Genius Brands Special Report

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TVKIDS

WWW.TVKIDS.WS OCTOBER 2019

SPECIAL REPORT

Interviews Inside with Genius Brands International’s Andy Heyward, Caroline Tyre & Lloyd Mintz

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Deadpool. And then what can we say about Arnold Schwarzenegger, another icon who Stan thought was a real superhero himself. He was a huge fan of Arnold’s. We are finalizing a deal now with a major global media company that will serve as a co-production partner.

TV KIDS: How do you approach building a company and a brand today, given all the changes that have taken place in the market?

HEYWARD: The landscape has extended so dramatically. It’s not just three or four networks over the air. It’s not only cable networks anymore. It’s a very broad landscape where you have every emerging technology that you could imagine. We’re trying to be very focused on how kids consume media. I have an 11-year-old, and I see how she does it.

With age compression, kids are growing up much faster than they were years ago. You have to be mindful of that.

You have to be mindful of the impact of cellphones, tablets, the emergence of 5G and the way kids are getting information and data and games and everything else. So it’s a

ANDY HEYWARD

By Mansha Daswani

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ver the course of his prolific career, Andy Heyward has produced more than 5,000 episodes of children’s entertainment. Today, as chairman and CEO of Genius Brands International, he is shepherding a slate that includes Nick Jr.’s Rainbow Rangers, Netflix’s Llama Llama and the upcoming Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He talks to TV Kids about the company’s focus on a select group of high-end, compelling properties, growth opportunities for the Genius Brands Network and delivering “Content with a Purpose.”

TV KIDS: How has the company grown in the last five years?

HEYWARD: We have Rainbow Rangers on Nickelodeon and Llama Llama on Netflix. Our own network, the Genius Brands Network, has a very broad footprint and is available in about 80 million U.S. television households on major platforms such as Comcast, Cox and Dish, and OTT channels that range from Amazon Fire and Prime to Roku.

Genius Brands is still a young company, but we’re growing rapidly. Our goal is not to have a catalog of 13,000 titles— it’s to have a select number of properties that are very successful. Rainbow Rangers and Llama Llama have been picked up for second seasons, they are doing well and they have robust licensing programs attached to them. Now we’re focused on our newest launch, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten. We have a team of champions behind the creative. Stan Lee was probably the greatest and most successful creator of all time, and this was likely his last creation. We’re working with Fabian Nicieza, who co-created

dynamic and continuously evolving landscape. But, having said all of that, it still comes back to having better characters and better stories than your competition. There are only so many first-tier writers in Hollywood. You have to get the best writers, the best character development, the best story.

That’s what will drive success; it doesn’t matter what the platform is. The platforms are always going to change; if you have the right stories and characters, they’ll live on whatever platforms are out there.

TV KIDS: And the focus remains on “Content with a Purpose”?

HEYWARD: Since the beginning, our mission has been to create content that has value. It must bring forth some enrichment. For example, while Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten has plenty of action, adventure and comedy, it is also empowering and aspirational and delivers invaluable lessons, particularly about the importance of health, nutrition and exercise, which is key for Arnold.

TV KIDS: What’s the approach to finding that great storytelling talent?

HEYWARD: The first thing I ask them is, What do you read?

If they tell me they read the classics, and they understand conflict and crisis and jeopardy and stakes, I have an insight into how they’re going to be as a storyteller. If what they are reading is fluff with no real value, I’m not going to be as excited about them as writers. When I’m meeting with designers, I ask them to show me their character drawings— I want to see how they draw characters. I’m a fundamentalist in that way. Those things aren’t going to change.

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become an evergreen property. As we do the international rollout, we’ll see a real opportunity to grow the brand.

TV KIDS: I’ve heard that broadcasters are willing to share with OTT if it’s a particularly stand-out show.

TYRE: Some broadcasters are trying to lay the groundwork that they don’t want to share with Netflix, but in the bigger broadcast territories that have a significant impact on consumer products, we are finding success on windowing opportunities. Many broadcasters feel like it will still rate well either way. And having it on multiple platforms allows young children to have the opportunity to watch it when and where they want.

TV KIDS: Tell us about Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten.

TYRE: There is a tremendous amount of buzz around the series. Stan Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger are both

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s senior VP of international distribution, Caroline Tyre is working to bring the company’s properties to free-to-air, pay-TV and digital platforms worldwide.

She is also, as head of Genius Brands Network, looking for additional acquisition and distribution opportunities for the Kid Genius Cartoon Channel and Baby Genius TV. TV KIDS: What are the rollout plans for Rainbow Rangers?

TYRE: Nick Jr. has recently greenlit season two of Rainbow Rangers for the U.S., which we’ll be delivering shortly.

Season one is launching on Nickelodeon and Noggin in Latin America, Cartoonito in Italy and in a number of other territories. Now we’re focusing on the key Western European markets, as well as everywhere else in the world.

The show is flashy and eye-catching, which is great for preschoolers, but it also has a great message in terms of diversity and girl empowerment. There are not many female-led superhero shows. We are delighted to have Mattel as our global master toy partner, and we have about 350 SKUs for Rainbow Rangers merchandise coming to retail over the next nine months, so the brand is really starting to rev up.

TV KIDS: What’s the approach to distributing Llama Llama?

