, they were an ideal fit for the job.”

Surge Licensing to lead Stanley Kubrick programme for North America

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Leading global licensing agency Surge Licensing has been appointed by the Stanley Kubrick Film Archives and Caroline Mickler Ltd, global licensing agent for the brand, to develop a North American licensing and retail programme inspired by six iconic features from the visionary filmmaker: The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut and the dystopian masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, which continues its 50th Anniversary celebration this year.

Surge Licensing, collaborating with Mickler, will create a unique licensing and retail campaign across North America that will pay homage to Kubrick’s extraordinary work and its enduring popularity with millions of fans around the world, focusing on the development of merchandise across multiple key categories including apparel/fashion, accessories, toys, games, collectibles, gift, novelty, paper goods and lifestyle collaborations. Products are anticipated to begin debuting at retail in Q4 2022.

“Representing the works of such an evocative and awe-inspiring filmmaker requires creating a strategy that can meet the expectations of his renowned style known to his legions of fans worldwide,” says Caroline Mickler. “I know Mark Freedman and the Surge Licensing team will be up to the task to develop and deliver a truly spectacular merchandise campaign that honours Stanley Kubrick’s legacy.”

Mark Freedman, President, Surge Licensing, adds: “I have been a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick’s legendary filmmaking since I can remember so this is truly a tremendous career opportunity to be able to represent the brand and to bring high quality merchandise representative of Kubrick’s visionary genius to his legions of fans across North America. We have worked with Caroline over many years, starting with Ninja Turtles, and have the upmost respect for her talent so it will truly be an honour to collaborate with her again on such a special campaign.”

 

 

Surge Brands named as North American licensing agent for mobile game Epic Seven

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Leading global licensing agency Surge Licensing has been appointed as North American licensing agent for the fan favourite and community-driven anime RPG Epic Seven “E7”, developed by Super Creative and published by Smilegate Megaport.

E7 is an 2D anime-inspired epic featuring over 1,000 stories and 234 collectable characters, in which players explore and adventure through the Land of Orbis, attempting to prevent its demise. Surge Licensing has been retained to develop a merchandise programme across multiple categories, including toy, publishing, apparel, table-top games, and digital products including NFTs and more. The launch is anticipated in Q2, 2022 across retailers and direct-to-consumer platforms.

With an 18–34-year-old adult demographic, E7 is played in over 145 countries and has topped growth charts in all of the major territories. The game was recognised as a “Top 10 RPG Game of 2020” by the Apple App Store and is a Top 3 grossing RPG on Android. In 2018, E7 was awarded the “Best Mobile Game” in the Korea Game Awards and “The Game of 2018” in the Google Play Store. E7 boasts a loyal fan base with over a billion minutes played every month.

“E7 is an adventure unlike anything seen on mobile, with anime-inspired production values that rival television and film production quality,” says Elan Freedman, Surge Licensing EVP.  “With a loyal and engaged fanbase of hundreds of thousands in the US alone, we’ll be able to leverage the game’s plethora of characters and rich backgrounds to create a robust L&M program to further engage players with the brand as it continues to build its user base on a global scale.”

Founded in 1986, Surge Licensing is an IP incubator, which identifies, nurtures, and grows brands into multi-platformed entertainment and consumer product licensing programs. It has developed a number of pop culture’s best-known properties, including the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Street Sharks, Axe Cop, Feisty Pets and more.

Surge Licensing inks deal with indie author-illustrator Diane Alber

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Surge Licensing has been appointed by the independent children’s book author-illustrator, Diane Alber, to develop and implement a consumer products program across key categories inspired by her Amazon chart-topping book franchise.

The program will kick off with initial focus on a full-scale publishing program before tackling extended categories such as toys, apparel, back-to-school, home decor and more.

A mother of two young, energetic children who love books, Alber was inspired to start writing and illustrating books when she saw a need for a book that inspired art and creativity in children. Over the last three years, she has published over 50 titles across three series that collectively address social-emotional learning topics.

Branded under Inspire to Create, Inspire to Create a Better You, and Never Let A… banners, many of the books, which feature Alber’s popular Scribble, Little Spot, and Unicorn characters, capture top category spots on Amazon’s charts, and deliver messages of joy, inclusivity, and acceptance.

