R&B magazine - issue 2

LICENSING // COLLABS // RIGHTS // BRANDING // STORIES // AUTHORS R&B magazine NEWS THE MOOMIN BRAND DEVELOPS ITS ECO SYSTEM IN JAPAN INTERVIEW KJELL AUKRUST, A PLAYINGSTOPPEDWHOSTORYTELLERNEVER WORLDWIDE INONENUMBERAGENCYEUROPE WORLDWIDE STORIES BY RIGHTS & BRANDS – ISSUE NO 2

CONTENT 2 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 18 INTERIOR & HOME From pots to pillows – and the story of Stig Lindberg x Layered, an important piece of design history under your feet. 22 INTERVIEW KJELL AUKRUST Kjell Aukrust’s multiverse continues to inspire the world with new movies, tv-production and books. 26 ACCESSORIES & APPAREL From hoodies to handbags – and the story of Makia’s streetwear with the works of Mauri Kunnas. 28 PARKS & EXHIBITIONS

32

44 AWARDS

40 BOOKS

50 ABOUT

04 ABOUT

08 NEWS CORPORATE

38 FOOD

12 NEWS TV & FILM A

and Crow sequel in 2023. 14 NEWS DIGITAL & SOUND The Frever app lets you be anyone and a new podcast about Moomin fandom with Jennifer Saunders. 16 NEWS RETAIL & SHOPS An official Moomin online shop in Japan featuring products from all over the world and Polarn O. Pyret's latest collaboration with Sheppard. Produced by: Rights & Brands, Rosenlundsgatan 31, 118 63 Stockholm, Sweden www.rightsandbrands.com linkedin.com/company/rights-&-brands/ facebook.com/rightsandbrands/ instagram.com/rightsandbrandslic/ instagram.com/rightsandbrands/ Editorial Board: Shatilla Holm, Elin Larsson, Nicolina Bagge Editor: Sonja Björk Ebert Art Director: Maria Seefried © Moomin Characters™ Cover photo: Helen Pe Styling: Josefin Tolstoy Images: Licensees and proprietors Printed in Sweden by: Göteborgstryckeriet AB, Sweden R&B magazine

Moominvalley park in Japan celebrated their 3 year anniversary and Junibacken opens Sweden’s largest Moomin playground. KIDS & TOYS From computers to caps – and the story of Polhus playhouse designed just like Pettson’s. 36 SUSTAINABILITY Our three goals and new framework in order to work together with partners and licensees towards a more sustainable future. & BEVERAGES

46 ABOUT

From Mamma Moo milk to Moomin coffee – and the story of the Moomin water that support Oxfam’s life-changing water projects around the world. & AUTHORS Sofie Sarenbrant and Tove Jansson – two of many well-known authors represented by Rights & Brands. LICENSEES & NOMINEES Hunderfossen's Hyperakselerator wins best attraction, Skultuna’s figurines a finalist and R&B named best licensing agency in Europe. US The world is our arena. Here are our teams and the brands that we represent today. US HeadquartersCONTACTinStockholm, Sweden and local branches in Helsinki, Oslo and Tokyo. US Formed in 2016 by Moomin Characters and Bulls, building on a collaboration going back over 70 years. New partnerships and expansive strands of business development. new animated TV special called Juletimen (The Christmas Hour) and a Mamma Moo

PATRICK ULLMAN CEO of Rights & Brands

Friends, ABOUT US // Patrick Ullman WESTMANRIKARD© R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 1 | WELCOME TO THE latest issue of Right & Brands magazine! When you pick this copy up, we are most likely already in the final stages of preparations for the autumn fairs – Brand Licensing Show in London, Formland in Denmark, and Formex in Stockholm. Oslo Design Fair, Maison & Objet, Frankfurt Book Fair, ISPO… We are rearing to go again and looking forward to seeing you all in person and discussing new and exciting opportunities. Rights & Brands has rapidly grown over the last year, with additional brands, more staff and a new office in Oslo. Rights & Brands Norway opened in Oslo in June, as a joint venture between Rights & Brands and Qvisten Animation. Qvisten is one of Europe’s leading animation studios and is now part of the R&B success with Flåklypa feature film and the upcoming Nordic Christmas special – one hour of prime Nordic content, to be broadcast on Christmas Eve with a strong lineup, headlined by the Moomins, Flåklypa by Kjell Aukrust and – of course – Santa Claus by Mauri Kunnas. Speaking of new brands and representation, Rights & Brands has recently taken on Sofie Sarenbrant, Swedish crime queen author, translated into 15 languages and with over 4 million books sold worldwide – a real prestige project for the R&B publishing team. We are now pitching the film rights and looking forward to seeing more territories taking on the Emma Sköld must-read series and Sofi’s brand-new middle-grade horse books.

ON THE SUBJECT of film rights, from the start, Rights & Brands’ mission has been to be a 360 agency and now we can really see how the digital licensing is growing. Licensees are moving into the digital arena at full speed and it’s with great pleasure we’re developing and supporting more and more licensees on their digital path: Rovio’s gaming, Frever’s avatars and Tiktok sensations, the Moominvalley animation success, Qvisten Animation’s digital parks and resorts content, new music develop ment and youtube phenomenons. Rights & Brands was never set out to be a traditional licensing agency and I believe this vision is now becoming very real and very clear to the brand and licensing business in general. We were nominated as the number one agency in Europe and top 16 in the world by License Global magazine. We are honored and proud and thank our licensees and licensors for the support, investments, and opportunity to grow.

All the best!

+70

How did it all start?

+800

Rights & Brands represents iconic Nordic brands, artists and authors and is the worldwide master agent on behalf of Moomin Characters.

4 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 R&B ICONICREPRESENTINGBRANDS

+30

What is the importance of Nordic art and literature? We believe that Nordic art and literature have distinct values – equality, tolerance, family, education and respect for nature. worldwide licensees brands +40 agents +750 million euro, total retail value language translations

R&B was founded on the principle that the values and brands born out of the cultural tradition of the Nordics have global potential. The company was formed in 2016 by Moomin Characters and Bulls, building on a collaboration going back over 70 years, with the Moomin stories and artwork licensed to products and homes all over the world. Continuing the Moomin legacy and licensing tradition, R&B now works with other iconic brands like Astrid Lindgren and Ilon Wikland, Mauri Kunnas, Stig Lindberg and Carl Larsson to bring Nordic rights to a global arena. How many clients and network of sub -agents do you have? R&B has a network of over 40 sub-agents and 800 clients worldwide.

What is R&B's main goal going forward? The main goal is to bring Nordic rights to a global arena and share the unique values, stories and artwork that our iconic brands bring to any category and product, from digital games to publishing or home decoration. R&B strives to develop and nurture both proprietors and licensees to successful partnerships and collaborations in all areas.

ABOUT US

ABOUT US R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 5 Rights & Brands is ranked #1 licensing agent in Europe in the 2021 GlobalLicensereport.

ABOUT US // Licensing LICENSINGSTRATEGY STRATEGYSALES DESIGN & ARTWORKAGREEMENT PRE APPROVALPRODUCT Howworkslicensing A product licence grants you the right to use generally recognised trademarks, images, films or comic strip characters in your products, publications or campaigns. The licensor retains ownership of the copyright while the licensee (the client) purchases the right to use the trademark in products and campaigns for an agreed period. COLLAB IS THE NEW LICENSING R&B is an international brand development agency with unique licensing experience and business capacity. We use all aspects of character representation and branding, from publishing and PR to licensing, merchandising and digital development. 6 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 7

fromLicenseR&B

GO TO MARKET POST RETAIL COLLABORATIONS& ROYALTYREPORT EVALUATION/ANALYSISOWN COMMUNICATIONCHANNELS&SALES COMMUNICATIONEXTERNALCHANNELS

Starting from a strategic base in literature, art and design, R&B’s platform is built on knowledge, passion and people. Using all aspects of character representation and branding, from publishing and PR to licensing, merchandising and digital development, with a worldwide network of sub-agents and over 800 clients, R&B’s international insight and business capacity is unique.

Brandscreatorsand Using a well-known character will generate immediate market recognition for your product. This will increase product sales and profit. Your product will reach new target groups and have a strong competitive edge over similar products on the market. The chance to co-operate with other license holders is a further advantage that will open up new marketing channels.

“There are two important steps.

How do you work with Japanese licensees from a design perspective at Rights & Brands Japan? “Most licensees have in-house design teams and good design skills. Until now, product development has focused on a very narrow target. Now, we need to reach out to a wider audience, including men and children, also having products that are not directed at a specific gender.”

“If you focus on only expanding sales, it will be overridden by the design that the market demands. There certainly are target groups who prefer such designs. However, our mission is also to spread the values based on Tove Jansson's creation. I think we need two axes, one is the line led by the licensees and the other is the line where Moomin Characters, Rights & Brands and Rights & Brands Japan lead the design. For the latter, I wanted to select a partner who can create a line that develops curated products that feel like the real Moomin.”

We’ve heard you want to change the way Moomin is represented in the Japanese market, to focus more on the originals and Scandinavian style instead of localized Japanese colour palettes. Can you tell us more about this work?

“We represent the Moomin brand in Japan. Currently, we have 27 people working at the company, including sales, marketing, and an in-house creative team. We have nearly 300 active licensees that we work with.

