DreamWorksTV, a division of Awesomeness that creates family-friendly digital content distributed via YouTube, partners with Amazon to launch its first subscription offering. The individual OTT network will offer exclusive programming including Schneck & Eck Crack The Case, Action Figures In Action, Secret Agent Challenge, and Neighborhood Super Watch.
Global streaming giant Netflix grabs hands with Pearl Studio, formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, to work on Over the Moon, a musical adventure directed by Disney animator Glen Keane. The project is positioned as a modern-day retelling of a classic Chinese myth and will premiere worldwide in 2020 exclusively on Netflix and theatrically in China.
A CMC-led China consortium recently took full ownership of Oriental DreamWorks (creator of Kung Fu Panda 3), which operated as a joint-venture between China Media Capital (CMC), DreamWorks Animation, Shanghai Media Group, and Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd. The acquisition follows media reports that Warner Bros. would buy Universal’s 45% stake in Oriental DreamWorks, which Universal took over when Comcast acquired DreamWorks Animation in 2016.
Experiential Initiatives
Tokyo-based Sony Creative Products, which manages Mattel’s Pingu in Japan, strikes a deal with licensee Mitsui Fudosan Retail Management Co. Ltd. The major Pingu-themed event—called ENJOY SHOP-PINGU at LaLaport Fujimi—launches in conjunction with the airing of the new Japanese-made and produced computer-animated TV series Pingu In The City.
In the U.K., dedicated pay-as-you-go energy supplier Boost launches a major advertising campaign starring a character called “Boost Lee”—an homage to the late martial artist and movie star Bruce Lee. Utility customers can add credit to their prepayment meter, check their balance, and get alerts through their smartphones. The deal was brokered by Beanstalk, the licensing agent for Bruce Lee Family Companies, as well as Born Licensing, which represents London creative agency SNAP LDN.
WorldStrides is now the approved educational travel provider of the Smithsonian Institution. WorldStrides will offer domestic, teacher-led travel programs to middle and high schools throughout the U.S. meant to guide kids through history, science, music, and more. Programs are designed as extensions of the in-classroom experience in a variety of destinations such as Washington, D.C., New York City, and California.