TYRE: We launched season one of Llama Llama on Netflix earlier this year to rave reviews, and a second season will be premiering this November on Netflix. Internationally, we’re just taking season one out now, and we’ll be doing some second-window sales at MIPJunior. The series is available in 20 languages. It’s such a beautiful show that truly reflects the vision behind the best-selling book franchise created by Anna Dewdney. It addresses social and emotional issues for preschoolers such as first trips to school, first friends, frustrations and fears. We feel it has all of the elements to

legends in the industry and both have such a huge fan base.

Plus, there is very little out there in the preschool space that has a superhero feel that only Stan Lee could create. It delivers adventure, comedy, positive messaging and it’s gender-neutral, which is what people are looking for. The other part that we’ve had a great response to is each episode will feature an animated Stan Lee as a cameo. We’re working on a traditional model of broadcast but also have a robust digital strategy in development. We will be debuting the series to buyers for the first time at MIPJunior.

TV KIDS: What are the plans for Genius Brands Network?

TYRE: We’re in 80 million U.S. television households, which is about 70 percent of the market, and we’re looking to grow that substantially in the coming years, both in the U.S. and internationally. In addition to fueling the pipeline with Genius Brands’ original content, we’re looking to license content that ties in with our mission to provide “Content with a Purpose,” both for Baby Genius (kids 0 to 5 preschool) and Kid Genius (kids 6 to 11).

TV KIDS: Are you pursuing a linear channel launch internationally, or is it more of a digital play?

TYRE: We are looking to continue in the OTT space. We’re on set-top boxes, mobile, AVOD, SVOD, and that’s going to remain a core part of our strategy. We’ve revamped our YouTube initiatives by producing new content and launching new brand-specific channels. We currently have Baby Genius and Kid Genius channels available on YouTube and plan to actively grow those as part of the overall network. We’ve also just launched dedicated channel strategies for Rainbow Rangers and Llama Llama and will be focused on creating and delivering new content to keep the channels fresh for our fans.

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veteran of Disney Consumer Products and Hasbro, Lloyd Mintz is tasked with exposing Genius Brands’ curated portfolio of brands to licensees around the globe. The company’s senior VP and head of worldwide consumer products is in the midst of broad U.S. retail rollouts for Rainbow Rangers and Llama Llama, with international campaigns in the works.

TV KIDS: How are you positioning Rainbow Rangers at retail in the U.S.?

MINTZ: We are in phase one of rolling products out at retail.

We’ve started with our first phase of merchandise that will then grow through September and October. The initial items are books from Macmillan in multiple retailers, including Walmart, as well as the first bicycle from Dynacraft on Walmart.com, Target.com, Kohls.com and Amazon. Many of those sales are driven online because

they take up so much floor space. The goal is that the bike sells so well this holiday season—which is the biggest selling season for bikes—that actual floor space will be allocated for Rainbow Rangers next year.

We have T-shirts coming out from Bentex in October as a direct-to-consumer program. We also have a Halloween license with Jakks Pacific and costumes will be available at Walmart, Party City and HalloweenCostumes.com. And we have a direct-to-retail program with another set of costumes going to approximately 1,600 Spirit Halloween stores. These are our most immediate rollouts with plans in place to significantly expand in 2020. We have season two of the series coming to Nick Jr. and new content coming to our Rainbow Rangers YouTube channel. Based on consumer, retailer and licensee feedback, having our content online in more snack-size, portable segments so that kids can watch on the go is one of our most important brand awareness initiatives. We’re releasing original and repurposed content three times a week on YouTube. All of these content initiatives, paired with merchandise available at retail for the first time, should create even more momentum and enthusiasm for the property.

TV KIDS: What’s the international strategy for the property?

MINTZ: We’re in deep dialog with major broadcasters in every region and country in the world. Latin America is done and the series is airing on Nickelodeon Latin America. Italy is done with Rainbow Rangers airing on Cartoonito. Consequently, we’re talking to agencies in both territories. China is underway with broadcast and consumer products coming next year. My expectation is that much of the world will be covered by the end of this year for broadcast next year. Once we have a broadcast partner, then it makes sense to have those conversations with

agencies to begin developing a merchandise program.

We’ve been flooded with inquiries from all over the world for representation of the property. But in our estimation, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have an agent before we have a media partner. We’re putting that step first, and we expect that as those broadcast partners are on board, the agencies for those respective territories will follow fairly quickly thereafter. That’s the plan.

TV KIDS: Where are you on the Llama Llama retail rollout?

MINTZ: Our Llama Llama rollout at retail has been ongoing. The initial product is out there, and we are in mass market, bookstores, specialty and the value channels.

We’re even in grocery with a cake decorating kit. And we’re online. For instance, we have a Halloween costume on Fun.com [sister site to HalloweenCostumes.com]. We have a lot of product that is either out or coming out in the coming 6 to 12 months. We have an ongoing Llama Llama DVD series from NCircle Entertainment with more DVD collections being released throughout the rest of this year and 2020. The initial wave of two DVDs released this year has done extremely well and we think it’s going to continue to build into next year.

TV KIDS: What are your plans for the Superhero Kindergarten L&M program?

MINTZ: We are in the early stages as the company just announced the development of the series, but there are certainly conversations happening now with global partners. In fact, at least once a week I get an unsolicited inquiry from a potential licensee who has heard or read about it or saw it at Licensing Expo. We’re not getting too far out ahead of it, but it’s ongoing, and I know there is an international audience for it.

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