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A Soaring Success in Licensing An interview with Daryl White of Falcon’s Beyond
It seems like every week I hear about a new and exciting partnership or activation from Falcon’s Beyond, a Licensing and Management agency with decades of business under its belt. Daryl White, Falcon’s President of Global Licensing and Business Development was kind enough to answer a few of our biggest questions!
the industry as a whole – from the advancement of technology to changes in the way consumers seek out and engage with content and experiences. But I would argue what has made the most difference over the years is something that hasn’t changed: our focus on storydriven IP.
Would you please tell us a bit about Falcon’s Beyond’s history?
We call ourselves a visionary leader in immersive storytelling because storytelling is our top priority for each project we take on. We own, activate and deploy brands across multiple platforms, whether it is through animated and live-action media content, gaming, retail consumer products, location-based experiences, or other consumer touchpoints. But the key for each one of those areas is telling a great story, and while technology may evolve over time, and the way consumers engage with content may evolve over time, great storytelling is great storytelling, and prioritizing that core element will always enable us to stay ahead of the curve.
Falcon’s Beyond springs from our CEO Cecil D. Magpuri, who became interested in the entertainment industry while working at the iconic Iwerks Entertainment in Burbank, California. Later, as creative director at Universal Studios, which brought him to Orlando, he designed major attractions, including Twister and a brick-and-mortar experience based on Apollo 13, in collaboration with names such as Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. He then decided to take this experience to start his own company, Falcon’s Treehouse back in 2000, which later rebranded as Falcon’s Creative Group and, subsequently, became part of the larger Falcon’s Beyond when that was formed in 2021. Since our founding, now almost 25 years ago, Falcon’s has collaborated with some of the most accomplished entertainment IP holders across the globe, producing award-winning entertainment experiences, and creating exceptional media content and experiential technology for worldwide audiences. Falcon’s has worked on very well-known consumer entertainment experiences for major brands. This includes the Hulk Epsilon Base 3D experience; The World of the Hunger Games at Motiongate Dubai; Avengers: Battle of Ultron 4D Dark Ride; and the Hard Rock Vault. We’ve also worked with some of the biggest names in the industry -- Disney, Universal Studios, Lego, Marvel, NASA, and others. Falcon’s Beyond was founded in the year 2000. Wow, have the times changed! How has your business model changed and adapted in your 24 years of operation? Wow, indeed! A lot has changed over the years, especially when you consider all that has evolved across 22 tfe June 2024
So while Falcon’s in some ways may be very different than what it was over 20 years ago – after all, we are now a publicly listed company on Nasdaq – our core vision for the company has not wavered, which is something we are very proud of. What separates Falcon’s Beyond as a special agency in the licensing industry, in your opinion? We are activating a business model that truly differentiates us in the industry and engages consumers directly: through the continued creation of new technologies, we are activating both proprietary and partner IPs for consumers in an unprecedented manner. Falcon’s Beyond propels IP activations concurrently across physical and digital experiences through three core business units: · Falcon’s Creative Group, which is one of the world’s leading themed entertainment and master planning firms, having planned over $120 billion in awardwinning experiences where creative vision, compelling design, immersive media, and cutting-edge technology intersect to bring imagination to life.