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Face to face with beano studios Inset: The new CGI Dennis was unveiled last year and has received a great reaction.
Fleet Street Stars It’s the only publisher left on Fleet Street, London’s famous publishing street and now the launch of Beano Studios has meant the much-loved brand is going through its own transformation. From 80th anniversary celebrations for the classic franchise, to the unveiling of a new CGI Dennis, plans for Jackie and Bananaman, plus a fresh digital platform, LSB finds out more about how Beano Studios is looking to create and deliver kids entertainment across numerous channels. Left: Angeles Blanco (left), licensing director, and Allison Watkins, evp consumer products. Below: Jackie is one of the brands earmarked for development in the licensing space.
expand some of the brands in the DC Thomson portfolio across various platforms. “We know kids,” Allison Watkins, evp of consumer products, tells LSB. “For almost 80 years we have been engaging with and
Beano Studios: Need to know
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he Beano and its characters have been staples of childhood for decades, with both the comic and the annual remaining firm favourites with fans old and young. However, the launch of Beano Studios last year has added another string to the bow, with the new creative studio actively looking at ways to
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Beano Studios was formed as a creative studio in 2016 to house a new multi-platform children’s entertainment offering. The digital platform, Beano.com – described by Allison as a “feed of digital mischievousness for kids” - is the first step in a new chapter of Beano’s life. Over the coming years, Beano Studios is set to create, curate and deliver entertainment for kids across numerous channels, with TV programmes, theatrical experiences and consumer products joining the existing comic, annual and website. “Published by DC Thomson & Co for almost 80 years, Beano is still very much a part of the family, however Beano Studios has been set up as a standalone business within the group,” Allison explains. There are more than 50 people working within Beano Studios across both London and Dundee. In terms of licensing, Start Licensing’s Ian Downes continues to work on the Classic Beano programme, while Angeles Blanco joined at the end of last year as licensing director. Her remit is to head up Beano Studio’s own vertical licensing business, covering Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed and Jackie, as well as a support for Ian.