We delve into the licensing life of Rainbow Productions’ managing director.
David Scott,
Managing Director, Rainbow Productions
My route into the licensing industry went something like this…
Like everyone else I fell into licensing. I worked in export sales, travelling the world in all kinds of industries selling things like fire engines, lubricants and greeting cards. I ended up in Dublin running the Irish subsidiary of a health foods company when we were the subject of a hostile takeover and it was time for me to move on… I was then offered a job running Rainbow Productions which was owned by CPLG at the time. I had actually never heard of costume characters and had to find out before my first interview what they were (not so easy in pre-internet days). 3 years later I did an MBO and last year we celebrated 20 years as an independent company.
How many years in the industry?
24 and showing it…
When I was growing up, I had no idea licensing was an industry so I wanted to be…
I always wanted to run my own business and had a couple of failed attempts before and during the time I spent in export. I just never dreamed it would be in this business.
The deal I am most proud of is…
Actually it’s not so much a licensing deal but a series of deals – we now make mascots for many major sporting tournaments, e.g. World Cups of many sports, Olympics etc. and we’ve supplied more first class world tournaments than any other mascot company in the world. You’ll soon be seeing Super Victor, the mascot of Euro 2016, who will be one representative of England that is guaranteed to make it to the final.
My most interesting experience in licensing has been…
Working on the 2012 London Olympics. What a case study that would make…
The best piece of advice I’ve ever received is…
When discussing risking our house to do the Rainbow MBO with my wife; she said ‘Go for it!’
If I wasn’t in licensing, I would be…
Unemployable.
Who do you admire most in the industry (and why)?
I entered the business when the original pioneers (Messrs. Cardwell, Culley, Patrick, Sinfield and Durbridge) were still in post and without them there would be no licensing industry. But the person who made most of his time in licensing was Peter Orton who took on a small offshoot of the Henson organisation, invested in Bob the Builder and then on the back of its success leveraged buyouts of the much bigger US owners of Barney and then Gullane, owners of Thomas the Tank Engine. Just over a decade later his company, Hit Entertainment, was bought for £500 million. That is some achievement.
In a film of your life, which licensed character would play you?
The Grinch – I usually escape the UK over Christmas.
If I could change anything about the industry, it would be…
My nickname. Lord Fluff. Really??