The first one is to find the right local partner, which means an importer. The second one is to develop an entry strategy for Japan with that business partner. Japan has a population of 120 million people, and our distribution and retail industry is very developed. There are more than 200 depart ment stores nationwide and more than 100,000 convenience stores. For example, 7-Eleven alone has over 20,000 stores in Japan. There is a very high level of competition between these retail stores, and each sales channel has a different style of distribution. Particularly in department stores, old customs remain strong, and whole salers are the main distributors. On the other hand, Japanese consumers are very strict about quality and sensitive to the balance between price and quality. In addition, income in Japan has not risen in almost 30 years due to the low-interest rates that have been in place for many years. Given these circumstances, we recommend that you first enter with an importer who is familiar with local business practices and distribution patterns.”

One Moomin is a strategic vision that aims to connect all the disparate Moomin dots into a thriving ecosystem to grow the Moomin brand in Japan in the right way. And the key elements are a consolidated CRM system and a unified brand image and visual presentation in line with the global strategy, which we are intensively working on in Japan.”

How should a licensee go about if they want to sell a product in Japan?

8 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 NEWS // Corporate

Kumiko, what is Rights & Brands Japan?

“The Japanese localized style sells well. Therefore, we do not intend to eliminate that axis. However, the current products of the Japanese Zakka taste have been created in a particular Japanese style to suit the Japanese market. These products are not strongly tied to the original creativity of Tove Jansson’s work, which means that they are easily replaced by other brands. It is essential to build an original Moomin product line that utilizes Tove Jansson’s creativity in addition to our current well-sold products line.” How are you working to move in the direction you outlined above?

Japan has been an important market for the Moomin brand for many years. With a new unified strategy, some repositioning of the brand and new assets like seasonal style guides, Rights & Brands Japan wants to further strengthen the Moomin brand in Japan. We talked to Kumiko Ito, President of Rights & Brands Japan and Kyoko Koide, Brand Manager at Rights & Brands Japan to learn more.

The Moomin brand develops a new focus in Japan

Since I joined Rights & Brands Japan in the spring of 2021, we have been working closely with Rights & Brands Sweden and Moomin Characters on a new vision called One Moomin, which is Moomin’s eco-system. Even though Moomin has been growing success fully in Japan year-on-year, all the key consumer touchpoints, channels, and partners have been working in silos.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 9

The designer Unn Søiland made history in the 1950s when she designed new handknit patterns using wool with bright colors, which was very unusual at the time. The designs were hugely successful, and “Norwegian sweaters” became fashionable worldwide. The Marius® pattern has become a Norwegian icon, being the most handknitted pattern in Norway over the last 65 years. In 2023, the Marius® pattern celebrates 70 years! Join this anniversary and get access to the special jubilee tag, marketing activities, and more.

MARIUS

Rights & Brands has established itself as one of the most successful licensors of Nordic content in a global market. Together with the Norwegian high-quality animation studio Qvisten Animation, the companies have jointly founded Rights & Brands Norway. The recent agreement between Qvisten Animation and Rights & Brands Sweden opens up a new world for Norwegian rights holders through Rights & Brands Norway. The company’s first partner will be the Aukrust Foundation, the proprietor of the multitalented author and illustrator Kjell Aukrust. Aukrust is perhaps best known outside of Norway for his creation Flåklypa and its characters Solan and Ludvig.

Rights & Brands and Qvisten Animation form

Norwegian licensing agency

RIGHTS & BRANDS NORWAY

The patternMarius®celebrates 70 years

Welcome the amazing Arnie Alligator ARNE ALLIGATOR Rights & Brands welcomes a new brand: Arnie Alligator! It all started in 2003 when the musical duo Macke Granberg and Tomas Nyberg began to make music for kids. Back then, they called themselves Djungel strömmen, and from the first album, the songs Arnie Alligator och Torsten med borsten quickly became mega-hits. Today the character Arnie Alligator is available to the audience through animated content, music streaming, live shows, and merchandise. Arnie Alligator videos are among the Nordics’ most popular children’s content, with more than 150 million Youtube views and over 20 million streams on Spotify. Rights & Brands will represent Arnie Alligator as an agent for licensing and publishing worldwide.

“I am very proud to establish Rights & Brands Norway together with Qvisten Animation, Norwegian nature, literature and brands have spiked international interest for years and this, together with the fact that the Norwegian licensing business has grown with over 40% in the last couple of years, is a perfect fit with our vision to take Scandinavian brands to a global arena. Together with Qvisten, we will be a unique licensing agent with extensive experience in multi-platform content and in all product categories”, says Patrick Ullman, CEO of Rights & Brands. “The establishment of Rights & Brands Norway literally opens up a new world both for us and the rights owners we work with. Rights & Brands expertise and commercial forces together with Qvisten’s craftsmanship and genuine desire to further develop cultural heritages will develop local treasures to global resources”, says Fredrik Kiøsterud, CEO at Qvisten Animation. Rights & Brands Norway is actively recruiting a Sales Director as well as more Norweigan brands to join the strong line-up already in place with Aukrust, Marius of Norway and Pure Norway.

Bianca Lee, CEO of RBA.

“First and foremost, we need to get the paperwork done, so the licensee has to have the distribution rights for Asia in order for them to be here. For that, please go through our most resourceful Jennie Brown at Rights & Brands to enquire about those rights. After that, what the licensees need to resolve first when they get into a new market, is of course product distribution. China is the number one market in the world in terms of penetration of online shopping, so when entering the Chinese market, it is of utmost importance that your distributor has an online sales strategy. For the Moomin brand, we have official online stores operated by the Nordic headquartered company Euroeat. Euroeat operate the Moomin online stores on the popular Tmall and JD.com platforms and recently also opened their third store on the Red platform. These stores are a natural home for all things Moomin and we at Right & Brands Asia are delighted to provide assistance and recommen dations to newcomers in all markets.”

“Mainland China is by far the highest potential market due to the sheer size of the market, it has a population of 1,4 billion people.”

“We are a new company that was set up in September of last year. Rights & Brands Asia is a joint venture between PPW in Hong Kong, ITOCHU in Japan, Moomin Characters and Rights & Brands. We represent the Moomins in the Greater China region, consisting of main land China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.”

The recently founded Rights and Brands Asia represents the Moomin brand in the Greater China region. Bianca Lee, CEO of RBA, gives some useful tips about the market and how licensees should go about if you want to sell your products in Asia.

Which of these countries are the most interesting ones from a Moomin perspective? “Mainland China is by far the highest potential market due to the sheer size of the market, it has a population of 1,4 billion people. But in spite of the smaller size of the markets in Taiwan and Hong Kong, these markets are still very interesting to us. The Taiwanese market is strongly influenced by Japanese culture, it was under Japanese rule at one time and you see the Japanese influence for example in the architecture. So, the popularity of the Moomins in Japan brings benefits to us in Taiwan, and partners and retailers generally have strong confidence in the brand there. Hong Kong, with a strong and sophisti cated creative base, is also an important showcase for the rest of the region.” How do you work with licensees in your market? “We welcome collaborations from licensees from around the world, and I think seeing and having products from different countries gives a lot of inspiration not only to us but to our licensees as well. Our current licensee base consists of local partners from Greater China, and we also have a lot of partners coming from Japan and Scandinavia.” Can you give licensees some tips on how to enter your markets?

What is Rights & Brands Asia?

10 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2

NEWS // Corporate

READ HOUR IS a Finnish initiative started by the The Children and Youth Foundation in 2019, following the PISA surveys and continued decline in young people’s reading and writing skills. But Read Hour is really about reading at anytime, anywhere and however you prefer. Read to someone, read on your own, listen to an audiobook, sit down in a café or a crowd or in your own home. Spread the word by posting #ReadHour in social media.

Rights & Brands Asia helps licensees enter the Chinese market

#ReadHour – don't forget the celebrationannual Read Hour is celebrated on September 8, officially at 2–3 pm CET, coinciding with UN’s Inter national Literacy Day. Research shows that reading and writing are fundamental tools to reach global goals regarding sustainability and the campaign goal is to inspire everyone, particularly young people, to read and establish a celebration of reading. It’s also a way to initiate a public debate about reading.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 11

Limited edition Moomin mugs for the Red Cross

MOOMIN The new charity collection, which celebrates friendship and being kind to each other, is illustrated with Tove Jansson’s original drawings for the Red Cross. As part of the launch, people around the world are encouraged to perform small acts of kindness to one another. The collection features two mugs, a plate, a bowl and a saucer with Tove Jansson’s original illustrations for the Finnish Red Cross from 1963. The sympathetic drawings, in Jansson’s distinctive and immediately recognizable style, depict (among others) blooming red flowers, Little My holding a broom, Moomintroll climbing a ladder and Snufkin sitting around a fire with friends. For each sold item, 1 € is donated to national compassion campaigns of the corresponding Red Cross offices globally. The message is that we all, even the smallest of us, can make a difference towards a friendlier world with our acts. As a part of the launch of the collection, The Red Cross and Moomin by Arabia also encourage people to discover Mooments of Kindness – small friendly acts with a potentially big impact. It could be carrying groceries, writing down kind words about someone, sending a postcard to a relative or perhaps buying flowers for a person one cares about. Or perhaps simply supporting the Red Cross initiative.

The new Bamse film is called Bamse and the world’s smallest adventure and premieres during Christmas 2023.

Moominvalley back for a third season MOOMINVALLEY The third season of Moominvalley brings the beloved Moomins and their whimsical friends back to screens for more fun and adventure. The third season is all about adventures and obstacles won with curiosity, enthusiasm and a great dollop of Whenhumour.the Moomin family return from their Season 2 island sojourn, they find their beloved Moominvalley in chaos with the community divided. Only the Moomins’ offbeat approach to life and values of acceptance and kindness can bring harmony back to the valley. Moominvalley can be seen as a whimsical coming of age story of family and friendship, and the third season revolves around themes of community. The quirky residents from all around the valley come to the Moomin family with their problems and questions, which the Moomins solve – such as an outlandish reverse heist, a perilous hot air balloon ride and a quest to find the stolen sun. Together, they harness the power of tolerance, kindness, and caring to restore harmony to Moominvalley. Moominvalley is produced by Gutsy Animations and the Emmy® nominated animated series was recommissioned for a third season by broadcasters Yle in Finland and Sky in the UK. The third season is being broadcast in both countries in 2022. The series has been sold to over 60 countries worldwide.

