ITV

Category: Kids

  • Disney Consumer Products unveils Roadside Romeo merchandise







    MUMBAI: Disney Consumer Products (DCP) has tied up with Yash Raj Films to launch merchandise products for its upcoming animated film Roadside Romeo.


    Earlier, Walt Disney Studios had entered into an exclusive deal with Yash Raj Films to co-produce a series of animated feature films in India. Roadside Romeo scheduled for a Diwali release on 24 October is the first movie in the series.


    The merchandise will be launched in various categories such as apparel, accessories, footwear, jewellery and school stationery.


    The apparel collection includes T-shirts, skirts and jeans. These are available at select Catmoss stores across India and are priced between Rs 400 to Rs 1000.


    The innerwear collection is priced between Rs 50 to Rs 75 and footwear range between Rs 99 to Rs 749.


    Disney Consumer Products has tied up with Catmoss, Bodycare and Lakhani for apparel, innerwear and footwear respectively.



    Fine Jewelleries, DCP and Popley have come together to launch Roadside Romeo fine jewellery range which comprises of diamond studded Romeo and Laila pendants.


    This limited edition couture line is priced between Rs 26,000 to Rs 39,000. The collection will be retailed out of select Popley outlets.


    DCP has also partnered with HM International to retail the line-up of Roadside Romeo stationary products such as note books, lunch boxes, water bottles, coin banks, pencil boxes, CD Cases among others. To be retailed out of Big Bazar and Lifestyle stores, these stationaries are priced between Rs 49 – Rs 169.


    Portico-Creative Mobus will launch the Roadside Romeo bed sheet collection (priced between Rs 649 to Rs 2299). Hot Mugs is launching Roadside Romeo Mugs capturing the themes, motifs and characters of the movie.


    Additionally, DCP has partnered with Excel to launch a host of books such as coloring, copy, activity, sticker. Art of Romeo – a Coffee Table book, Junior Novel are also in the offering. DCP has tied-up with Diamond comics to launch – The Adventures of Romeo & Friends and Roadside Romeo comics.

  • HK Disneyland clears USD 425 million loan

    MUMBAI: Hong Kong Disneyland has cleared its loans of US$425 million with the help of The Walt Disney Company.
    The park is 43 per cent held by Disney and rest is owned by Hong Kong government which suffered the most of US$3.5 billion construction cost.



    Besides, since opening in September 2005, the park had suffered due to poor attendance.


    The Walt Disney Co and the Hong Kong government were in talks to work out a deal to refinance the Hong Kong theme park after which the Hong Kong government, agreed to accept a cheaper financial arrangement from Disney.

  • Nickelodeon to launch new season of The Naked Brothers Band

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon will start the third season of the mockumentary series, The Naked Brothers Band with a special movie titled Mystery Girl. The hour-long movie will premiere on 18 October.


    The television movie stars real-life brothers and musicians Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff along with celebrity guest Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly fame).



    The new season follows the fortunes of the band as they make their first motion picture, from shooting to the red carpet premiere.



    The premiere episode includes the debut of the band‘s latest songs, ‘Blueberry Cotton.‘



    The new season will also feature a celebrity line-up including Whoopi Goldberg, Natasha Bedingfield, David Attell, David Desrosiers (Simple Plan fame), Simon Kirke (Bad Company fame), Tobin Esperance (Papa Roach fame), Leon Thomas and Nickelodeon‘s Victoria Justice, star of the upcoming Nickelodeon television movie Spectacular.

  • BBC Worldwide restructures kids biz







    MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has announced the restructure of its children‘s business under the leadership of the new MD Neil Ross.



    The business, which will be renamed Children‘s and Licensing, will be structured with three main strands focussing on pre-school, pre-teen and adult licensing.


    The name change reflects the importance of maximising global licensing opportunities for adult brands such as Top Gear and Planet Earth in addition to shows such as In the Night Garden, Teletubbies, Doctor Who and Charlie and Lola, in order to channel the profit back into children‘s programming at the BBC.


    Neil Ross Russell said, “Coming to this role, it was clear to me that we have a exceptional pipeline of content from the BBC with brands like Planet Earth and Top Gear, and from Indies with our partners such as Tiger Aspect and Ragdoll.


    “The growing success of BBC channels internationally also provides us with great broadcast platforms but we are not currently set up to make the most of licensing opportunities outside of the UK.


    “At a time when there are more brands than ever in the market, this new structure will allow us to provide each brand in our portfolio with the focus and attention it deserves.”


    BBC Worldwide also announced a new agreement with joint venture partner Ragdoll which sees them oversee US and Canada TV sales and licensing for programmes such as Teletubbies and In the Night Garden. With the addition of North America, BBC Worldwide now represents global distribution rights, excluding UK broadcast, for all Ragdoll properties.


