ITV

Tag: Angry Birds

  • Cake adds some icing with Anna Pokorska as sales manager

    Cake adds some icing with Anna Pokorska as sales manager

    MUMBAI: Cake, the London-based kids’ content powerhouse, has appointed Anna Pokorska as sales manager, handing her the reins to key territories across Europe and beyond. Pokorska will be baking up international sales across Italy, Benelux, Central and Eastern Europe, Greece, Turkey and Israel for Cake’s hit slate—including Angry Birds, Total Drama Island, Lucas the Spider, Talking Tom Heroes: Suddenly Super and Armorsaurs.

    Reporting to Cake managing director of distribution Dominic Gardiner, Pokorska joins with a deep track record in animation, kids’ content and feature film distribution. She’s worn several high-level hats—SVP of sales at GFM Animation, global distribution lead at Wizart Animation, regional boss at Interfilm for Warner Bros., and casting lead at HBO CIS. Lately, she’s been consulting for MK2 Films and producing both animated and documentary projects.

    “We’re excited to have Anna join the team at Cake . Her experience in animation and strong industry relationships make her a great fit as we continue to grow our global reach,” said Gardiner.

    Pokorska said, “I’m thrilled to be joining the company I’ve admired for as long as I can remember—a true pioneer in kids’ entertainment. It’s an honour to contribute to Cake’s continued growth and help its fantastic shows reach new audiences around the world.”

    As Cake dishes up hits to kids across continents, Pokorska’s appointment adds more firepower to its global growth recipe.

  • Angry Birds sing the Blues on Discovery Kids

    Angry Birds sing the Blues on Discovery Kids

    MUMBAI: Discovery Kids is all set to roll out its new series featuring kids’ beloved birds in the Indian television premiere of Angry Birds Blues. The series will air from Monday to Friday at 6 pm with a repeat at 12 noon as part of continued festivities for kids.

    Discovery Kids head Uttam Pal Singh said, “This festive season, we bring kids favourite series to Discovery Kids – Angry Birds Blues. It is our endeavour to bring to our young audience best-in-class entertainment and engagement with their favourite characters.”

    The series features new birds and their hilarious escapades. Meet the Blues Jake, Jay and Jim – rambunctious bluebird triplets with big ideas that wildly succeed or hilariously fail. But no matter what happens, this fun feathered trio always bounces back except when the Hatchlings show up. Unfazed, the brothers simply shake their smouldering tail feathers and try again. Whether it’s building a clubhouse ordered from the Mighty Eagle Express, or getting a kite to fly, the Blues’ crazy antics become unbelievable comic disasters you can’t resist.

  • ChuChu TV’s new consumer products biz expects 8 to 10 per cent as royalty

    ChuChu TV’s new consumer products biz expects 8 to 10 per cent as royalty

    MUMBAI: ChuChu TV, Asia-Pacific’s most watched YouTube channel for toddlers from India, with over six billion views and six million subscribers, has partnered with Dream Theatre to launch the global consumer products business for the brand. Given its global appeal and audience, ChuChu TV has now partnered with Dream Theatre to launch the ChuChu TV Consumer Products business globally. Toys, gaming, publishing, apparel will form the core categories, which will hit the market by April 2017.

    “Currently we are in the process of upgrading our existing characters to 3D so that they are more appealing as toys. We are also adding new IPs to our characters profile. Something aimed at young adults as well. On the other end, with these new updated characters we are creating a 13 episode series. It will take another six months for us to be ready so the products can hit the market by April 2017,” shared ChuChu TV CEO and creative director Vinoth Chandar.

    “It is a long term process. Once the characters are in place, getting deals ready takes some time. Fortunately for us. Dream Theatre is our licensing agent and we are positive that once our products hit the market, more deals will line up easily,” he added.

    Although Chu Chu TV’s US partners will be involved in product creative given its global branding, the first launch will be in India, which will be replicated in the US and other markets.

    Entertainment and licensing firm Dream Theatre is creating the brand architecture and making ChuChu TV “license ready.”

    Having worked with iconic international brands like Angry Birds, DreamWorks Animation, Pokemon, Femina and numerous others on the licensing front, Dream Theatre is creating the brand architecture and Go-To-Market plan for ChuChu TV by upgrading the creative assets, creating style guides, business templates and also charting the launch strategy and rollout plan across territories for ChuChu TV.

    “Chu Chu TVs phenomenal success is a testimony to its popularity and it is very exciting for us to work with a brand originated in India and adored across the world by the young and old alike. We are thrilled to create a world class licensing program that enables fans to engage with the brand in a products and services form and will be engaging with top international licensing agents, toy companies and retailers to launch and grow the business across the globe,” said Dream Theatre CEO Jiggy George.