2022ANIMATIONQVISTEN© FILMNORDISK©A,RUNE© 2022ANIMATIONSGUTSTY©CHARACTERS™MOOMIN©

BAMSE

A new Bamse movie premiering in 2023

The Bamse family is having a picnic on the meadow, but Krösus Sork has other plans for them. Nalle-Maja gets a new perspective on the world when she accidently drinks the XYZ lemonade and shrinks into a tiny size. Will the others find her, or even see her when she’s so small? And can you make a difference when you are no bigger than an ant?

12 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 NEWS // TV & Film

This Christmas should be spent in the front of the TV – at least partly. A new animated tv show with famous fairy tale characters from the Nordics will replace “Disney hour” this year. The Christmas special is called Juletimen (The Christmas hour) and will feature several of our beloved Nordic characters, such as the Moomins, Flåklypa, Mauri Kunnas’ Santa Claus and more. Qvisten Animation in Norway is behind the initiative. "It started as a bold 'Norwegian' ambition; let's start a new tradition for future generations to gather around during Christmas! We grew up with 'the Disney hour' and have good memories of watching this show on Christmas morning. But still, so many authors and stories have been written in our part of the world! So we presented the idea to NRK (Norwegian state broadcaster): let's bring forward the best from the Nordics and do an animated cavalcade based upon our most beloved authors and stories", says Fredrik Kiøsterud, general manager at Qvisten.

Stories from the North in a new Christmas special

MAMMA MOO SF Studios have started the production of the new children’s feature film Who are you, Mamma Moo? starring the popular animated characters Mamma Moo and Crow created by Jujja Wieslander and Sven Nordqvist. The film is a sequel to the internationally acclaimed film Mamma Moo Finds Home, which premiered in cinemas all over Europe in 2022. The new movie is directed by Christian Ryltenius and produced by Filippa Torstensson for SF Studios. Who are you, Mamma Moo? will be produced in 2022 and is expected to be released in cinemas at the end of 2023. SF Studios will distribute the film in the Nordics.

STUDIOSSF©

Mammo Moo and Crow will get a sequel in 2023

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 13

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a cozy adventure game in a gorgeous storybook art style. During gameplay, players meet many charming characters, each with their own stories to uncover and quests to solve. “The Moomin fans have been extremely happy about the announcement: They've been waiting a long time for a new Moomin console game. They seem to be very excited about the choices we’ve made for the genre and art style – and most of all the fact that Snufkin is finally getting is own game”, says Are Sundnes, Hyper Games.

Fill your feed with illustrations

There are new Instagram accounts for the beloved characters Pettson & Findus and Mamma Moo and Crow - follow them om @pettsonfindus_official and @mammamuochkrakan And don’t miss out on the nostalgic feelings in the magical illustrations by Ilon Wikland on her official account @ilonwikland

With Frever, you can be anyone!

14 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 NEWS // Digital & Sound

Meet the pioneer Erik Wahlberg, CEO and Co-founder of the rising star Frever, an app that lets you create a vibrant virtual video universe using nothing more than your mobile phone.

“We're on an exciting journey that has just only begun and are working hard on further developing the app so that we can launch globally soon”, says Erik Wahlberg.

Melody of Moominvalley available on PC and consoles in 2023

MOOMIN Hyper Games is an awardwinning game studio based in Oslo, Norway. They’re most known for the atmospheric puzzler Mørkredd which among others won GOTY from Nordic Game Awards 2021 and Best International Game at BitSummit 2020. The game has also been inducted into the Norwegian National Museum of arts’ permanent exhibition.

“We want all the small stories (and small characters) to be as important as the main story – no one is too small to be significant and we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what kind of game would fit the Moomin universe, and also something our studio could do great. Quickly we started playing with the idea of using Snufkin as the main character of the game. We think he is one of the most interesting characters, and he has many traits and skills that are well suited to build gameplay around”, explains Sundnes. Today many adventure games focus on violence, but that was not an option in a game situated in Moominvalley. Therefore, another important factor was that there should not be any combat or direct violence in the game. The core gameplay should not focus on lives/ health or to avoid dying, instead music came to play a catalyst role. “A third important guideline was that we wanted the game to look and feel highly artistic and to be based on Tove Jansson’s original artwork rather than any of the later adaptations”, says Are Sundnes. Erik Wahlberg, CEO and Co-founder of Frever.

“We recently launched in Sweden, and the demand for the app has been high. It was a joy to see the reactions from the fans who have been longing for the app. We are passionate about giving everyone the freedom to express themselves and become storytellers, and with the Swedish launch, we've taken a step towards that goal.” The Frever community is growing rapidly, and the #frever has close to 1 billion views on TikTok. Are you looking for funny, trending, and entertaining content? Then go visit the #frever and take a glimpse of the amazing videos that creators from all over the world are posting.

CHARACTERS™MOOMIN©

Rovio’s mission is: “We craft joy with player-focused gaming experiences that last for decades”. And even though making games is all about crafting joy, developing and creating a game goes through many phases. It’s not only necessary to find the fun but also to iterate on gameplay mechanics, put out market tests, get data early and use that data to make informed decisions on game concepts to find out the most promising one.

The narrator of the podcast is Jennifer Saunders, widely recognized for her role as Edina Monsoon in the tv-series Absolutely Fabulous. Moomin fans might recognize her voice from playing Mymble in the Moominvalley animation series which premiered in 2019. In the pod cast, Saunders will take listeners on a personal and entertaining ride through all aspects of the Moomin world. In the first episode, the fan culture of the Moomin world is explored. We travel to Japan and London to meet fans who have dedicated their whole life to the Moomins and meet a woman in the north of Sweden who’s covering her body with Moomin figures. The world is full of people who have been inspired by the Moomins and in the third episode we meet artists, writers and actors who have a special relationship to the Moomin world and the characters. We travel to Japan to meet film creators and designers and go to England to meet actors, desginers and writers who have all been inspired by Tove Jansson’s Moomin books and comics.Likea red line through all the episodes runs the fascination with the Moomin mugs. Some of the most sought-after and rare mugs have been sold for several thousand Euros. But in the fourth episode we will also ask whether there can be too much Moomin merchandise and too much commercialism? The producer of the podcast is the renowned journalist Antonio de la Cruz. “When I started this project I did not imagine that these small Moomin trolls could mean so much to so many people all around the world. It’s really been a joyful journey to meet fans and scholars who have shared their personal experience and what role the Moomins have played in their lives. And soon you will hear it too!”

Podcast hosted by Jennifer Saunders investigates Moomin fandom

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 15

MOOMIN The Moomin phenomena is a podcast in five parts which dives into the different parts of the Moomin world in its search for the answer to the question “How did these little trolls become world celebrities?”

Songs with Who? on Spotify WHO? Three new songs with Stina Wirséns Who? characters have been released on Spotify. The songs are performed by Jonas Malmsjö and Emma Brommé and are called Vem vågar? (Who dares?), Vem är arg? (Who is angry?) and Vem är ensam? (Who is alone?). All songs are written by Stina Wirsén and Josefine Götestam.

MOOMIN Finnish game studio Rovio Entertainment is moving ahead with their Moomin game, currently soft launching it in select territories. A year ago it was announced that Moomin Characters and Gutsy Animation had entered a long-term partnership with fellow Finnish company Rovio Entertainment, the creator of mobile game hit franchise Angry Birds. The partnership grants Rovio rights to develop and publish Moomin IP based games for any plat form and exclusive rights for mobile platforms. Since then, a dedicated game team at the Rovio HQ puzzle studio in Espoo has been hard at work developing a Moomin IP based game, which integrates fun gameplay with the alluring world of the Moomin as seen in the animated series Moominvalley.

Rovio’s Moomin game in development

The podcast will be released in Sep tember 2022.

16 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 NEWS // Retail & Shops

MOOMIN A new Moomin shop has opened at the Helsinki Airport in Finland. The shop is located in the arrivals hall in terminal 2 and it’s open for everyone – not only for those traveling somewhere. The inspiration for the colourful shop interior comes from #MoominABC, the Moomin initiative spreading the joy of reading and writing in the life of children, youth and adults. Whether you’re looking for something for yourself or a gift for someone else, you’ll surely find something lovely in the new shop! The selection includes Moominous homeware, clothes, books, toys and more. At the shop entrance, visitors will be greeted by Moomintroll and Snufkin who have delighted travelers at the airport for nearly 15 years already. The perfect spot for a Moominous selfie, right?

Moomin Shop for travellers in Helsinki

To celebrate the grand opening, Moomin Shop Japan collaborated with Kitamura, a well-established bag brand that has been in business since 1882. The special opening also included “happy boxes”, surprise boxes with a large variety of Moomin products at a bargain price.

MOOMIN Japan now has an official online Moomin Shop. From Moomin Shop Japan, you can find a wide selection of products varying from homeware to clothing, stationery and more. The shop stocks products from all around the world – it’s a dream come true for all Moomin fans located in Japan!

New online shop opened in Japan!