“Diane’s books have resonated with kids and their parents, teachers, counselors and caregivers across the US, inspiring kids to be creative, use their imaginations, and helping them to understand emotions,” said Elan Freedman, Surge Licensing EVP.

“There are countless possibilities to develop consumer products that will further engage children with Diane’s stories and characters, and we look forward to working with licensing partners across multiple categories, starting with publishing and expanding into toys, apparel, back-to-school, home décor and more, to develop a program that truly reflects the passion and sentiment in her books.”

Alber added: “What I love about children’s books is their ability to create memories. Almost everyone remembers their favorite book being read to them as a child, and I wanted to create a book to share in those memories. I am incredibly grateful for the reception my books have received over the past three years.

“It is now time to expand the business to the next level and develop new ways to captivate kids, and I look forward to working with the Surge Licensing team to develop a global brand presence.”

Alber’s first book, I’m Not Just A Scribble, was published in autumn 2017 and was the first in her Inspire to Create series.  Seven books featuring Scribble are currently available and help children to understand that something as simple as a scribble can not only be a great story but a masterpiece as well.

Under the Inspire to Create A Better You banner, now comprising 36 book titles, is Alber’s popular A Little Spot series.  Featuring Little Spot – a brightly colored, stick-legged sphere. The books were originally developed to help children visualize their emotions as spots so that it would be easier to manage them, and evolved to address topics such as kindness, empathy and honesty.

The Little Box of Emotion Box Set, geared for children four to 11, ranks number one in Academic Development Counseling, and number one in Children’s Moving.  Alber also created a series of books this year to help children deal with COVID-19:  A Little Spot Stays Home: A Story About Viruses And Safe Distancing, A Little Spot Learns Online (number three in Children’s Computer Software), and A Little Spot Wears a Mask (number five in Children’s Safety Books).

Finally, Alber’s humorous six-book Never Let A… series, which includes her popular Unicorn character, weaves together art principles, believing in yourself, character traits, empathy and educational standards and addresses how imagination plays into a child’s learning.  Never Let a Unicorn Scribble is the number one in Children’s General and other Myth Books on Amazon.

Alber’s books all come with sticker sheets, and additional sticker books, coloring books and sketch books have been created for many of the titles.

Surge Licensing among team behind Kickstarter campaign to bring Boglins back

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Surge Licensing – the licensing representative for IP such as Feisty Pets and Ninja Town – is among a new collaboration of toy licensing and development specialists on a mission to bring the ’80s toy phenomenon Boglins back and into the aisles of the 21st century.

In partnership with TriAction Toys, 7 Towns, and Boglins co-creator Tim Clarke, the troupe has already struck success for the project with the launch of a Kickstarter campaign with the aim of resurrecting the range of creepy, monster-like puppets.

Originally developed by Mattel, Boglins became a hit line from 1987 to 1989 in the US, before making its way – caged in their wooden crate boxes with prison bars for added measure – across Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia. Over the course of seven years, Boglins evolved from the rubber puppets into a range of collectable Mini Boglins. They then disappeared.

That is, until now.

The campaign is now underway to relaunch the Boglins range in their original sizes and cages, but this time featuring newly evolved styles.

The campaign – created by toy industry professional, Christopher Cofoni – has received such a surge in attention since its launch that production methods behind the toy line, one which according to the team started off as little more than a passion project – have been altered to accommodate current demand.

‘This team is bringing back Boglins due to overwhelming demand. What started as a passion project has quickly got out of control, much like the Boglins,’ reads a statement from the team behind the project on Kickstarter.

‘The demand is just too high for us to keep up with in our current production methods. If we can reach our goals, not only will you get to take Boglins home with you, but you will help us smooth out production, give us the chance to get Boglins into the hands of kids and collectors all over the world, and grant us the opportunity to create even more new fun styles of Boglins!

‘We believe this toy could inspire the next Jim Henson, film maker, or artist.’

For the first time, the complete story of the Seven Bogs and the Seven Kings will be told. Fans of the original Boglins will be able to learn more about these lovable uglies, while anyone new to the Boglins world will get to enjoy the fleshed out origins of these retro-collectibles.

Donors will receive a Boglin from the first batch ever made in 2021.

The coming months will witness the release of Boglins content across Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and additional digital platforms, alongside the launch of a series of comedic short films that will feature the Boglins.