Saban Forms Global Content Distribution Unit
Saban Brands announced the formation of a new internal global content distribution unit. The team will directly manage the global distribution of the company’s various content properties including Power Rangers, Julius Jr., Emojiville, Popples, the upcoming Cirque du Soleil Media property, and Digimon Fusion to television, digital, and home entertainment partners.
The new division will be led by Frederic Soulie, senior vice-president of global distribution who currently oversees worldwide distribution of Saban Brands’ entertainment properties across television, home entertainment, digital, and mobile platforms. Leila Ouledcheikh, vice-president of distribution EMEA will continue to work closely with Soulie by leading television distribution efforts for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from Saban Brands’ London office. Additionally, soon-to-be announced executives will add to the Saban Brands team roster to lead distribution in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.
This newly established distribution unit marks the return of Saban to television distribution. Haim Saban, chairman and CEO of Saban Capital Group and founder of Saban Brands, has a 35-plus year history of global distribution deals and was one of the world’s leading entertainment distributors in the 1990s.
Over the past few years, MarVista Entertainment has served as the exclusive international television distributor of the company’s properties. MarVista will continue to manage the television distribution for Saban Brands’ properties throughout Latin America (LATAM). Saban Brands will continue to handle home entertainment and digital distribution of its properties in LATAM.
Cartoon Network, Penguin Launch Book Imprint
Cartoon Network announced that it will launch an eponymous imprint with Penguin Young Readers Group in summer 2015. The new Cartoon Network Books imprint will publish fun and interactive formats such as Mad Libs, original fiction novels and chapter books, activity and doodle formats, non-fiction handbooks, gift sets, and kits that will be available across North America. The 2015 launch will feature books based on the hit animated series Uncle Grandpa and Steven Universe, followed by Clarence, the upcoming We Bare Bears, and the return of The Powerpuff Girls in 2016. These new lines will build upon Penguin’s publishing programs for Adventure Time, Regular Show, and The Amazing World of Gumball that are currently in market. Penguin began publishing books based on hit Cartoon Network’s series in 2013.
The partnership will also allow Penguin to collaborate with show creators and producers to create new original fiction series that will be released solely on a publishing platform.
TRU Plans to Hire 45,000 Seasonal Employees
Toys “R” Us announced plans to hire 45,000 seasonal employees at its stores and distribution centers nationwide, more than doubling the company’s workforce as it prepares for the busy holiday shopping months ahead. These seasonal positions will include sales associates, stock crew, omni-channel fulfillment teams, distribution center workers, and department managers.
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