companies
Mercury Active acquires Riptide Games
COMPANIES / INTERACTIVE / PEOPLE MOVESDigital entertainment studio Mercury Active, a subsidiary of Ottawa, Canada-based animation house Mercury Filmworks, has acquired Riptide Games.
FremantleMedia reorg to focus on kids, family and distribution
COMPANIES / PEOPLE MOVES / TVFremantleMedia has announced it will dismantle its FremantleMedia Enterprises arm and create two global stand-alone divisions, one focused on kids and family entertainment and distribution, the second fixed on digital and branded entertainment.
Monster High grows while Mattel misses Wall Street expectations in Q4
COMPANIES / CONSUMER PRODUCTSToyco Mattel’s 4Q net income fell 17%, due to the payment of US$137.8 million to cover compensation and punitive damages to MGA Entertainment to satisfy the judgement of ongoing litigation over the Bratz brand.
Learning category led Toys ‘R’ Us holiday sales
COMPANIES / CONSUMER PRODUCTS / INTERACTIVEIt looks like it wasn’t strictly fun and games during the 2012 holiday shopping season. Merchants at American Toys ‘R’ Us stores were more inclined to purchase toys within the Learning segment rather than those in the Entertainment category, which witnessed a sales decrease of 1.9% over December 2011.
New licensing agency launches in the Benelux
COMPANIES / PEOPLE MOVESFormer CPLG licensing and marketing specialists Monique Beck (left) and Jannienke Mulder (right) have opened J&M Brands, a new licensing agency in the Benelux.
Rainmaker eyes five-film pact with Chinese partner
COMPANIES / NEWSRainmaker Entertainment, a Vancouver, Canada-based CGI animation and production studio, has entered into a letter of intent that could lead to Rainmaker co-investing in and co-producing a slate of up to five feature length animated films with a Hong Kong-based partner.
Warner Bros. Pictures ramps up animation development
COMPANIES / NEWSIn a new initiative to improve its animation development strategy, Warner Bros. Pictures has created a feature film animation think tank tapping the skills of a number of acclaimed filmmakers.
Sesame Workshop and Qualcomm team up on preschool app innovation
COMPANIES / INTERACTIVE / KID INSIGHT / TVSan Diego-based telecommunications company Qualcomm has joined forces with Sesame Workshop to engage in research and development initiatives around mobile educational content for preschoolers.
Bron Studios to produce first animated feature
COMPANIESThe CG-animated feature from the Canadian shop targets kids ages six to 12 and is based on an original concept by Deon Taylor and his Hidden Empire Film Group shingle.
Franklin plunges into Sea World
COMPANIES / CONSUMER PRODUCTS / TVCanada-based Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Enterprises has secured a multi-platform partnership with SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment that will incorporate its preschool property Franklin and Friends into the new SeaWorld Kids brand.
The definitive kids ent resource.-
Disney to summer with pirates and princesses -
Jack Sorensen tapped to grow Saban’s mobile games division -
DreamWorks’ Turbo app to shell out US$1 million -
Rovio makes move into game publishing -
Target and DC superheroes get exclusive for the summer -
For Grown-Ups Only: 17 Child Un-Friendly Games That You Should Play
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MIPCOM 2012 - The MIP Junior International Pitch