The store stocks many limited edition items only available in the online shop. One example is the 75 cm high Moomin plush toy. How wonderful would it be to be able to hug the big, soft and fluffy Moomin plush? You can also find lots of exclusive Moominvalley Park products on Moomin Shop Japan. The products are only available in the park as well as the new online shop on www.shop.moomin.co.jp. Moomin Shop Japan only delivers within Japan. If you’re located some where else, you’re welcome to shop at the international Moomin Shop on moomin.com

CARL LARSSON Lindex, one of Europe’s leading fashion companies with approx imately 440 stores in 18 markets, is now launching a collection featuring the art work of Carl Larsson, who together with his wife Karin Larsson defined their era and is part of the Swedish cultural heritage. A summery collection of classic pieces for kids, baby and women, all decorated in different color versions of the Carl Larsson print De mina “Karin and Carl Larsson were pioneers of their time and their artistic expression has made a mark in the Swedish cultural heritage. We are proud of our Swedish heritage at Lindex and how it defines our focus on design, quality and sustainability. So, it felt natural for us to design a summer collection with a strong connection to the creative home of Karin and Carl”, says Inger Lundqvist, Design & Buying Manager Kidswear at Lindex.Inthis collection, Lindex has designed classic summer pieces for kids, baby and women, that all match, also known as “mini-me” matching. Dresses with flounce details, a soft summer shirt and accessories – all in the lovely floral print De mina by Carl Larsson.

Lindex honors their Swedish heritage with a new mini-me collection

Sarah Sheppard in collaboration with Polarn O. Pyret

SARAH SHEPPARD This time sea life is in focus – with prints from Sheppard’s books about sharks (Hajar) and the animals in sea (Djuren i havet). It was in 2021 that Polarn O. Pyret started their design collaboration with children’s book author Sarah Sheppard. The first collection was based on Sheppard’s popular books about dinosaurs. The new, summery collection dives deeper, featuring sharks and other oceanPO.P'screatures!children's clothing is unisex and full of vibrant colors, perfect for spring and summer. The illustrations used on the prints are from Sheppard's books Hajar and Djuren i havet. The books teach children about everything that lives under the sea and the complete history of sharks, who started their evolution on the planet over 400 million years ago. As in the previous collection, it contains one special item for adults. This time it’s a pink t-shirt with a shark print, very loved by Sheppard herself. Thanks to Sheppard, both adults and children have become experts on dinosaurs, sharks and the animals of the forest. Polarn O. Pyret wants to encourage reading and the time you spend together with your children by reading, and that’s why they feel that Sarah Sheppard is a perfect collaboration partner for their apparel. The collection is now available in Polarn O. Pyret’s stores in Sweden and the UK, and on their website.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE N O 2 | 17

18 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 INTERIOR & HOME 1. The Children of Noisy Village tray, Opto Design. 2. Lantern Moomintroll, Skultuna. 3. Moomin glass bottle, Muurla. 4. Marius coffe cup, Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik. 5. Carl & Karin Larsson platter, Åhléns. 6. Carl & Karin Larsson pillow, Åhléns. 7. Moomin ceramic pot, Cervera. 8. Mauri Kunnas ornament, Muurla. 9. Stig Lindberg pot, Granit. 1 Carl Larsson was a Swedish therepresentativepainterofArtsandCraftsmovement. 2 3 5 7 8 6 9 4

DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLABORATION

Stig Lindberg was a man of many skills – imaginative and surreal in his expression. He was also innovative in the way he worked with materials and colours. Lindberg wanted to create a more beautiful Sweden available to everyone and he was extremely productive. This inspired the interior brand Layered who decided to create an exclusive collection consisting of rugs in some of Lindberg’s most iconic patterns.

Stig Lindberg wanted to create a more beautiful Sweden available to everyone; he was extremely productive during his active years and left a real treasure of patterns behind.

The story

BRAND Stig Lindberg PARTNER/LICENSEE Layered BACKGROUND

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 19

The Stig Lindberg x Layered collection was launched in January, 2022. RESULTS The first drop of Stig Lindberg x Layered sold out within days and Layered decided to extend the collec tion and start production of more rugs.

CATEGORY & Interior TIMELINE

The rugs combine 100% New Zealand wool in a hand-knotted technique. Layered discovered that Lindberg’s wife, Gunnel, once designed a rug that never went into production, and as a tribute to her, the Gunnel rug also made it into the collection. The collaboration is a collection filled with nostalgia, playfulness, and an important piece of design history under your feet.

Home

DESCRIPTION OF COLLABORATION

Granit is a retailer in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany that offers functional products for the modern home. This was Granit’s first licensing collaboration, a large collection of products with five different patterns designed by Stig Lindberg, one the Sweden’s most prominent designers.

20 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2

RESULTS Granit’s Stig Lindberg collection was huge hit and the glasses decorated with the Berså print sold out imme diately in all Swedish stores and the online shop on the day of launching. The collaboration also gathered a lot of press coverage – such as Plaza Interior Magazine, Hus & Hem, Aftonbladet Härligt Hemma’s trend watch, Metro Mode and more.

The full collection with all five prints was launched in spring 2022.

The five patterns that Granit chose for this collaboration were Wrap, Poeme d’Amour, Berså, Korrugation and Salix. The launch was strengthened with PR by influencers such as Elsa Billgren and Frida Lund.

The Story BRAND Stig Lindberg

LICENSEE Granit BACKGROUND

CATEGORY Home & Interior TIMELINE

Five iconic patterns

FIVE OF STIG Lindberg’s iconic patterns have been re-imagined with a modern twist to fit five different home collections by Granit: Wrap, Salix, Poème d’Amour, Korrugation and Berså Granit is a retailer in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany that offers a wide selection of functional products for the modern home.

Stig Lindberg Design is today managed by his son, Lars DueholmLindberg. “Stig was always open to new materials and product types. This collaboration is another step to keep his life’s work alive in the 21st century”, says Lars Dueholm-Lindberg.

Granits first licensing collaboration is a large collection of products with five different patterns designed by Stig Lindberg, one of Sweden’s most prominent designers. The collection follows Granit’s philosophy of creating multi-functional and timeless pieces for the living room, kitchen and bedroom – such as bed sets, pillows, glasses and trays.

Thomas Dunaker, CEO of Granit, tells his thoughts on this collab with Stig Lindberg: “It is a great privilege to be a part of this cultural heritage and to be able to offer classic Swedish design in a new tale, both to existing Granit customers but also to a new audience.”

The products are for the everyday moments and are all decorated with patterns that all carry a piece of Swedish design history.

INTERIOR & HOME // Granit R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 21

Granit’s new collection takes Stig Lindberg’s design heritage to a new generation.

Kjell Aukrust (1920-2002) is one of Norway's most beloved authors and an acclaimed artist. Drawing and text, humor and seriousness, went hand in hand in everything he did –from the wild and crazy characteristics in the fictional newspaper “Flåklypa Tidende” to the quiet wonder of one of his most famous characters, Ludvig.

22 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 1

“Our aim with this movie is to introduce the world to the incredible funny and magical characters from Kjell’s authourship,

text SONJA BJÖRK EBERT that suits the time we live in – that is a dream come true”, says Benedikte Kjernsmo. But it’s not the first time a film has been made based on Kjell Aukrust's adventurous world. Aukrust’s depictions from the fictional rural community Flåklypa laid the foundation for what is still Norway’s most watched cinema film, Flåklypa Grand Prix After that, there have also been several critically acclaimed movies, all based on Kjell’s texts and illustrations; Gurin med Reverumpa, Jul i Flåklypa, Her fra til Flåklypa and Månelyst i Flåklypa – and now there is another new film in the pipeline – with two of Kjell’s most famous characters “Solan and Ludvig”. The anxious and careful hedgehog Ludvig and the courageous and energetic magpie Solan are a well-known duo. In a fast-paced adventure, the two friends will once again challenge gravity and speed limits – this time in a formidable race against time – Solan and Ludvig will travel around the world in 8 days! Conquer the world! With the new feature film, the producers at Qvisten Animation have international ambitions and the manuscript is written to capture a broader audience, outside the Nordic borders.

“Kjell Aukrust was a multi-artist, who has influenced Norwegian culture with everything from his subtle quotes and character descriptions from the fantasy universe Flåklypa to his fantastic drawings from his childhood in Alvdal”, says Benedikte Kjernsmo, General Manager of the Aukrust Foundation.

Kjell Aukrust

INTERVIEW //

Solan and Ludvig in a new movie Now a new film based on Kjell Aukrust’s characters is coming up. “There are a lot of things happening in the universe of Aukrust these days, Kjernsmo explaines, and when we got the news that Qvisten Animation got funding from the Norwegian Film Institute for a new Aukrust movie, that really topped things off. The Aukrust Foundation’s main goal is to make sure that future generations get to know Kjell Aukrust’s art and writing, and that this universe is kept alive on the movie screen, in a form, language and expression

A UNIVERSE THAT CONTINUES TO INSPIRE

A new feature film, a third major attraction in one of Norway's largest family parks, a magical cartoon in the Nordic co-production “Juletimen” – the highlights for the Aukrust universe are many. Twenty years after Kjell Aukrust passed away, texts and illustrations from the Norwegian multi-artist continue to inspire film, TV production and new books.

AARTUN/AFTENPOSTEN/NTB©BRYNJULV Aukrust started his career as an illustrator working for newspaper and magazines and debuted in 1958 as an author. R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 23

but I reassure those who know Kjell’s characters from before, they will still recognize the typical ‘Aukrust’ in form and tone”, says Fredrik Kiøsterud, CEO of Qvisten Animation. Aukrust and Qvisten animation have a long history together.

24 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 INTERVIEW //

Aukrust attraction wins international park industry's Oscar in Los Angeles! In addition to the new movie and the Nordic co-production Juletimen, the Hunderfossen family park, which currently has three attractions based on the Aukrust Universe, won a THEA award this year for best attraction in its class for “Reodor Felgens Hyperakselerator”!

