MAURIZIO DISTEFANO LICENSING An even richer portfolio with many news to create fast sell-out products

MAURIZIO DISTEFANO LICENSING

An even richer portfolio with many news to create fast sell-out products

Maurizio Distefano Licensing Agency (MDL) continues to have as its main strength its strategy based on a careful selection of properties that have strong potential to become a success in the Italian market.

This is the key of a portfolio - that boasts great successes and absolute novelties – that is strongly focused on diversification: Cartoons, Brands, Fashion, Music. Even during the lockdown, MDL has never stopped offering a high-level service to its licensees and licensors, thanks to the constant availability and continuous assistance of the entire Team. Furthermore, also the increasing of new represented brands, retail activities and new licensing agreements did not stop.

Cartoons

MDL has long been a major player in the development of successful licensing programs for children and it carefully selects animated series with high potential, suitable for a portfolio that boasts names such as Masha and

The Bear, Bing, ALVINNN!!! and The

Chipmunks, ZAFARI and Gigantosaurus. The latest addition to this list is Leo&Tig, a TV series produced by Animation studio Parovoz and managed by 0+Media

company, that tells the story of everyday adventures of two little friends leopard Leo and tiger Tig that enjoy having fun in the wilderness of the Far Eastern taiga. The first series is broadcasted in Italy on Rai YoYo, consisting of 26 episodes of 11 minutes suitable for an audience aged 5 to 10.The message behind this animated series is the sense of respect and care for the world that surrounds us, making it a true cognitive entertainment project for kids. The winning combination of fun with the message of respect for the world around us has a lot of appeal among children, and at the same time a very high potential in the licenses for toys, plushes, stationery, publishing and much more. Lots of news regard the property of records, Bing, which, in addition to having won the Bologna Licensing Award as “Property of the Year”, continues its rise thanks to investments focused on Italy. In particular, the creation of a program of digital entertainment activities dedicated to children and their parents during the long weeks of lock-down, a new website in Italian, the new “Bing: Watch, Play, Learn” App, to watch all the episodes and play with many activities, a dedicated shop on Amazon, where you can find all official Bing products in an instant. Many other activities are planned for the coming months to continue to entertain Bingsters, their families and support official products sales. Great news also for Masha and the Bear with the fourth season, Masha’s Songs,

where Masha sings typical performances of different countries of the world, discovering curiosities and local customs. The debut was on Rai YoYo in June, with the first episode dedicated to Italy, to

thank the Italian fans of the series. The popular series ALVINNN!!! And the Chipmunks, broadcast on K2 and Nick Junior, takes viewers on a roller-coaster ride of music, laughter, and stories geared to entertain the Chipmunks’ four generations of fans. Born from the collaboration between Bagdasarian Productions and Salani Editore, the new ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks book collection is available across Italy’s best bookstores and mass market retailers. The publishing program launches with five different titles. The aim of the ALVINNN!!! collection is to entertain children through games, puzzles, and stories about everyday life and, obviously in Alvin’s case,

music. The books are available online, on the Salani Editore website, in bookstores and in large-scale distribution. Gigantosaurus debuts on Rai YoYo with the first season in September 2020 and will also be aired on Netflix and on main international networks, while the first video game “Gigantosaurus: The Game”, is already launched by Bandai Namco: players can explore the vast prehistoric world in a unique adventure of its kind.

Brands

To meet the needs of licensees interested in teen and adult targets, MDL has also enriched its portfolio with high-impact brands and in some cases, for the first time, managed directly from Italy. The support of the MDL Agency helps to select and create projects and market launch faster. International Space Archives (ISA) brings together in a single complete collection the most beautiful static and moving

images of the space programs of various countries: USA, Russia, China, Japan and Europe. The Mission Patches, photos, films and videos contained in the archive come from various sources including NASA, in fact it is also possible to use its logo. Recent acquisition is LIFE, the most famous illustrated magazine of photojournalism in the worldthat boasts highly-acclaimed photographs. LIFE is an archive of human experiences and perception of great

artists of the world and its iconic images have withstood the test of time, giving licensees the ability to use sophisticated photographic art in product lines, giving them a style of high perceived value. LIFE Logo is internationally recognized and is perfectly suited to the enhancement of all products in the various categories. The latest news is the management of La Gazzetta dello Sport licensing program, by far the most widely read newspaper in Italy and followed all over the world. The quality and completeness of the journalistic information make it the most authoritative sports newspaper, communicating news of all sports: football, swimming, cycling, basketball, volleyball, etc. to millions of fans. It offers the possibility to create fantastic collections of clothing, accessories, Food & Beverage and promotions, some of the categories in which this property offers unmissable license opportunities to hook the Italian public who loves sport at 360°.

Fashion

Among the many ongoing projects, MDL has created an offer based on the world of fashion, giving space to versatile Italian Creative Directors for different projects: Filippo Laterza, Stefano Cavalleri and

PREMOLI + DI BELLA.

In particular, Ferribiella Spa, an Italian company of excellence in the Pet market,

has chosen PREMOLI + DI BELLA for the development of a high-positioning line dedicated to our four-legged friends.

Music

Another category with a strong potential for consumers of all ages, from children to teens to adults, is Music, and MDL offers licensing opportunities with some of the best-known bands and artists in history. The roster of rock music bands includes

AC / DC, Kiss, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, The Police, Genesis

among others. Wonderful are the Style Guides dedicated to Imagine, the classic

LP by John Lennon, Lyrics by Lennon

& McCartney and one of the first and biggest music festivals, Woodstock. The strengths of music licenses are the vintage and iconic graphics, always timeless.