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DIC Reacquires Children's Properties
DIC Entertainment reacquired the rights to an extensive slate of animated
children's properties from The Walt Disney Company and Jetix Europe for
television, home entertainment, and consumer products. As part of the deal, DIC
now will control various marketing and distribution rights for 750 half-hour
episodes of brands previously produced by DIC, including Care Bears, Inspector
Gadget, Heathcliff, Dennis the Menace, The Littles, and more.
Art-of-Living Expert Launches Collection
Katie Brown partnered with The Companion Group on the launch of a Katie Brown
Collection of outdoor entertaining, lighting, and gardening accessories.
Brown's trademark, 'Cook, Nest, Grow,' will play a pivotal role in the
branding, allowing cross-merchandising strategies across several product
segments. The collection will be in-store by spring and summer 2007. Global
Icons brokered the collaboration, the first in Brown's licensing extension
program.
Playboy Springs Up with New Upscale Line
Playboy will launch the 'Playboy Intimates' white label, an upscale line of
camisoles, corsets, bras, and panties with signature Playboy embroideries and
patterns detailed with embellishments and the iconic Playboy Rabbit Head. The
collection is available in white, black, turquoise, coral, pink, and deep
scarlet and will be sold at Mixona, the Playboy Concept Boutiques, The Forum
Shops in Las Vegas, and in the trendy Fashion Walk area of Hong Kong in spring.
Other luxury retailers include Henri Bendel in New York, Miss Victoria in
Brazil, and Sogo in Hong Kong.
HarperCollins Secures Rights to Landy Series
HarperCollins Publishers acquired world-English language rights to three books
by screenwriter Derek Landy. The series will begin with 'Skullduggery Pleasant,'
a comic-fantasy-adventure in which a young girl teams up with the wisecracking
skeleton of a dead magician to defeat an ancient evil. The book, audio, and
e-formats will be published in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
and India.
New Line Cinema Readies Program for Inkheart
New Line Cinema is launching a licensing and merchandising campaign for its
next trilogy, Inkheart, due in fall 2007. Inkheart is the first installment of
the children's fantasy trilogy by Cornelia Funke and stars Meggie, a
12-year-old girl whose father, Mo, has the power to bring characters from books to
life when read aloud. 'Inkspell,' the second book in the trilogy, debuted in
October 2005.
Champion Works Out New Licensing Deal
Champion is exercising its licensing muscle, creating a line of home exercise
equipment in a partnership with Lamar Health, Fitness & Sports. The line of
club-quality workout equipment includes treadmills, elliptical trainers,
upright bikes, and recumbent bikes.
Crazy Frog Inks Deals Like Crazy
The Annoying Thing aka Crazy Frog is making leaps and bounds in consumer
impressions with the latest being music videos on Cartoon Network. The
property's licensee list is growing, as well, with the help of Al Ovadia &
Associates. New on board are Vivid Imaginations for plush; Fame Jeans Inc. and
Dream Apparel Group for apparel; One of the Boys for apparel and bath
accessories; It's Outrageous and Vending Supply Inc. for gift and novelty;
Calego for back-to-school, footwear, and accessories; and Pressman for board
games.
Phat Fashions Teams with Fashion Delivers
Phat Fashions is underwriting Fashion Delivers' 'Design Our T-Shirt Contest,'
with participants (ages 18 and over) encouraged to create a T-shirt design with
a theme of 'Unity.' The winner will be judged on staying true to the theme, as
well as exemplifying Fashion Delivers' mission and logo. The winning design
will be featured on 4,800 limited-edition Phat Fashions T-shirts available
exclusively through Fashion Delivers and Phat Fashions. Proceeds will be
donated to Fashion Delivers, which provides products from all parts of the
fashion and related industries to victims of natural disasters. Details on
entering the contest are available online at http://www.fashiondelivers.org/.
Entries must be postmarked by April 28. Winners will be announced June 15.
VIZ Media to Lead Efforts for Manga Property
VIZ Media, LLC, was named master licensor of Shonen Jump's Bleach in the
Americas, Europe, and Oceania by worldwide licensors TV Tokyo Corp. and
Shueisha Inc. As part of the deal, VIZ Media will create a rollout strategy
that will leverage the strong manga (graphic novels) and entertainment brands
into a broad licensing and marketing program. Bleach's TV broadcast and
licensing partners will be determined shortly. Bleach is the story of an
average 15-year-old, Ichigo Kurosaki, who was born with the gift of seeing
ghosts. When his family is attacked, Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, dedicating
his life to protecting the innocent and helping tortured spirits find peace.
In other news, VIZ Media launched Shonen Jump's Naruto anime series on DVD with
on-shelf presence due March 28.
Execs on the Move
DIC Entertainment named Cynthia Modders senior vice president of worldwide
consumer products. Nancy Fowler, who previously headed up the department, now
will serve as senior vice president of business development, consumer products.
HIT Entertainment appointed Jennifer Zivic director, soft lines, and Veronica
Hart director, hard lines. Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products promoted
Trudi Hayward to senior UK licensing director, and appointed Deborah Batten to
the newly created role of UK retail marketing manager, Nickelodeon & Viacom
Consumer Products EMEA. Paul Conley was named vice president, Digital Media, AG
Properties.
Bologna Bound
Bologna Children's Book Fair runs through March 30 at the Bologna Fair Centre
in Bologna, Italy. Don't miss Licensing Days scheduled for Wednesday, March 29,
with LICENSE Editor-in-Chief Joyceann Cooney moderating a publishing panel
discussion and separately presenting 'Licensing by the Numbers: Licensing
Trends.' Other sponsored presentations include 'Children's Publishing and the
Lifecycle of Licensing'Three Case Studies' presented by Kate Klimo, vice
president, publisher, Random House/Golden Books for Young Readers, Tuesday,
March 28. LIMA and LICENSE are sponsors of the Bologna Children's Book Fair
Licensing and Film Rights Centre. Visit http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/ for more
information.
Licensing 2006 International Show and Conference Registration Is Open
Save $100 on exhibit hall registration by registering in advance for the most
important licensing event of the year taking place June 20 to 22 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. Or save hundreds of dollars on early Licensing
University Conference registration. For updates, conference details, up-to-date
exhibitor listings, hotel information, and online registration, visit http://www.licensingshow.com/reg.
Upcoming Industry Events
LIMA UK Introduction to Licensing Spring Seminar and LIMA and Friends
Spring Fling, May 25, No. 4 Hamilton
Place, London, http://www.brandlicensingexpo.com/
Submit Licenses Granted & Available Now Online
LICENSE's License! Finder allows you to submit licenses granted and available
now online, which will be published on the LICENSE Website (http://www.licensemag.com/) on a weekly
basis once approved by an editor. Go to http://www.finder.licensemag.com/
to fill out the verification form and submit your licenses granted or available
now. Highlights from each month's online submissions will be published in
LICENSE magazine. Any questions, contact Alyson Grala at (212) 951-6743 or via
e-mail: [email protected].
For more information on licensing news and features, visit LICENSE magazine's
Website, http://www.licensemag.com/.