Stan Lee's POW! Ent. has forged a joint venture partnership with Ringo Starr to create and launch an original entertainment franchise. Financed, produced and distributed by IDT Ent., the new animation will transform Starr into an evil-battling, earth-saving (though reluctant) superhero with a great sense of rhythm.
Legendary comic book creator Stan Lee, fresh from his victory over Marvel, and his new company will develop the superhero project with Ringo and his entertainment company Rocca Bella for television, home entertainment/DVD, publishing and all categories of licensing and merchandising. Production on the animated series will begin in 2005 with a planned DVD roll-out first quarter of 2006. Exec producers for POW! Ent. are Stan Lee and coo Gill Champion. Exec producer for Rocca Bella is Marjorie Bach. IDT Ent. coo John Hyde will supervise production.
Stan Lee, the creative force responsible for such world-renowned comic book characters as Spiderman, Fantastic Four, the X-Men and The Hulk, will base the superhero on Ringo's famed persona. Ringo will lend his voice to his animated superhero character.
"Ringo is beloved worldwide for his commitment to people and his singular wit. Our Ringo superhero character will combine these qualities, along with Ringo's secret powers which people generally didn't know about because he has kept them secret, until now," said Stan Lee, who also serves as POW's chief creative officer.
""This is going to be one of the most exciting adventures I've had all day," added Starr. "What a terrific opportunity to meet and work with the great Stan Lee. I'm so excited to become a 'reluctant superhero.' How great to hang out with Stan and laugh, laugh, laugh, as we're in the first stages of creating this soon to be masterpiece. Adding music to this adventure is something I am also looking forward to. See you in animation land -- soon!"
POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Ent. Inc., an advanced media and entertainment company, was founded by world famous comic book icon Stan Lee, together with Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman. POW!'s principals, combined, have over a hundred years experience creating, producing and licensing original intellectual properties. POW! will specialize in franchises for the entertainment industry, including animation and live-action feature films, plus television, DVDs, videogames, merchandising and related ancillary markets, all of which aid in the establishment of global franchises.
IDT Ent., a division of IDT Corp., is a vertically integrated entertainment concern that develops, produces and distributes proprietary and licensed entertainment content, with a particular focus on high-quality animation. IDT Ent. Sales (IDTeS) is responsible for the worldwide distribution of content from IDT Ent. companies, as well as third-party producers. More information can be found at www.idtes.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