    Ragdoll CEO Mark Hollingsworth says, “Following the creation of the joint venture between Ragdoll and BBC Worldwide, it is a natural progression for Ragdoll to merge its North American Division with the Children‘s and Licensing team at BBC Worldwide in New York. This further strengthens our partnership with BBC Worldwide as we extend our collaboration in managing the Ragdoll portfolio in the US and Canada.”


    BBC Worldwide Children‘s and Licensing will also look to explore new opportunities for brands in the US with the recruitment of a newly created role of global head of licensing. The role will be based in BBC Worldwide‘s New York office and sit alongside Susanna Pollack, who is the seenior VP TV sales, co-productions and children‘s.

  • Springs Creative in licensing deal with Nick

    MUMBAI: Springs Creative Products Group LLC has entered into a licensing partnership with Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products.



    This partnership will allow Springs Creative Products Group to incorporate Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. properties including SpongeBob SquarePants; iCarly; The Backyardigans; Blue‘s Clues; Go, Diego, Go; Dora the Explorer, Ni Hao, Kai-lan; and WonderPets into the company‘s lines of retail fabrics and craft kits, such as the Room Decor Kits and Fleece Throw Kits.


    “This partnership clearly demonstrates that Springs Creative Products Group is constantly striving to deliver the most current and sellable trends in the marketplace. We are very excited about adding the Nickelodeon(R) brand to our line of licensed products and plan to use its popular characters to develop new, innovative products that provide great value to our customers,” said Springs Creative Products Group‘s president Mike Boylan.Consumer Products.

  • The Jim Henson Company to debut Sid the Science Kid at Mipcom Jr

    MUMBAI: The Jim Henson Company, creators of Muppets (the rights to which are now owned by The Walt Disney Company), will debut its newest animated pre-school property Sid the Science Kid at Mipcom Jr to be held in France in October.


    The company has also finalised deal with broadcasters in North and South America. The announcement was made today by The Jim Henson Company COO and president Peter Schube.


    Sid the Science Kid is a new educational animated television series using comedy to promote exploration, discovery and science readiness among preschoolers.



    It is also the first show produced by The Jim Henson Company for PBS Kids that features a practical in-school science curriculum, uses music and humor to celebrate children’s natural curiosity about science in everyday life.


    Sid the Science Kid recently debuted in the U.S. as part of the popular PBS Kids preschool destination, the hosted two-hour morning block and online destination at pbskids.org.


    The company has signed new agreements for the series: Discovery Kids Latin America and a trio of Canadian public broadcasters, TV Ontario, SCN-Saskatchewan and British Columbia’s Knowledge.


    “We have already received a tremendous response from broadcasters for Sid the Science Kid, which is a testament to the quality and originality of the series. The series has been extremely well-received in the US on PBS Kids, and we expect similar success as it rolls out internationally,” said Schube.


    The series is created using the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a proprietary technology that allows the Company‘s world-class performers to puppeteer and voice digitally animated characters in real time creating a unique, more spontaneous and fresh result.

  • Kids Media in talks with investors, plans Rs 1 bn investment







    MUMBAI: Kids Media India (KMI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai-based Spacetoon Media, is in talks with strategic and private equity investors to dilute part of its stake.


    KMI, which is in the process of launching a kids channel in India, has a fund requirement of Rs 1 billion over three years.



    “We are in talks with investors to part-fund our expansion plans in India. We intend to invest Rs 1 billion over three years,” says Kids Media India MD & CEO Rajiv Sangari.


    KMI has already received Rs 780 million from its parent company. Spacetoon Media Group is a $200 million capitalised company and plans to have a presence in kids TV and licensing and merchandising business in India.


    “The channel is in test run and we are in talks with cable TV operators. We are looking at digital distribution platforms including DTH,” says Sangari.


    KMI plans to invest Rs 250 million for distributing the channel in the Hindi-speaking markets.


    Spacetoon Media runs Spacetoon TV, a kids entertainment cartoon channel, since March 2000. The channel transmits in more than 22 countries throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia and Korea.



    KMI is an active player in the licensing and merchandising market in India. It recently entered into a pact with Marvel Entertainment International to represent its licensing, merchandising, publishing and promotional programmes in the country. Spiderman, X-Men, The Hulk, Iron Man, Ghost Rider and Captain America are some of Marvel‘s properties. Sports entertainment major WWE has also appointed KMI as a licensing partner in the country for its consumer products.

  • Disney to air Hannah Montana , Miley Cyrus concert movie on 28 September

    MUMBAI: Disney channel will air Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds concert movie on 28 September at 10 am.


    Shot during the 69-city tour by both Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus, the film will give viewers the inside world of both artists.



