Kartoon Studios’ Lloyd Mintz on rebranding, developing new IP inspired by Stan Lee’s library and Web3 initiatives.
For our annual overseas round up, LicensingSource.net asks a selection of licensing industry insiders in key territories to tell us about their takeaways from 2023 and the challenges and opportunities they expect to encounter in 2024, and for a single word to sum up each year.
Today, we head to the US, with Lloyd Mintz, head of worldwide consumer products, Kartoon Studios.
“This past year was an exciting one as we rebranded the company from Genius Brands to Kartoon Studios to reflect our growth and evolution. We also premiered Shaq’s Garage, starring and executive produced by Shaquille O’Neal, which has been steadily building an audience as it gains traction across a broad range of broadcast platforms, including our own Kartoon Channel.
We’ve also seen our Frederator Networks’ quirky original series, Bee and PuppyCat, soar on Netflix with product embraced on e-comm by its passionate fanbase.
We are developing a whole slate of new IP inspired by Stan Lee’s vast undeveloped library of characters and storylines, which will start coming to market in print form this coming summer. In addition, we’ll be launching a host of leading-edge Web3 initiatives, along with traditional categories like apparel, which will place Stan Lee in his trailblazing role as an industry trendsetter once again.
Last year we were focused on foundation-building, and 2024 will be all about deployment.”
This feature originally appeared in the spring 2024 edition of Licensing Source Book. To read the full publication, click on this link.
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