Shout! Factory and Marvel Animation have expanded their partnership to bring the Marvel Knights Animation series to the U.S. home entertainment marketplace. The announcement was made today by Shout! Factory founding partners Richard Foos, Bob Emmer, and Garson Foos; and Marvel Animation President Eric Rollman.
Under the multi-year agreement, Shout! Factory will be the exclusive U.S. home entertainment distributor with licensing rights to Marvel Knights Animation properties, including Astonishing X-Men: Gifted, Black Panther, Iron Man: Extremis, Spider-Woman, and others to be announced soon.
Early this year, Shout! Factory announced an agreement with Marvel Animation to be the exclusive U.S. home entertainment distributor to Marvel’s animated series, The Super Hero Squad Show.
In other Marvel news, Marvel Entertainment and Paramount Pictures have teamed with Burger King for an Iron Man 2-themed Kids’ Meal promotion in advance of the movie’s May 7 release.
Each Kids’ Meal will come with one of eight Iron Man 2 toys.Kids can collect up to eight Iron Man 2 toys, including four targeted towards girls and four for boys. Additionally, kids can find an Iron Man 2 Zoom Space game online at www.ClubBK.com.
To hold you over until May 7, here’s the Iron Man 2 trailer:
The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) today announced 75 nominees for the Annual LIMA International Licensing Excellence Awards, recognizing the industry’s best and most successful licensed properties and products from the past year. Awards in seven categories plus the License of the Year Award will be announced at LIMA’s Opening Night Awards Party on June 8 during Licensing International Expo 2010 in Las Vegas.
Nominations were solicited from across the licensing industry and winners will be chosen by a vote of the LIMA membership.
The License of the Year award will recognize an outstanding property that has had the most significant and profound impact on the licensing community during calendar year 2009. The candidates listed below were chosen by the LIMA Awards Committee from among the category-specific nominees.
Property: Brand Owner/Licensing Agent:
2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic: National Hockey League
Burger King: Burger King/Broad Street Licensing Group
Food Network: Scripps Enterprises/Brandgenuity LLC
Hello Kitty: Sanrio, Inc.
In the Night Garden: Ragdoll Productions/BBC Worldwide Limited
Skelanimals: Skelanimals, LLC/Art Impressions, Inc.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Summit Entertainment
Sixteen awards will be presented to top licensees and properties in seven categories: Art, Character, Corporate, Film/Television/Entertainment, Sports, Licensed Promotions, and Retailer. In addition to acknowledging the Best Brand Program of the Year in the Character, Corporate, Entertainment, and Sports categories, awards for Best Licensee-Hard Goods and Best Licensee-Soft Goods will be presented. In the Art category, best program and best licensee will be recognized. Each winner will receive the coveted etched-glass trophy sporting the LIMA logo.
Pinkalicious will find its way into Burger King Kids Meals as of March 1 as the result of a partnership between Burger King, Pinkalicious and Harper Collins. There will be four Pinkalicious figures to collect, and Burger King will distribute Adventures Newsletters in-restaurant featuring Pinkalicious which include a limited edition poster.
Burger King will support the Pinkalicious promotion with a national television advertising campaign to run on major kids networks. Beginning fall 2010, they will have many more pinkatastic consumer products to choose from, including dolls, toys, dress up clothes, games, puzzles, apparel and more.
The Tetris Company, LLC, the exclusive licensor of the Tetris brand, and its merchandising agent, Licensing Works!, signed two sub-agents to launch new merchandise licensing programs. The Tetris Company welcomes aboard Caroline Mickler, Ltd and Plus Licens as part of the global Tetris family. The new partnerships will allow manufacturers [...]
Beanstalk has appointed Allison Ames as president, North America. In her new role, Ames will oversee Beanstalk’s operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and South America. She will continue to report directly to Michael Stone, CEO. Effective immediately, Ames will assume full responsibility for all clients operating in the North [...]
Entertainment licensing veteran Ashley Maidy has joined Activision to head the newly formed licensing division. Maidy has more than 16 years of experience, building licensing and merchandising programs for Sony Pictures and Saban Entertainment. In her new role, Maidy will extend Activision’s properties into complementary product categories, as well as [...]
U.S. retail sales of toys generated $21.18 billion in 2011, a decline of 2 percent compared to 2010 numbers, which totaled $21.68 billion, according to market research company The NPD Group. While the average retail price for a licensed toy was 57 percent higher than that for non-licensed toys, licensed [...]
Howard Roffman is passing the baton to Paul Southern as head of Lucas Licensing. Roffman will remain with the company as a senior advisor. Both Roffman and Southern will report to Micheline Chau, Lucasfilm president and COO.
Lionsgate has completed a transaction to acquire Summit Entertainment for a combination of cash and stock valued at $412.5 million. The transaction unites two studios with powerful brands and complementary assets. By acquiring Summit, Lionsgate enhances its feature film and home entertainment offerings, and further broadens its 13,000-title filmed entertainment [...]
Schylling and Pretty Ugly released a new Uglydoll Rocket Ride Wind Up Toy that has a lever mechanism instead of a key, stands eight inches tall, and is suitable for ages 3 and up. They also released new youth umbrellas in three styles, Ice-bat, Ox, and Uglydoll Rainy Day, suitable [...]
WME Licensing’s client Patti Stanger, an American matchmaker and television producer with her own Bravo TV show, The Millionaire Matchmaker, and the founder and CEO of Millionaire’s Club International, Inc., has signed a license with Hyper Interactive to create a full line of PS I Love You Cosmetics. The initial [...]
Jazwares is slicing into the mobile app category after being awarded the master toy license for Halfbrick’s popular app, Fruit Ninja. Inspired by Fruit Ninja’s fruit-slicing, action-packed adventures, Jazwares’ new range will include fruit figures and plush, featuring “splat” sound effects, slicing features, ninja blades, and branded bandanas, as well [...]
Art Impressions has licensed Commonwealth Toys to produce a line of So So Happy plush toys, beanies, plush backpacks, and related products featuring the brand’s quirky cast of friendly monsters, robots, and other oddball characters. The companies’ first collaborative series will roll out nationwide in May at specialty chains, boutiques, [...]
Shout! Factory and Marvel Animation have expanded their partnership to bring the Marvel Knights Animation series to the U.S. home entertainment marketplace. The announcement was made today by Shout! Factory founding partners Richard Foos, Bob Emmer, and Garson Foos; and Marvel Animation President Eric Rollman.