“I have to say that I think it was a lot of fun to hear Christian Von Koeningsegg, in the documentary about Kjell Aukrust that was broadcast on public broadcaster NRK last Christmas, talk about how the film Flåklypa Grand Prix, which he saw as a young boy, was the reason that he started dreaming of making sports cars. Today

The award, which was presented in Los Angeles this spring, is the Kjell Aukrust (1920–2020) Born in Alvdal, Norway. EDUCATION Statens håndverks og kunstindustriskole.

OCCUPATION Debuted as an author in 1958 with Simen Has written over 30 books, many of which contain beautiful illustrations of his two most known characters Solan and Ludvig. Continued to write books, draw, and paint throughout his whole life.

AWARDS Solprisen (1997), Brageprisen heders pris (1999), “Most beautiful book of the Year” for illustrations in Risen i Jutulfjell, Bildebokprisen for Gurin med Reverumpa (1991) Funnies book (2012) for Alvdaltriologi awarded by the Norweigan listeners of the radio broadcast NRK.

THEATHER AND OPERA Flåklypaballetten (1983), Freske Fraspark (1963), Krokryggen (1998). MUSEUMS Huset Aukrust in Alvdal, a museum solely dedicated to Kjell Aukrust life and work. After the exhibition Kjell Aukrust drawings in the National Gallery in 1987, Kjell Aukrust donated 35 of his drawings to the National Museum in Oslo.

Kjell Aukrust

A storyteller who never stopped playing But what is it about Kjell Aukrust’s art and writing that makes him continue to inspire to this day? Lars Espen Aukrust, nephew of Kjell Aukrust, and chairman of the board of the Aukrust Foundation, believes part of the reason for this was Kjell’s ability to tell stories and create curiosity.

Kjell Aukrust at work. In the background you can spot the famous race car Il Tempo Gigante.

Rasmus Sivertsen, now Creative Director at Qvisten Animation, was responsible for the character Solan in the film Gurin med Reverumpa from 1998. During the productions he had the pleasure of receiving guidance from Kjell himself, who at that time was active in the creative work. Qvisten has also been involved in three other movies based on the Aukrust universe – so Solan and Ludvig are brought back to the movie screen by higlhy experienced animators.

“All the characters that Kjell created are so carefully described, both in his drawings and his stories about them, you see them some how so completely, in living life, and many recognize themselves or others in them. Solan and Ludvig are good examples of this, you can for example ask someone if they are ‘a bit like Solan or a bit like Ludvig’ and they understand what type of person you are referring to. Kjell himself said that he was like Solan before he turned 50 and more like Ludvig after that. Besides, Kjell never stopped playing and that playfulness was so evident in what he created – everything from the fast cars with extraordinary properties to the absurd, but so wonderfully funny inventions of Reodor Felgen.”

Von Koeningsegg makes some of the world’s fastest sports cars”, explaines Lars Espen with a smile. “If Kjell would have known that his characters would inspire to something like that, he would have become euphoric”, says Lars Espen Aukrust.

WALLE-JENSEN/NTB©ODDVAR

JUNGE/NTB©HEIKO

H.M. Kung Harald with Kjell Aukrust at KjellskimuseumHolmenkolleninOslo.Aukrustcharacter

The ride takes its audience on an extraordinary adventure down snow-covered mountain slopes and great waterfalls – and the means of transport – a very specially designed kick! The drivers of this fantastic vessel are none other than Kjell Aukrust most known characters, Solan and Ludvig.

A strong partner in the future With everything that is happening in the time ahead, Benedikte Kjernsmo explains how the Aukrust Foundation saw the need for a strong partner with knowledge and experience in licensing and commercial collaboration. “We at the Aukrust Foundation are very committed and are working hard to make sure that the legacy of Kjell lives on and that new generations get the pleasure of the fantastic characters that Kjell Aukrust created. As part of this, the new collaboration with Rights & Brands is very important. They have the knowledge and experience of managing the legacy of an artist who has had a great impact for several generations, who understands how we can bring the Flåklypa universe into a new era, but at the same time make sure that expressions and new products and stories are in accor dance with Kjell's spirit. For this important task, we cannot imagine a better partner than Rights & Brands”, says Benedikte Kjernsmo.

international park industry's “Oscars”, and the jury highlighted the great storytelling, the humor and the thrilling driving experience.

“All the characters that Kjell created are so carefully described, both in his drawings and in his stories about them.”

Solan is portrayed as a colorful, eager and overly courageous bird who faces every challenge with a positive and cheerful mindset.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 25

26 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 ACCESSORIES & APPAREL 1. Moomin shopping bag, Nordicbuddies. 2. Moomin bracelet, Pfg Stockholm. 3. Carl Larsson dress, Lindex. 4. Moomin watch, Sarpaneva. 5. The Beatles hoodie, Billebeino. 6. Marius sweater, Rauma. 7. Moomin rubber boot, Viking Footwear. 8. Hans Arnold t-shirt, Dxme. The Beatles had 29 number one hits on the US and UK charts – more than anyone else. 2 3 5 7 861 4

DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLABORATION

Makia created a wide collection of ap parel with several of Kunnas’ characters from stories like Mr. Clutterbuck (Herra Hakkarainen), Doghill, Treasure Island (Aarresaari), One Spooky Night and Other Scary Stories (Hui kauhistus!) and Pirates Ahoy. In a collaborative meeting with Mauri Kunnas himself, Kunnas decided to illustrate a special shipyard dog character for Makia’s collection. The brand-new character became an essential part of the collection, and the denim jacket called The Helmsman Jacket has an embroidering of the shipyard dog character on the back. The jacket was limited to 100 pieces, all of which were hand-signed on the inside pocket by Mauri Kunnas himself. CATEGORY Apparel TIMELINE

The success of the collection led to Makia working on new collaborations with Kunnas’ characters.

The first Mauri Kunnas for Makia collection was launched in November 2021 and the next one in spring 2022.

The story BRAND Mauri Kunnas LICENSEE Makia BACKGROUND

Mauri Kunnas is the most successful cartoonist and author of children’s books to come out of Finland. His books have accompanied multiple generations of Finns on their way to adulthood and have been translated to 35 languages and published in 36 countries around the world. Finnish company Makia brings Mauri’s colourful and detailed drawings into new light and adapts them into a collection of modern-day streetwear. The collection features items like a hand signed denim jacket limited to hundred pieces, and a new “shipyard dog” character especially drawn for Makia.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 27

RESULTS

The success of the collection led to Makia working on new collaborations with Kunnas’ characters and launching a second collection within a year after the first launch.

THE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS were kicked off with a spring theme and some lovely renewals and additions made into the park. Throughout the event period, the park prepared a variety of ways for guests to enjoy their time at Moominvalley Park to spend a pleasant and extraordinary time with the Moomins. Moominvalley Park is located in Hanno, in the Saitama prefecture, just a 40 minute train trip away from the busy streets of Tokyo. During the celebrations, Moominvalley Park encouraged guests to arrive in their flowered headdresses. Guests were invited to enjoy a spring picnic with loved ones in the Moominvalley area, where you can feel the world of the story, or in the Lonely Mountain area, which is rich in nature.

28 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2

HANNO, JAPAN The anniversarythird ParkMoominvalleyofinJapan

IT WAS IN 2020 that the adventure and culture center Funnys Äventyr opened its doors in Malmö, Sweden. In celebration of the one year anniversary, Funnys Äventyr inaugurated their new exhibition Från A till Ö med Mumin, The Moomin ABC Exhibition.

LINKÖPING, SWEDEN

THE MOOMIN ABC Exhibition is a part of the new Moomin initiative “Reading, Writing and the Moomins“. It is a multi annual, international initiative to spread the joy of reading and writing around the world with the help of Moomin stories. The initiative brings together charity organizations and companies all around the world. The exhibition material is made of a durable material that is built to last. When the exhibit is done at Funnys Äventyr in the end of 2022, the material will be able to travel and be used in other spaces. The educational material is aimed at families and groups of children between the ages of 6 and 10 and is currently available in three different languages: Finnish, Swedish and English.

MALMÖ, SWEDEN The Moomin ABC Exhibition at Funnys Äventyr

“I have always had an interesting and fun job, but this is the most fun I have ever had’’, says Magnus Wetterö.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 29

DeckarhusLasseMajas– a digital physical destination IN AN INCREASINGLY sedentary and digital world, an activity house like LasseMajas Deckarhus becomes an attractive way to spend time together. Deckarhuset is a destination where you combine the digital with the physical experience in a unique way. “Visitors will experience a mix of Pokemon go and Fort Boyard with a LasseMaja touch. The wonderful thing is that all the visitors also realize that you need different skills to be the perfect team. Young and old must interact, that's how you find the answers”, says Magnus Wetterö, CEO of LasseMaja Deckarhus. When your group is finished after two hours, how will they feel? “Everyone should feel they are clever, having managed to solve all the riddles with their group. We also want them to feel satisfied and carry a good feeling after being a part of Valleby and its inhabitants.” What does the collaboration with Rights & Brands and LasseMaja mean? “Martin (Widmark) and Helena (Willis) have always been at the forefront of collaboration in children's culture which is a success factor for the LasseMaja concept. Rights & Brands will be an extremely important cornerstone in our merchindise and communication. In February 2023, Deckarhuset will be ready in old Linköping, and after that the goal is to spread a franchise concept to six other locations in the Nordic region.”

