Children’s entertainment and licensing industry veterans, Al Kahn and Toper Taylor, have partnered to launch Kidtagious Entertainment, a kid-focused entertainment and licensing company that plans to discover, curate, imagine, and deploy kid- and family-friendly intellectual properties from around the world.
Al Kahn is best known for discovering some of the most successful children’s intellectual properties of all time such as Cabbage Patch Kids and Pokémon. Toper Taylor was president of Nelvana Entertainment and co-founder and COO of Cookie Jar Group.
Specifically focused on kid- and family-friendly trends, the company aims to serve the needs of licensors, licensees, and consumers from the digital age, changing the licensing and consumer products world as we know it.
Kahn and Taylor have already identified a roster of potential next-hit properties including those developed as part of Kahn’s previous company CraneKahn. “Kung Fu Pork Choppers is the No. 1 show in China under the title GG Bond, so we see that proof of concept validation within the Chinese market and know it is applicable on a worldwide scale. Lee Cross is big influencer on YouTube and eBay within the niche plush community, where her creations are already selling for thousands of dollars each; we see the demand for these products and expect that when they are shared with the rest of the world, the demand will translate,” said Kahn and Taylor in a statement.
Kahn and Jillian Crane spent the last four years locking up IP from all over the world under the CraneKahn umbrella. With this announcement, all of CraneKahn’s assets will be folded into Kidtagious.
Kahn is best recognized for his work as founder and CEO at 4Kids Entertainment, which is responsible for industry hits including Pokémon, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Yu-Gi-Oh. Those three properties alone achieved more than $25 billion in retail revenues. Kahn has produced dozens of TV shows, films and sold books, comics and video game ideas. Kahn was also the Licensing International (formerly LIMA) Licensing Hall of Fame and the Kidscreen Hall of Fame.
“Having built some of the world’s most recognized kid brands we know what it takes to identify the right properties that have the potential to become household names and industry disruptors,” says Kahn, CEO of Kidtagious Entertainment. “Our goal at Kidtagious is to determine brands ahead of the curve and identify trends that today’s digital age kids will enjoy and can relate to.”
“Kidtagious is the next generation lean children’s entertainment company, focused on effectively and seamlessly merging the myriad of new and emerging technologies with proven intellectual properties and established consumer brands,” says Taylor. “Through our initial and continuing efforts, Kidtagious is essentially bringing Silicon Valley to Hollywood in a manner that’s meaningful and impactful with today’s consumer.
“We represent significant technologies which seek the power of household entertainment names. Those technologies include the blockchain and digital collectability, authentication and royalty accuracy reporting platforms, and wearables which can either safely awaken you to play tournament video games or to help and young child go to sleep.”
For Kidtagious, blockchain will be used for digital collectibles. The company plans to use blockchain to establish another direct link to the consumer and create a customizable digital universe that will allow kids to collect, store, and secure digital collectibles.
Kidtagious Entertainment plans to work with leading innovators and manufacturers to create products in a variety of categories including technology, toys, entertainment studios, gaming companies, consumer packaged goods, clothing, accessories, amongst many others. Whether originating overseas or in the U.S., Kidtagious Entertainment plans to create Intellectual Property phenomenons and give them the unique opportunity for worldwide domination.