Sunbow Entertainment has created an in-house licensing division to take advantage of merchandising opportunities surrounding its new productions, including Deepwater Black, Salty’s Lighthouse and Brothers Flub, as well as future projects.

Glenn Weber, Sunbow’s recently named vice president of licensing and merchandising, is in the initial stages of coordinating a network of international licensing agents to develop merchandising strategies in regions where these Sunbow programs have been sold.

The new division is part of Sunbow’s natural evolution to expand its business. ‘We have always championed creator-driven properties and knew that in order for our company to influence what products were born from them, we would have to get involved in a more substantial way,’ says C.J. Kettler, president of Sunbow.

The division, formed in September, struck its first licensing deal last month. Sunbow has entered into a licensing agreement with apparel manufacturer Balzout for a line of men’s and women’s screen-printed T-shirts and tops for Deepwater Black that will be available in the U.S. and Latin America. Additionally, it has tabbed Trigger as the series’ licensing agent in the U.K.

Every current show in development will be evaluated for merchandising potential, but whether a program will have licensed product supporting it will be based on a variety of market and distribution factors.

The company does not have merchandising rights to any of its library product, but has been selected by Saban as the licensing agent for The Tick, a program originally developed by Sunbow that airs on Fox.