Several lucky children and invited guests got the chance to meet Moomin and Little My and be the first ones to see the brand-new exhibition Från A till Ö med Mumin, The Moomin ABC Exhibition, when Funnys Äventyr celebrated their one-year anniversary In Tove Jansson’s stories about Moominvalley and its inhabitants, all emotions are allowed. Little My is often angry, but not always and she is not the only one. In Moominvalley, there are many things to be happy about, but also some things that create fear. There is anxiety and disappointment, as well as an enormous desire for adventure and longing that drives them forward. How do we want to be comforted? What helps when we get angry? Where do we feel good? Using texts from the ABC books Mumindalens Alfabet (Swedish) and Onnelliset Aakkoset (Finnish), Moomin Characters have created educational material about emotions. The modular Moomin exhibition is a space where children and their adults can stay for a while, together with the stories and the characters, to discuss, play and draw – all starting from the emotions found in the stories.

ALVDAL, NORWAY Experience Aukrust versality

PETTSON & FINDUS are a part of Sundsvalls Museum with the exhibition Pettson och Findus, mucklor och manicker

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

SUNDSVALL, SWEDEN Pettson & experienceFindusroom

THIS SUMMER

THE ongoing exhibition of Kjell’s life and work at Huset Aukrust focused on Kjell’s journeys to Italy, where visitors can experience his many drawings and paintwork from his travels there. The building, designed by the renowned architect Sverre Fehn, was opened in 1996 by H.M King Harald.

The exhibit is an explorational room based on the UN’s 17 global goals and the stories and illustrations by Sven Nordqvist. The experience room is aimed at children aged 5 to 9 and is open during fixed time slots. Everyone can book a free seat ticket in advance at Entré Sundsvall: entresundsvall.se.

30 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 PARKS & EXHIBITIONS

Huset Aukrust also contains some of Aukrust more creative innovations, such as the chocolate machine and the “stargazing bicycle” and an amazing space rocket which can be a fun and trilling experience for younger members of the family.

THE WORLD EXHIBITION, Expo 2020, was held in Dubai from October, 2021 to March, 2022 and welcomed 190 participating countries. For Sweden and Finland, the company Transparall was responsible for the stores located in the respective countries’ pavilions. Transparall helped organize and coordinate the participating brands together with Rights & Brands and other partners. In total, Transparall worked with approximately 30 different brands in the Swedish and Finnish pavilion, including Carl & Karin Larsson, Moomin, Hans Arnold and several of Astrid Lindgren & Ilon Wikland’s characters. Besides having products in the stores, Carl & Karin Larsson were highlighted in the Swedish pavilion to showcase the Swedish heritage, and several episodes of Moominvalley were aired in the Finnish pavilion. During the 182 days that the Expo was open, the stores sold out 97% of the stocked products and over 1 082 000 visitors were welcomed to the pavilions. Not only that, but the stores also accumulated data and knowledge about the region that all brands can take part in and develop for their future presence in a market that is growing faster than ever. The success at Expo 2020 is the result of a joint effort between government and industry. Transparall concludes that they are very pleased with the co-operation with all the brands represented by Rights & Brands and are now in first stages of planning the next Expo in Japan, 2025.

Over a million visitors at the Swedish and Finnish pavilions during Expo 2020

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN Sweden’s biggest outdoor atplaygroundMoominopensJunibacken

“We’ve dreamed about turning the garden into a Moomin playground for a long time. With the playground we want to give children a space for free play and show the way to Tove Jansson’s literature”, Kajsa Medin, CEO of Junibacken, says and continues: “This initiative is a part of our strategy to develop our range of activities and secure playing outside during all seasons. It’s an artistic interpretation of the Moomin world with inspiration from three popular Moomin books. The hard-core Moomin fan will find a lot to recognize. It’s both beautiful, fun and magic.”

NEW OUTDOOR EXPERIENCES are in the pipeline at Junibacken in Stockholm. The garden has been transformed and this summer a new Moomin playground saw daylight – the biggest one outdoors in Sweden. The Moomin playground is a cooperation between Moomin Characters, Rights and Brands and Junibacken, who have wanted to build upon the books Memoirs of Moominpappa, Who Will Comfort Toffle? and Comet in Moominvalley. In the garden there’s a play with perspectives, and visitors can meet Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Toffle and the Groke, and also Snufkin, Sniff and Moomintroll on four meter high stilts. Visitors can slide down a six-meter high Moominhouse on a slide and for the youngest ones, there’s also a big shell fitting both the Oshun Oxtra boat and a smaller slide. And naturally, there is also a blooming garden that comes to life also during winter, with colorful lights and flower-shaped lamps in soft, pulsating light.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 31

32 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 KIDS & TOYS 1. Pettson & Findus cardboard suitcase, Martinex. 2. The Whodunit Detective Agency box, Egmont Kärnan. 3. Sarah Sheppard hat, Polarn O. Pyret. 4. Carl Larsson backpack, Lindex. 5. Sarah Sheppard t-shirt, Polarn O. Pyret. 6. Stig Lindberg baby bottle and teething ring, Elodie. 7. Moomin ABC book, Macmillan. 8. Mamma Moo and Crow tableware, Rätt Start. 9. Moomin learning computer, Toyrock. 10. Lollo & Bernie earrings, Pfg Stockholm. Sarah Sheppard’s bookMapsImportant for Daydreamers is a best seller with over 60.000 copies sold. 2 5 7 8 9 10 1 4 3 6

CATEGORY Kids & Toys TIMELIME

The playhouse was launched in spring 2022. RESULTS

The Pettson & Findus playhouse is delivered in a finished set of building elements that are easily put together with a hammer and screwdriver. The house is made from whitewood for the walls and floor, complete with windows made of plexiglass. Polhus also encourage everyone who buys the Pettson & Findus playhouse to use the packaging material to build other elements, just like the way Pettson does it.

The response that Polhus has received from customers has been great, especially in the Nordic market where the love for classic red cottages and Pettson & Findus is strong.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 33

Polhus was established in 2001 and is one of the fastest growing brands in e-commerce of wooden houses in the Nordic region. They sell self-designed cabins, sheds, saunas, playhouses and much more. Using inspiration from Sven Nordqvist’s illustrations, Polhus designed a house just like Pettson’s. DESCRIPTION OF COLLABORATION

The story BRAND Pettson & Findus LICENSEE Polhus BACKGROUND

34 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2

Rätt Start with Astrid & Ilons beloved characters

The first collection is with The Children of Noisy Village (Barnen i Bullerbyn).

For this collection, Rätt Start created a food container with the three farmhouses, a set of cutlery and tableware, water bottle in stainless steel, bibs and a special baby book with the animals from the farms. The second collection is Lotta on Troublemaker Street (Lotta på Bråk makargatan). Lotta grows up in a small idyllic middle-class town during the 1950s. The inspiration for this collection is the children who love to ride bicycles on Troublemaker Street and Lotta’s iconic red colours.

The third collection features Madicken. Seven-year-old Madicken lives with her family in a big, beautiful house called ‘Junedale’ (Juni backen) in a Swedish provincial town during the First World War. The starting point for this collection was the sisterhood between Madicken and Lisabet and the porcelain ware with blue edges that could be found at Junedale.

THE BROTHERS LIONHEART (Bröderna Lejonhjärta) is a tale of love strong enough to conquer death – not just once, but twice. In this collection you will meet dragons, dangerous travels and wicked knights. The bibs come in two versions, one with Thorn Rose Valley (Törnrosdalen) and one with Cherry Valley of Nangijala (Körsbärsdalen).

KIDS & Rätt Start WHEN RÄTT START started the design process of the collections they made it a priority to capture the essence of each characters story and based the design on what is specific about them. All the artwork used on the products is based on the original illustrations that Ilon Wikland made for Astrid Lindgren’s books. The result is four beautiful collections with their own expression and story telling that captures what is unique to each story and some of the most beloved characters such as Madicken, the Brothers Lionheart, Lotta on Troublemaker Street, and the Children of Noisy Village.

TOYS //

A Swedish producer of children and baby products, just launched a major collaboration with some of the characters by Astrid Lindgren and Ilon Wikland.

The first drop consisted of four collections of characters: Brothers Lionheart, Lotta on Troublemaker Street, Madicken and The Children of Noisy Village. When Rätt Start started the design process of the four collections they made it a priority to capture the essence of each character’s story and base the design on what is specific about them.

CATEGORY Home, Toys (baby and children) TIMELINE Rätt Start launched all of the collections in the Nordic countries at the beginning of 2022.

Since Rights & Brands has a long history of collaborating with Rätt Start, they were a natural choice for the honorable right to use the artwork of Ilon Wikland and Astrid Lindgren’s characters on a collection of baby and children products. Rätt Start on their part felt that the artwork was perfect for their strong baby segment and for the development of new products for older children.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 35

All the artwork used on the products are the original illustrations that Ilon Wikland made for Astrid Lindgren’s books.

All the artwork used on the products are the original illustrations that Ilon Wikland made for Astrid Lindgren’s books. Together, the aim was to get the consumer to feel the nostalgia and experience these classic stories once again.

DESCRIPTION OF COLLABORATION

The Story BRAND Astrid Lindgren & Ilon Wikland PARTNER/LICENSEE Rätt Start TERRITORY Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway BACKGROUND

M

36 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 SUSTAINABILITY // MISSION

MOOMIN CHARACTERS IS building a structured framework in order to work together with partners and licensees towards a more sustainable future. The three goals: To maximize the positive impact, to minimize the negative impact and to compensate the rest. In addition to reducing the negative impact, Moomin Characters has started to compensate for the CO2 caused by Moomin products globally, together with Lune, an offsetting company committed to quality projects. Already this year, Moomin Characters has compensated for €100 000 according to the Oxford offsetting principles, which is a standard for credible, high impact offsets and avoiding greenwashing. All Moomin licensees are now invited to join in and compensate for their emissions. Together we can have an impact.

