6 minute read
Ukraine’s Brave Bunnies - an update
At the recent Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards (B&LLAs) lunch in London, Dan Frugtniet from Big Picture Licensing gave a heartfelt and moving speech on behalf of Glowberry, the Ukrainian company behind the success of animated property Brave Bunnies.
Dan is working tirelessly to help Glowberry in any way that he can at the moment. Because of the extraordinary circumstances, we felt we wanted to publish his talk in full – hopefully explaining the position at the moment and highlighting how our industry can help.
“Ian Hyder from Max Publishing, the creators and organisers of the B&LLAs kindly asked me to say a few words on behalf of a wonderful team of people from Ukraine who work for a company called Glowberry which created the only (ever!) kids property to come from Ukraine and to make it onto the global stage as a beautiful preschool property called Brave Bunnies.
Olga (Cherepanova), the creator of Brave Bunnies was supposed to record you all a personal video, but she told me it’s all too emotional for her and she kept breaking down to cry as she is so worried about her family still in Ukraine and she cannot think straight.
We have all been shocked and surprised at what is happening in Ukraine, in the modern world we thought we had seen the last of this in Europe.
Over the last 16 years I have been fortunate in my licensing career to have managed the emerging markets for different global licensors and travelled frequently to both Russia and Ukraine during this time and set up licensing businesses there for companies like Viacom. Visiting these countries was always an experience, both good and bad and I have witnessed a fundamental change in how both markets operate within the licensing industry and how they have transitioned from territories rife with counterfeit product (which was even sold in retail chains) to the modern licensing markets they are - or were until this year.
What I will say is how amazing it’s been to see how the licensing industry is like a big international family of like-minded people and it has brought us together all over the world and I consider many people friends in both Russia and Ukraine. This is what makes it all so sad. While our sympathies are of course with our Ukrainian licensing family, I also want to support our Russian licensing family
Dan Frugtniet
The Story so far...
In just two years, the animated series from Ukrainian creators has gone from a festival pilot to one of the most popular children’s television shows in dozens of countries. Today, BRAVE BUNNIES is on air in more than 60 territories – from Great Britain to South Korea, from Australia to Latin America and the Caribbean. In some markets, the series topped the ratings of children’s shows in the first month of broadcasting. The release of books and toys based on the BRAVE BUNNIES only confirmed the relevance of this adorable and instructive show from Ukraine. BRAVE BUNNIES is a fascinating story about growing up. About exploring the big world around you, about accepting yourself and others, about the ability to make friends and cooperate, about socializing and healthy relationships. It was these qualities that helped the Glowberry team create, launch and promote the first season of the series. After all, there were studies with child psychologists and international consultants, and the development of characters and stories to present more diversity to an international audience. And, of course, there were strong healthy relationships within the team and with foreign partners, which helped the project “grow up” successful and useful. The concepts of the series, stories, and characters were created by two Ukrainian women – creative producer Olga Cherepanova and art director Anna Sarvira. The co-production of the first season was done by the Spanish animation studio Anima, and the distribution was the Oscar-winning British studio Aardman. A successful combination of talents, powerful international expertise, and a topical idea have borne fruit together – a bright and exciting 52 episodes show with unique art and sound. The BRAVE BUNNIES have since been noted by both industry professionals and ordinary viewers in dozens of countries. In the wake of popularity, the BRAVE
as they have now had their livelihoods and businesses likely destroyed for the next 5-10 years as licensors pull their brands out of Russia and embargo the territory. It’s unbelievable how fast and far things have changed for Ukrainians and Russians and that they are now enemies rather than the shared family ties they once were.
Glowberry who are based in Kyiv, have worked tirelessly to develop Brave Bunnies and I have had the honour and pleasure of working with them very closely as master-agent for the last three years.
The team are now spread to the winds with the women as refugees all over Europe and the men still in Ukraine to fight or volunteer. This is an unprecedented time and not one that anybody could expect to deal with in our normally lovely Licensing industry.
As our partners will attest to, the Glowberry team are such a pleasure to work with, they have always been willing partners and so positive and happy to bring Brave Bunnies to a global audience. Having worked with licensees and agents all over the world I know how rare it is to work with such friendly, happy, willing and proactive people. Over the last 3 years we hit so many milestones and signed up key partners and then disaster struck and while we secure the right strategic partner to help us finish Season 2, it’s obviously a very challenging and stressful time for the Glowberry team both personally and in business right now.
So, on behalf of the team, I would like to thank all our international partners for their ongoing support during this crazy time, they have all really stepped up and its shown how amazing the licensing family really is when the proverbial shit hits the fan. We would also like to thank Ian, Jakki Brown and Sam Loveday - as well as all of you for your kind donations towards their chosen good cause of UNICEFs Ukrainian Children’s Charity. Let’s be honest the kids will need all the help they can get!
So on behalf of Glowberry and Brave Bunnies thank you again for your support. It’s not business as usual, but please don’t forget us!
Thank you / Dyakuyu!” Dan Frugtniet, Big Picture Licensing
BUNNIES franchise is developing rapidly – now it is not only a cartoon series, but also children’s books from Penguin Random House (UK), DeA Libri (Italy), and Five Mile (Australia); online games from Super RTL (Germany), sets of soft toys and action figures from Spin Master in Italy, Germany, and soon – in other countries. As well as clothing, merch and accessories from PMI (Israel), Caprice (New Zealand) and Roy Lowe & Sons (UK). Prior to the Russian invasion, work on the second season was in full swing in Glowberry. And these are new unexpected stories and games, meetings with old friends and new characters. And also new songs and dances, and even more diversity and inclusivity. Despite all the difficulties faced by the Ukrainian company due to the war, work on the new season continues – as well as work on licensed products and entering the new areas of broadcasting. However, the main priority now is the safety of the team and the defense of the country. We look forward to news of peace and new brave announcements from the creators of the most popular children’s cartoon series from Ukraine.
For more information:
www.bravebunnies.com dan@bigpicturelicensing.com
Glowberry will be supporting UNICEF during the crisis. https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/conflict-ukraine-poseimmediate-threat-children
