With Shaun the Sheep Movie set to premiere in the U.S. Aug. 7, Aardman Animation has appointed JLK Brand Licensing Group as the new agent for the brand in the U.S.

The partnership covers both the Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit properties and will be aimed at building a long-term licensing and merchandising program in the U.S. market.

The global Shaun the Sheep licensing program currently boasts more than 180 licensees across 25 territories. Following on from the movie, a half-hour special “The Farmers Llamas” will air in December around the world, and Aardman is also producing 20 brand-new 10-minute episodes of the series for 2016, bringing the total number of episodes to 150.

“The Shaun the Sheep Movie has opened to critical acclaim around the world and will provide a great platform to develop our licensing activity in the U.S.," says Rob Goodchild, head of licensing, Aardman. "Aardman celebrates 40 years of creating unique, high-quality animations next year, and during this time we have built a strong and loyal fan base. We want to create a program that reaches out to these fans, and also our new audiences that will be attracted through the movie and home entertainment releases and our continuing on-demand partnership with Amazon Prime.”