Tove Jansson’s words in Comet in Moomin land from 1946 feel as relevant today as they did when she wrote the story during the Second World War. Respect for nature and each other is at the heart of the Moomin stories, and in face of an external threat, the Moomins stick together and cooperate. Given this, it’s only natural that Moomin Characters and Rights and Brands are working together in order to put sustainability at the core of everything we do. Also our clients feel strongly about sustain ability. In the Rights & Brands Sustainability survey* 77% say their company's sustainability mission is very important to them personally, and as many as 89% of responded that they feel they can personally impact their company's sustain ability work.

OUR COMMON SUSTAINABILITY MISSION – MAKE AN IMPACT Respect for nature and each other is at the heart of the Moomin stories. For Rights & Brands it’s always important to have that in mind and to work together with partners and licensees towards a more sustainable future.

oomintroll thought about how much he loved everything: the forest and the sea, the rain and the wind, the grass and the moss, and how impossible it would be to live without them all.”

*Rights & Brands Sustainability Survey 2022 with respondents containing of licensees with Rights & Brands.

CHARACTERS™MOOMIN© “

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 37

38 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 FOOD & BEVERAGE 1. Smurf water, Pure Norway. 2. Sparkling berry drink, Poikain Parhaat. 3. Mr Clutterbuck chewing gum, Jenkki/Cloetta. 4. Moomin sugar sweets, Bandai. 5. Mamma and Crow milk, Bpi. 6. Moomin licorice and fudge, Fazer. 7. Moomin coffee, Bergstrands Kafferosteri. The Smurfs with a 95% global brand awareness has +75 billion downloads of the Smurf online games. 2 3 5 7 6 1 4

For each litre sold, Olvi donates 2 euro cents to support Oxfam’s life-changing water projects around the world.

The story

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 39

CATEGORY Beverage TIMELINE

The Moomin water bottles are made of recycled plastic – including old water bottles. This means that all plastic bottles have already been used at least once before, and removes the need to use new, virgin plastic. Moomin Water is sourced from a protected groundwater area in Northern Savonia, Finland and the bottle designs are based on Tove Jansson’s Moomin comic strips from the 1950’s. For each litre sold, Olvi donates 2 euro cents to support Oxfam’s life-changing water projects around the world.

The spring water launched in 2021, and the second flavor in March, 2022. RESULTS

DESCRIPTION OF COLLABORATION

The water has received great distribution in Finland and new flavors are being produced by Olvi.

BRAND Moomin PARTNER/LICENSEE Olvi Water TERRITORY Finland BACKGROUND Moominvalley is surrounded by the Lonely Mountains and filled with lush forests and babbling brooks. Just as in Moominvalley, nature in Finland is always only a step away. Finland’s unique groundwater and spring water are the purest in the world.

M

Anna Lawrence, Nordic Rights Director at Rights & Brands, com ments: “All new development work is done in close collaborations with the approvals team, from synopses and first sketches to final texts, illustrations, and layout. We are very particular about the fact that new publishing is adaptations of the Moomin universe, never extending it or changing existing stories and frameworks. We would never allow new novels to be created, but the picture book and novelty formats are lovely ways to enthuse new and young readers.”

oomin novels and picture books are true classics that stay relevant for a wide readership with their timeless themes of family, friendship, respect for nature, the lust for adventure and the safe haven of a home. Moomin Characters and Rights & Brands, together with trusted master publishers, are constantly adding new books and formats based on the original Moomin works to reach new generations and let them find their own way to the world of the Moomins. Over time, there have been many adaptions of the Moomins in different formats. In the nineties, there was an infamous change of the characters’ colours in animations and comic magazine adap tations, and storylines took a very different route from what Tove Jansson had set out in the universe she created.

40 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 BOOKS & AUTHORS

The original Moomin works open many paths for creating new and innovative material. A select group of publishers have been trusted with the mission to develop new publishing, reaching a worldwide audience with their programs. Staying true to the origins of the stories, characters, artwork and Tove Jansson’s original vision is key to both new publishing and the brand itself.

WHEN SOPHIA JANSSON, Tove Jansson’s niece and Lars Jansson’s daughter, joined Moomin Characters Oy Ltd in 1997, she quickly decided to stop the uncontrolled development of the brand and went back to the basics, back to the originals. As Creative Director, Sophia Jansson kept a very clear structure for the new development of books: all stories and artwork must be based on the originals or be very closely connected to the themes and values of the Moomin brand itself.

Sophia Jansson says: “Though the Moomin books are for all ages, for the youngest of listeners and readers, there is room for easier adaptations based on the original stories to work as an introduction into the Moomin universe. Hence, new publishing has been a path to the original books.”

As a result of this strategy, there are now several Moomin new publishing strands, all clearly separated, while still staying true to the originals and all having the same goal: to lead new readers to Moominvalley, allowing children to get to know the beloved characters and eventually letting them find their way to Tove’s original and outstanding creations.

TOVE JANSSON’S ORIGINAL WORK IS THE NEWWHENFOUNDATIONCREATINGPUBLISHING

As of 2018, the Swedish publisher Bonnier Carlsen is developing a picture book range introducing the world of Moominvalley, its characters and values to young readers who might not yet be familiar with the Moomins. Popular tales such as Moomin and the Last Dragon, The Invisible Child and The Fir Tree are retold and illustrated by established Swedish authors and illustrators. The series returns to Tove Jansson’s original storylines and art style using watercolour and ink.

Crafted by well-known publishers and their stable of creative authors, illustrators and editors, sold inter nationally by Rights & Brands and its sub-agents, the Moomin new publishing programs have gained worldwide success.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 41

Using original illustrations by Tove Jansson, Werner Söderström Ltd in Finland is the first publisher of the masterful nature series of Hemulen’s Herbarium, Snufkin’s Fish Book, and Little My’s Bug Book. The series consists of fact-based guidebooks of the flora, fauna and animals of the northern hemisphere, presented with beautiful art and enhanced by Moomin quotes. WSOY has also successfully published a line of Moomin Picture Dictionaries, using original art and educational elements.

MOOMINVALLEY ANIMATION BOOKS BY MACMILLAN With an exceptional sense of style and execution, Macmillan Children’s Books has turned a TV-tie in concept into a classic picture book format. With its terrific treatment of artwork and stories, the series of books is already a worldwide success.

BESTSELLING MOOMIN BABY, PICTURE BOOK AND NOVELTY RANGES BY PUFFIN Puffin is a long-standing partner and master publisher of the Moomins and the latest edition to Puffin’s much-loved picture book and novelty formats is an innovative and contemporary baby range. Targeted at the premium gift market and created in correspondence with a baby’s developmental needs, readers have responded very well to baby’s first chance to get to know the Moomins.

ABC, READING WRITING AND THE MOOMINS BY OTAVA PUBLISHING

BONNIER CARLSEN AND THE “BACK TO TOVE” RANGE

Based on the concept Reading, Writing and the Moomins, the literacy-focused project started by Moomin Characters in 2020, Otava Publishing is developing an ABC program based on letters, numbers and with the vision to spark imagination as well as interest in reading. Featuring texts inspired by Tove’s poetic manner, illustrated by beautiful original artwork in vivid colours, the ABC program spans from Onnelliset aakkoset (Happy Moomin Alphabet) to creative knitting books, including activity books and an eclectic non-books range.

Different strands of Moomin new publishing

Together with trusted

WERNER SERIESBEAUTIFULSÖDERSTRÖM’SNON-FICTION

constantlypublishersmasterweareaddingnewbooksandformatstoreachnewgenerations.

En bok för familjen!hela 6–106 år

IN HER EMANCIPATED novel Monogamish (Suhteellisen vapaata, Otava, 2020), Riikka Suominen boldly throws the conventions of monogamous relationships out of the bedroom window. The screen rights option to this hilarious and sour novel endorsing sexual desire were acquired by Fremantle Press. The hugely successful TV animation series Moominvalley, based on Tove and Lars Jansson’s original Moomin stories, has premiered in 2019. The series was carefully created by an awardwinning team working alongside Marika Makaroff and Steve Box at Gutsy Animations. So far three seasons have been sold to more than 50 countries.

Screen rights – seeing stories come to life tiger, they embark on grand adventures reaching beyond the city’s tidy facades and learn how to stand up for what feels right. Set in the near future Tuomas Oskari’s Their Turn to Burn (Tuomas Niskakangas, Roihu, Otava, 2021) is a skillfully plotted and fastpaced international political thriller, taking place in only 24 hours, demonstrating how easily inequality and the division of a population can escalate. The suspense in this page-turning, unputdownable thriller remains from the first page until the end. The TV and film rights have been optioned by Aurora Studios.

42 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 BOOKS & AUTHORS

Nelson Mareng står alldeles ensam på en tågstation i Berlurenstad, en stad där de flesta har för bråttom för att hjälpa en främling. Framför allt en främling klädd pyjamas. Eller någon som är lurvig på fel sätt. Följ med på en resa bortom de prydliga fasaderna, till stadsdelar fulla av storslagna äventyr och farliga hemligheter. Vad är en skymmare för något? Och vem är den förskräckliga Tess Väs? Lena Frölander-Ulf NELSON TIGERTASS är en berättelse om vänskap och om att våga stå upp för det som känns rätt. Och bli precis så modig som man skulle vilja vara.

Literature and art have always inspired us to think and see the world differently. Thus, Rights & Brands are thrilled to be working with all these wonderfully divers stories, to make them travel around the globe.