    Walt Disney Television International (India) MD and SVP Antoine Villeneuve said, “Television plays an important role in our strategy to drive our brands, franchises and content across the region. It will continue to be the major growth engine in building franchise affinity in India. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds concert in 3D is Disney Channel’s unique offering this year for fans across the country.”


    In addition to its real concert footage, the film includes a “backstage pass” peek at Miley’s life on tour. The movie also features special guests Jonas Brothers, the platinum-selling music phenomenon headed by three teenaged brothers – Nick, Kevin and Joe.



    The movie is directed by Bruce Hendricks and produced by Art Repola.

  • Echo Bridge Entertainment signs licensing deals for kids properties ahead of Mipcom







    MUMBAI: Following their recent purchase of Alliance Atlantis International Distribution, independent distribution company Echo Bridge Entertainment has finalised a slate of international licensing agreements for series in the library of programming, including teen series Degrassi and Instant Star, as well as the animated children’s series Lunar Jim, Dragon Booster and Adventures of Sinbad.



    The announcement was made by Echo Bridge Entertainment executive VP Dan March.

    In the teen category, Echo Bridge Entertainment has secured a broadcast deal for Degrassi Season 7 (23 episodes) with France’s Virgin 17. 22 half-hour episodes of Season 8 of Degrassi: The Next Generation, starring Young Artist Award-winner Miriam McDonald, is currently in production. The company also signed licensing agreements with France’s Virgin 17 and Mediaset in Italy for Season 4 of the musical drama Instant Star.


    Both series air in the US on MTV Networks’ The N. In its inaugural season, Instant Star became the network’s second-highest rated program, trailing only the network‘s hit signature series Degrassi: The Next Generation! says the company.

    Echo Bridge Entertainment has concluded deals for the animated series, Lunar Jim, with broadcasters, including ZDF in Germany for season 2 (19 episodes), BBC Worldwide in Poland for seasons 1 (26 episodes) and 2 (19 episodes), and ABC Australia acquired season 2 (19 episodes) and re-licensed season 1 (26 episodes). Lunar Jim currently airs on several broadcasters, including CBeebies, Kika, Kids CBC, Radio Canada Television, Discovery Kids Latin America, Discovery Kids Brazil and ABC Kids.


    Additionally, re-licence agreements were concluded for the CGI-animated show Dragon Booster for the first season with ABC Australia. TV2 in Norway re-licensed the second season of Adventures of Sinbad.

    March says, “We are excited with the immediate response from broadcasters around the world to our diverse Alliance Atlantis International Distribution catalog of programming. We now have a breadth of programming that provides broadcasters a multitude of choices to fill all parts of their programming schedules.


    “In addition to the library which includes primetime series , factual programming, children’s programming and reality, we continue to offer dynamic first run programming for series such as Degrassi, Jeff Ltd, Rich Bridge Poor Bride and more.”


    The April 2008 acquisition of Alliance Atlantis International Distribution added approximately 7,500 titles and over 5,500 hours of programming to Echo Bridge Entertainment’s existing catalog of over 3,500 titles, creating one of the world’s largest independent catalogs consisting of over 11,000 titles. The portfolio of distribution rights features well-known international brands in categories including feature films, primetime television movies and series, children’s series, and lifestyle and factual programming, which Echo Bridge Entertainment intends to exploit across all media.

  • 9 Story Entertainment to showcase ‘Survive This!’ at Mipcom







    MUMBAI: Production and distribution company 9 Story Entertainment will present at next month‘s television trade event in Cannes France Mipcom‘s attendees with a first look at the recently completed trailer of the action adventure series for kids Survive This!.


    The show will be hosted by Survivorman himself, Les Stroud.








    Created by 9 Story and Les Stroud, and commissioned by YTV, Canada, Survive This! takes a team of eight 14 to 16 year-olds into the wilderness for three weeks with Les Stroud serving as their mentor and survivor skill judge.


    Les deploys his unique experience in the wild to embark on a journey where participants start off as average kids with little or no outdoor experience and transform into confident, outdoor adventurers, able to confront anything nature may throw their way.


    Faced with unexpected setbacks, the eight participants vie for a chance to fulfill an individual dream they hold dear, driving them to complete the challenges in front of them, no matter what.


    9 Story CEO Vince Commisso says, “This is an exciting journey for the participants and for us. It is an amazing experience collaborating with Les to to create a series that will encourage kids to challenge themselves, build physical skills and develop their minds. Survive This! gives “outdoor fun” a whole new meaning.”



    Survive This! is the inaugural live-action project to be produced under 9 Story‘s development deal with wilderness survival expert and filmmaker Les Stroud, which was announced in October 2007. The series will be fully delivered by March 2009.