Gather your friends and couples for a fun date night with University Games’ new Rom Com Game, a trivia game that’s all about the perfect pairs, romantic one-liners and famous on-screen relationships from popular Romantic Comedy movies. The charmingly-entertaining new Rom Com Game (4 or more players, ages 12+) arrives just in time for Valentine’s Day this year.
Boat Rocker, an independent, integrated global entertainment company, has announced a range of new deals for its rapidly growing Dino Ranch franchise across the Americas. The seven new licensees will significantly extend the number of categories and products available for this dino-might brand. Little rancheroos in the U.S., Canada and Latin America will soon be able to engage with a multitude of new products including jigsaw puzzles, games, hand puppets, party goods, wheeled goods and protective gear, youth electronics, sound books and apparel.
KidStuff Public Relations founder Lisa Orman announced that Little Kids, Inc and World of EPI (Entertainment, Publishing and Inspiration) have retained KidStuff PR as their agency of record. Both beloved and respected brands will now have KidStuff PR handle its media, social and influencer relations, effective January 2023. In addition, small businesses Fireside Games and FluffyWeight are joining as clients in February 2023. Fireside is promoting several best-selling games with a focus on My First Castle Panic, while FluffyWeight is launching its weighted stuffed animal line, which got its start after mom Elena Foley searched high and low for a weighted stuffy when her child was diagnosed with ADHD (and she herself was subsequently, too) and the family doctor recommended getting one. Finding none, she staged a successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in Q42020 for a weighted stuffed animal, and then her official launch was delayed due to the pandemic.
The World of Eric Carle has partnered with Faber-Castell USA’s Creativity for Kids brand, to create a series of children’s craft kits featuring Eric Carle’s timeless story The Very Hungry Caterpillar, set to launch this Spring 2023. The partnership was brokered by The Joester Loria Group, exclusive global licensing agent for The World of Eric Carle. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft Kits from the Creativity for Kids line extends this classic children’s story beyond the book to a variety of thoughtfully chosen and inspiring craft and play activities.
Princess Sam Entertainment Group has appointed Laurent Taieb to manage licensing for its hit kids’ adventure-comedy-fantasy Tara Duncan as it transitions from publishing phenomenon to screen success. As Head of Licensing for the Princess Sam Consumer Products division, Laurent Taieb will bring more than thirty years of proven operational experience in sales and marketing, entertainment products, international brand marketing, consulting and, of course, consumer products and licensing, to the Tara Duncan campaign. As well as running his own successful consulting business he has worked for Viacom, Nickelodeon, CPLG, Fox Home Entertainment, Ideal Loisirs, and iconic motoring brand Motul.
WildBrain, a global leader in kids’ and family entertainment, has secured the first wave of international sales for Summer Memories, the 2D-animated series created by Adam Yaniv (Night at the Museum, Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks) and produced by A&N Productions, Aircraft Pictures and Yeti Farm Creative. The new broadcasters on board for season one (40×12’) include Prime Video for Germany, Austria and Switzerland; ABC Australia; and Showmax for Africa. WildBrain handles distribution on the series internationally and will present Summer Memories to buyers at the upcoming Kidscreen Summit (February 12-15, Miami).
YuMe Toys’ growth and success continues with the appointment of Carson Murray as VP for North America. Carson will be based out of the YuMe office in Toronto, covering the North American region. –Carson joins YuMe from Funko, where he spent the last five years of his career, most recently as the Country Head for Canada. Among his many successes, Carson points to securing a nationwide placement, in almost every retailer and retail channel, in the Canadian market, as one of the key achievements of his success.
Licensing International, the leading trade association for the $315+ billion global brand licensing industry, announced that the recently formed Licensing International Sustainability Committee will launch a webinar series slated to run through 2023. The series will share sustainability best practices and drive forward goals to reduce the corporate carbon footprint and implement Environmental, Social, and Governance guidelines. The first webinar of the series will take place February, 22 2023 at 12:00pm EST. Marco Reyes, Senior Director of Sustainability at Walmart, and Michelle McLaughlin, Chair of the Licensing International Sustainability Committee and CEO of Brand Activation Consulting, will discuss the ways Walmart is accelerating social and environmental sustainability in its supply chains. Additionally, Reyes will provide insight into the retail giant’s strategy to develop and implement integrated category roadmaps and address the most critical hot spots across prioritized categories.
Leading global toy company Just Play has appointed branding and strategy expert Evelyn Mazzocco, former General Manager of Barbie at Mattel and General Manager of Girls Products at Moose Toys, to lead its new division devoted to building the company’s portfolio of proprietary brands. Evelyn will be influential in driving the company’s long-term strategic goal of creating new wholly-owned intellectual properties. She will be heading up a new, fully integrated team including Product Development, Branding, Packaging, and Engineering based in Los Angeles.