    Chander further explained that Consumer Products Business to ChuChu Tv is an alternative but lucrative source of revenue for the company. “The going rate in the market is 5 to 15 per cent when it comes to royalty payments, but mostly depends on the products that is sold. We are expecting to draw 8 to 10 per cent of royalty on the sale of our products in the kids category,” Chander added in parting.

    According to industry guesstimates, currently the licensed merchandised market for character IPs or franchises for kids stands at around Rs 5000 crore, growing from Rs 3500 crore last year.

  • ChuChu TV’s new consumer products biz expects 8 to 10 per cent as royalty

    ChuChu TV’s new consumer products biz expects 8 to 10 per cent as royalty

    MUMBAI: ChuChu TV, Asia-Pacific’s most watched YouTube channel for toddlers from India, with over six billion views and six million subscribers, has partnered with Dream Theatre to launch the global consumer products business for the brand. Given its global appeal and audience, ChuChu TV has now partnered with Dream Theatre to launch the ChuChu TV Consumer Products business globally. Toys, gaming, publishing, apparel will form the core categories, which will hit the market by April 2017.

    “Currently we are in the process of upgrading our existing characters to 3D so that they are more appealing as toys. We are also adding new IPs to our characters profile. Something aimed at young adults as well. On the other end, with these new updated characters we are creating a 13 episode series. It will take another six months for us to be ready so the products can hit the market by April 2017,” shared ChuChu TV CEO and creative director Vinoth Chandar.

    “It is a long term process. Once the characters are in place, getting deals ready takes some time. Fortunately for us. Dream Theatre is our licensing agent and we are positive that once our products hit the market, more deals will line up easily,” he added.

    Although Chu Chu TV’s US partners will be involved in product creative given its global branding, the first launch will be in India, which will be replicated in the US and other markets.

    Entertainment and licensing firm Dream Theatre is creating the brand architecture and making ChuChu TV “license ready.”

    Having worked with iconic international brands like Angry Birds, DreamWorks Animation, Pokemon, Femina and numerous others on the licensing front, Dream Theatre is creating the brand architecture and Go-To-Market plan for ChuChu TV by upgrading the creative assets, creating style guides, business templates and also charting the launch strategy and rollout plan across territories for ChuChu TV.

    “Chu Chu TVs phenomenal success is a testimony to its popularity and it is very exciting for us to work with a brand originated in India and adored across the world by the young and old alike. We are thrilled to create a world class licensing program that enables fans to engage with the brand in a products and services form and will be engaging with top international licensing agents, toy companies and retailers to launch and grow the business across the globe,” said Dream Theatre CEO Jiggy George.

    Chander further explained that Consumer Products Business to ChuChu Tv is an alternative but lucrative source of revenue for the company. “The going rate in the market is 5 to 15 per cent when it comes to royalty payments, but mostly depends on the products that is sold. We are expecting to draw 8 to 10 per cent of royalty on the sale of our products in the kids category,” Chander added in parting.

    According to industry guesstimates, currently the licensed merchandised market for character IPs or franchises for kids stands at around Rs 5000 crore, growing from Rs 3500 crore last year.

  • Lego Angry Birds toys to take flight in 2016

    Lego Angry Birds toys to take flight in 2016

    MUMBAI: Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment has teamed up with The Lego Group to create a collection of building sets related to its 2016 film.

     

    The two companies will develop a line of construction toys, which will be available in spring 2016 to coincide with the release of The Angry Birds Movie, a full-length feature film based on the popular gaming franchise.

     

    “The Lego brand has an unparalleled ability to connect with people through products that spark creativity and imagination. We’re really excited to build experiences together with this amazing best-in-class partner,” said Rovio CEO Pekka Rantala.

     

    “We are excited to bring Angry Birds to life in Lego form, given the popularity of the game and its characters with fans of all ages, which will only be amplified by the forthcoming film. We seek partnership with globally relevant properties that offer a unique and rewarding play experience to our fans, and our designers are having fun developing building sets that leverage the engaging play and deconstruction found in the Angry Birds game,” added The Lego Group licensing & entertainment vice president Jill Wilfert.

  • Rovio’s Angry Birds takes flight with Global Eagle Entertainment

    Rovio’s Angry Birds takes flight with Global Eagle Entertainment

    MUMBAI: Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE) Inc has partnered with Rovio Entertainment to provide the casual mobile gaming franchise Angry Birds, to airlines as inflight entertainment content.

