On the heels of announcing its US$30-million plan to create a new franchise around public-domain IP Winnie-the-Pooh last Friday, Kartoon Studios has hired former Paramount Pictures VP of consumer products and recreation Ryan Gagerman (pictured) as head of global licensing for the brand.

He will be responsible for setting up licensing deals in all major product categories, including toys, electronics, publishing and apparel. And the goal is to start launching merch worldwide in partnership with retail distributor Alliance Entertainment to coincide with the rollout of a first holiday movie in December 2025. The company’s ambitious content strategy also includes a 140-episode animated series and several other holiday specials. A subsidiary of Catalyst Venture Partners is providing the production financing under a special-purpose joint-venture agreement. 

At Paramount, Gagerman worked on the Transformers franchise and also found new ways to monetize older films including Grease and The Godfather. Before that, he served as a licensing director at video game publisher Electronic Arts (Plants vs Zombies) and as a VP of global consumer products at DIC Entertainment (Strawberry Shortcake), where he worked closely with Kartoon Studios CEO Andy Heyward. 

Also joining the team working on holiday special Kartoon Studios Winnie-the-Pooh are director Michael Mailani (Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?) and head writer Sam Morrison (Peppa Pig, Hey Duggee, Big Tree City). This project is in pre-production now for a December 24, 2025 drop on subscription service Kartoon Channel!, available via Amazon Prime Video. 

UPDATE: 03/13/2025, Sam Morrison and Kartoon Studios have parted ways.