London-based Entertainment Rights Plc. (ER) has appointed award-winning, interactive media company, Magic Lantern, to develop new media content. ER hopes to maximize interactive opportunities based on its library of characters and programs across non-traditional broadcast platforms. ER will work with Magic Lantern to develop original content from existing brands, as well as develop new properties for initial distribution on web and mobile.
In addition, ER is working on a number of online and web initiatives, such as the globalization of the Postman Pat website.
Responding to the increased demand for shorter segments of programming suitable for digital devices and downloads, Magic Lantern will adapt existing ER programming and create new programming for the rapidly growing new media market. An initial package of 200 shorts utilizing existing ER programming is in production. ER plans to use this strategy to develop profitable, new distribution opportunities for its leading brands, including Postman Pat, Rupert Bear, Basil Brush, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra, Princess of Power.
Magic Lantern has won several prestigious industry awards, including the Revolution Award for Best Website for a Media Owner as well as two International Visual Communication Assoc. (IVCA) awards.
Previous Magic Lantern projects include: FourDocs for Channel 4, the broadcasters first public service broadband channel where people can learn about, watch and make short documentary films: developing an interactive mobile phone game to accompany the Kudos Productions and BBC series, SPOOKS, as well as websites for SUPERNANNY, the UK Film Council and many others. Magic Lantern has also been commissioned by the BBC Digital Curriculum to produce PODVILLE, an interactive learning game focusing on math for kids 7-11.
Todays generation of children already avidly interact with content in a multi-channel and multi-platform environment so the opportunities for our characters and 4,300 episodes of digitized content are significant," said Laura Turner Laing, ER's manager of music, live events and digital media. "We are delighted to be partnering with Magic Lantern to execute our strategy in this area as with their expertise and our extensive library and brands we are ideally placed to reach new and established audiences across a multitude of platforms."
Anthony Lilley, ceo, Magic Lantern and vice-chairman (Interactive) of PACT added, Entertainment Rights has a brilliant portfolio of childrens brands and a wealth of sought after content and characters suitable for all media platforms. We have no doubt that with ERs popular global brands and our joint expertise, we will be able to both exploit the existing brands and to deliver some exciting, original projects to reach all audiences across all platforms. This is more important than ever with childrens media.
Magic Lantern Prods. is an award-winning production company for the broadband age and bridges the space between traditional and digital media. Established in 1996, the company has an award-winning track record for web, video, CD-ROM and DVD production. Working with clients and partners in the media, technology and public service sectors, it specializes in understanding the power of broadband networks and emerging digital platforms, for the creation, presentation, distribution and sharing of ideas.
ER (www.entertainmentrights.com) is one of the U.K.'s leading specialist media groups focused on the ownership of high quality children's and family programming, characters and brands. This includes rights to global brands such as Mattel's Barbie, Scholastic's Clifford, Hasbro's Transformers, Casper the Friendly Ghost and Felix the Cat. Since 1999, when ER owned rights to just 50 hours of programming, ERs library has grown to circa 2,000 hours of high quality childrens and family characters and brands. ERs wholly owned subsidiary Tell-Tale Prods., created and produced THE TWEENIES, one of the U.K.s most successful pre-school brands.