     

    Angry Birds is the most downloaded mobile game of all time, boasting 2.8 billion downloads across all types of platforms. Through this agreement, GEE is providing customized Angry Birds content specifically for seat-back entertainment systems, and will soon market it to airline customers.

     

    GEE is the provider of inflight games and media content to airlines. With a catalogue of over 150 titles in its AirGames portfolio, and 20 years of experience in supplying popular casual games for seat-back and wireless inflight entertainment systems, the company provides licensed and in-house designed games to over one hundred airlines around the world.

     

    “Since it was first introduced, Angry Birds has grown into one of the most recognized brands in the world. We are very excited to be able to offer our airline customers this exclusive opportunity to elevate their passenger experience offering. Angry Birds’ mischievous casual game style, engaging short game play and international appeal make it an ideal addition to an airline’s entertainment line-up,” said GEE SVP of digital products Alexis Steinman. 

     

    “In the last five years, Angry Birds have been spreading their wings to every corner of the world. Thanks to our agreement with GEE, passengers will be able to take flight and join the Angry Birds on their mile high adventures. We love the idea of entertaining in the sky,” added Rovio Entertainment vice president of business development games Miikka Lindgren.

     

  • Voice cast announced for ‘Angry Birds’ movie

    Voice cast announced for ‘Angry Birds’ movie

    MUMBAI: Columbia pictures announced the cast for its upcoming animated film adaptation of popular game Angry Birds.

     

    The cast was revealed after fans of the game worked together to sling one billion birds over the past 48 hours.

     

    The film will center on a furious flock of three: Red, Chuck and Bomb.

     

    Horrible Bosses fame actor Jason Sudeikis will lead the cast as Red, a bird with a temper problem, accompanied with Jobs’ Josh Gad as speedy Chuck, and Danny McBride of Eastbound & Down as the volatile Bomb.

     

    Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage will bring the character of legendary Mighty Eagle alive on screen while Matilda, the white bird who lays egg bombs, will be voiced by Maya Rudolph of Bridesmaids fame.

     

    The movie will also will feature Bill Hader, Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon, Tony Hale, Ike Barinholtz and Hannibal Buress.

     

    “I’m extremely proud of this cast. Not only do we have Jason, Josh, Danny, Bill, Maya and Peter bringing these characters to life, but they’re surrounded by an all-star ensemble of emerging comic talent — these are some of the funniest people out there today, and we’re thrilled to have them all on board,” said John Cohen, producer of the film, in a press release.

     

    The film is set for a 1 July 2016 release and will be directed by Fergal Reilly of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Frozen famed Clay Kaytis while the screenplay will be written by Jon Vitti of The Simpsons. The movie is a partnership between Finnish Angry Birds creator Rovio and Hollywood studio Sony.

     

    The Angry Birds movie will mark game maker Rovio’s first leap into feature films, though they have been producing ‘Angry Birds Toons’ through their Toons TV online channel.

  • Fox pushes ‘Independence Day 2’ to 2016

    Fox pushes ‘Independence Day 2’ to 2016

    MUMBAI: The world will have to wait another year for its Independence Day 2. Fox has announced that it is moving the long pending sequel from 3 July 2015 – a date it had announced in June – to 1 July 2016.

    That means the Roland Emmerich-helmed pic will arrive exactly 20 years and one day after the blockbuster original, which made a movie star of Will Smith. The sequel will go up against another bombing-themed movie Sony’s Angry Birds.

  • Fox pushes Independence Day 2 to 2016

    Fox pushes Independence Day 2 to 2016

    MUMBAI: The world will have to wait another year for its Independence Day 2. Fox has announced that it is moving the long pending sequel from 3 July 2015 – a date it had announced in June – to 1 July 2016.

     

    That means the Roland Emmerich-helmed pic will arrive exactly 20 years and one day after the blockbuster original, which made a movie star of Will Smith. The sequel will go up against another bombing-themed movie Sony’s Angry Birds.

  • Angry Birds movie gets two directors

    Angry Birds movie gets two directors

    MUMBAI: The popular phone game is all set to be made into a feature film and directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly. It will be based on the game by Rovio Entertainment.

     

    Kaytis has an experience of 19 years and has recently worked on the animation Tangled as well as Wreck-It Ralph. The upcoming Frozen also has his name to the list.

     

    Reily has been with Sony for nearly 10 years and has served as storyboard artist on the likes of Hotel Transylvania, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs as well as its sequel. He was also head of story at Sony Pictures Animation.

     

    It will be a directorial debut for both of them as well as the first feature for Rovio. It is producing the pic in-house.

     

    John Cohen is producing it along with Catherine Winder while David Maisel is executive producing. Jon Vitti is writing the script.