By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
The United Talent Agency has been appointed as the North American licensing and publishing agency for the YouTube Originals series Super Sema.
A leading global entertainment company, UTA’s business spans talent representation, original content production, strategic advisory and marketing practice. The company says it will focus on retail initiatives and key partners in publishing, apparel, home and accessories. UTA will also work with show producer Kukua and with Super Sema’s global toy licensee Just Play.
“Super Sema represents a historic step forward in the world of educational children’s entertainment, and we couldn’t be happier to help bring its characters to life,” said Sid Kaufman, an agent in UTA’s Ventures department. “We are looking forward to working with Kukua and Just Play to license and publish products that embody the show’s positive themes.”
Just Play is a global leader across a broad range of children’s consumer goods including figures, playsets, dolls, plush, role-play and dress-up. The company will be introducing Super Sema toys, including talking dolls and plush characters, with products expected to launch across North America in fall 2022.
“Like UTA, we were drawn to Super Sema, who embodies strength, curiosity, innovation, and confidence. We’re thrilled to partner with Kukua and UTA on this phenomenal franchise to bring the adventure-themed play of this inspiring African role model to kids all over the world,” said Geoffrey Greenberg, Co-President of Just Play.
Super Sema is produced by the next-generation startup Kukua. Founded in 2018, Kukua is backed by some of the worlds leading technology venture capital funds.
The female-led team includes Forbes 30 under 30 CEO Lucrezia Bisignani and Oscar-winning and New York Times bestselling children’s author Lupita Nyong’o. Nyong’o will serve as Executive Producer and is a shareholder in Kukua.
Kukua’s first franchise, Super Sema, was launched in 2021 as a YouTube Originals series, attracting to the channel over 20 million views world-wide. Its second season will debut in Spring 2022.
Complementing the new season, Kukua will launch a series of educational videos on YouTube to help kids explore the STEAM themes and topics in the animated series. STEAM toys are those that involve S for Science, T for Technology, E for Engineering, A for Art, and M for Math.
The series is the foundation of Super Sema’s growing educational entertainment franchise. The franchise will span key markets such as consumer products, books, entertainment and educational programming and interactive digital experiences.
“From the very beginning, ‘Super Sema’ stood out as one of those shows that had that special something,” said Nadine Zylstra, Head of Family, Learning and Impact for YouTube Originals. “They don’t come around very often, but when they do, it’s phenomenal.
“We’ve been so inspired working with the incredible Kukua team, and with tens of millions of views on their channel in just the last year, it’s been wonderful to see the rest of the world fall in love with Sema, too,” Zylstra added.
The program marks the world’s first children’s animated series focused on an African kid superhero. The series focuses on the adventures of a young African girl named Sema, and her twin brother MB, on a mission to protect their town Dunia from the villainous Tobor. Fueled by STEAM superpowers, Sema knows that with determination, creativity, and a helping hand from the world of science and technology, anything is possible.