FRÖLANDER-ULFLENA heligt.”ärFörFruktansvärt!”skymmareingenting Mellan en buske och en bänk sitter någon och speglar sig ett burklock. Raggiga tovor slätas ut. Gula tänder putsas med en vass klo. Ett enormt, lurvigt ansikte ler mot sin spegelbild och morrar ... forlaget.com

“We are constantly on the lookout for new partners and exciting cooperation’s to bring our colourful properties alive on the screens. Our newly established Rights & Brands office in Oslo, founded in cooperation with the successful Norwegian studio Qvisten Animation, opens up exciting opportunities for strong brands and stories to be developed into quality entertainment and culture heritage for future generation”, says Friederike Ridegh.

“WE ARE CONSTANTLY working on new ways to bring books and stories to life. Our authors and illustrators provide us with their inspiring thoughts, stories, and insights which allow us to build on them and aspire to new tailored projects for exciting plots and characters”, says Friederike Ridegh, Literary Agent for screen and publishing rights. Over the years Rights & Brands has established strong links with production companies and the international film festival scene, participating in festivals such as Berlinale, Cannes, Haugesund or Venice film festival on a regular basis and pitching to Nordic production companies. Here are some of the screen rights that Rights & Brands have been recently working on: The screen rights to Dess Terentyeva’s prose YA novel Lovely (Ihana, WSOY, 2021), winner of the WSOY writing contest for YA authors, were optioned by Helsinki Filmi OY. Lilja, a pansexual 9th grader who has nicknamed her latest social media crush Lovely. It turns out that Lovely is the child of Lilja’s single dad’s latest girlfriend, which becomes a game-changer.

YLE’S SUCCESSFUL AIRING of the first season of Tove Appelgren’s beloved series about the headstrong girl Vesta-Linnéa (Vesta-Linnéa, Förlaget M/Teos, 2005-2019), illustrated by Salla Savolainen, the rights for the second season have been sold to Långfim Productions who will work on the sequel to the 12 existing episodes. Butterworks has optioned the screen rights to Lena Frölander-Ulf’s middle grade novel Nelsson Tigerpaw (Nelson Tigertass, Förlaget M/Teos, 2020) about Nelson, a young boy who gets lost in a world full of dangerous secrets, and fake news. Together with his friend, a homeless

SOFIE SARENBRANT’S CRIME series following police detective Emma Sköld is one of the most successful series from the Nordics. It has captivated readers for 10 years, selling over 4 million copies worldwide in 15 languages. The success story started in 2012 when Rest in peace was published. Sarenbrant created Emma Sköld with a clear view of her main protagonist. Being fed up with the usual suspects of wornout, alcoholic male detectives, she wanted a young career woman in the lead. Emma Sköld is as talented as strongheaded, a clever and street-smart investigator, equally appreciated and questioned by her colleagues for her daring decisions and brave moves. The contemporary, hard-to-put down series soon proved Sofie Sarenbrant to be a bright star on the Nordic crime scene. Since then, she has topped the bestseller list, been awarded the prestigious prize Swedish Crime Writer of the Year in both 2019 and 2020, and taken home Nextory’s E-book Award three times. What has made the series a favorite amongst crime readers is the unique combination of Sofie Sarenbrant’s Emma Sköld turns 10 years suspenseful investigations and unexpected cliffhangers with relatable depictions of selfdoubt and courage. Sarenbrant always involves current issues in her novels, often inspired by actual events and news stories, while at the same time investigating themes such as mental illness, predjudice, lies and lonliness. The series take place largely in Stockholm and the idyllic suburb Bromma, where Sarenbrant herself lives with her“Itfamily.isthose everyday moments that make my imagination run wild. The things that are close to home are the ones who hit me the hardest”, Sarenbrant says when asked about her sources of inspiration. In May 2022, Sofie released the 10th book in the Emma Sköld series, The Soulmate, and in autumn 2022 she will also publish Mira and the Moon, the first in a new middle grade series following the young girl Mira who doesn’t feel at home anywhere but finds comfort in the nearby stables where she meets Moon, a pony who has been abandoned after an injury. Soon, a close bond is formed between the two.

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 43 RANVINDMAGNUS©

44 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 AWARDS // LICENSEES & NOMINEES

THE NORWEGIAN THEME PARK, Hunderfossen, had a great win this year! Located in the valley of Gudbrandsdalen, this family-oriented park gives its visitors a wondrous experience, from folk stories of trolls to fairy tales from the north. Last year they added a third attraction created by Qvisten Animation, based on the amazing universe of Kjell Aukrust. This ride, called Reodor Felgens Hyperakselerator, won the prize for best attraction in its class, in the THEA Award. The award was presented in Los Angeles this spring. The ride takes its audience on an extraordinary adventure down snow covered mountain slopes and great waterfalls – and the means of transport – a very specially designed kick! The drivers of this fantastic vessel are none other than Kjell Aukrust most known characters, Solan and Ludvig.

TOP GLOBAL AGENTS REPORT 2022 Rights & Brands named best licensing agent in Europe

In an interview with License Global, Rights & Brands’ CEO Patrick Ullman and Nordic Commercial Director Kristin Tjulander summarise how Rights & Brands as an agency stays ahead of the curve: “We strive to be quick in our process, keep close contact with the proprietors who trust their brand in our hands and plan our activities and work to the best of our capabilities. We are constantly increasing the services to proprietors and licensees. A couple of years ago, we focused on sales and fairs. Now, R&B offers retail management expertise, social media, content services and business insights in addition to the traditional licensing agent setup. R&B also drives new development of brands and storytelling with in-depth knowledge of publishing. Collecting data and staying on top of new digital trends is vital to today’s agency work. We have devoted staff to following trends and updating the sales team to keep track of NFTs, gaming and general online trends.”

THEA AWARDS Hunderfossen wins best attraction

WHEN LICENSE GLOBAL released their Top Global Agents report for 2022, Rights & Brands landed an impressive 16th place worldwide and number one in the Europe list. Rights & Brands continues to be one of the most successful licensing agencies globally, landing this prestigious place in a tough race with renowned competitors. The Top Global Licensing Agents report is released annually by the industry magazine License Global. The report examines the retail sales of the world’s leading brand extension agencies. It also mentions “notable ones to watch” and breaks down the biggest agents by region.

LICENSING INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Skultuna’s Moomin finalist

2022

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 45

FOR 37 YEARS, the Licensing International Excellence Awards have served as the pinnacle of achievement in the global brand licensing industry. This year, Swedish brassproducer Skultuna was selected as a finalist in the category Home Décor for their gold-plated Moomin steel figurines. Every year, Licensing International shines a spotlight on the innovation and accomplishments within the licensing industry worldwide at the only global Licensing Excellence Awards. For the first time in two years, there was a physical awards ceremony in Las Vegas on May 23rd, the day before Licensing Expo Las Vegas opened. Skultuna was selected as a finalist among hundreds of submitted nominations. Their Moomin figurines, a collaboration with Moomin Characters and Rights & Brands, have been highly popular among consumers, selling out within one hour from the launch. The nomination for Skultuna in the Home Décor category in the 2022 Licensing International Excellence Awards reads: “Skultuna was founded in 1607 by King Karl IX in Sweden as a royal brass producer. Since 2021, Skultuna has been an official Moomin partner and this series of Moomingold-plated steel figurines was developed in close contact with Moomin Characters Oy Ltd. The first Skultuna x Moomin series was released in April 2021, and since then, Skultuna has continued to grow the set by continuously adding more characters. The collection was one of Skultuna’s most successful launches ever, and every piece was sold out within one hour after launching.”

figurines

46 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 ABOUT US // Brands BAMSE © Rune A ARNIE ALLIGATOR © Arne Alligator Brands Ab Oy HANS ARNOLD © Hans Arnold FLÅKLYPA BY KJELL AUKRUST © Kjell Aukrust KARLSSON ON THE ROOF ©Illustrations:DesignIlon Wikland AB, © The Astrid Lindgren Company (THEDETEKTIVLASSEMAJASBYRÅWHODUNITDETECTIVEAGENCY) © Martin Widmark & Helena Willis THE BEATLES © Apple Corps Ltd, a BEATLES™ product HÄLGE © Egmont LOTTA ON TROUBLE MAKER STREET ©Illustrations:DesignIlon Wikland AB, © The Astrid Lindgren Company LITTLE ANNA © Tre Sandberg AB THE BEATLES –YELLOW SUBMARINE © 2022 Subafilms Ltd. A Yellow Submarine™ product ILON WIKLAND & ASTRID LINDGREN © Design Ilon Wikland AB © The Astrid Lindgren Company MADICKEN ©Illustrations:DesignIlon Wikland AB, © The Astrid Lindgren Company CARL & SUNDBORNLARSSON-GÅRDENLARSSON,KARINCARL HIPPU BY OILI TANNINEN © Oili Tanninen 1967 THE LIONHEARTBROTHERS ©Illustrations:DesignIlon Wikland AB, © The Astrid Lindgren Company RONJA, THE ROBBER'S DAUGHTE R ©Illustrations:DesignIlon Wikland AB, © The Astrid Lindgren Company DOGHILL BY MAURI KUNNAS © Mauri Kunnas 2022 THE CHILDREN OF NOISY VILLAGE ©Illustrations:DesignIlon Wikland AB, © The Astrid Lindgren Company SEACROW (SALTKRÅKAN)ISLAND ©Illustrations:DesignIlon Wikland AB, © The Astrid Lindgren Company TTSCANPIX/PHOTO:

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 47 MARIUS OF NORWAY © Marius of Norway AS LITTLE PINK AND BROKIGA © Brokiga & Company AB SARAH SHEPPARD © Sarah Sheppard MOOMIN © Moomin Characters™ POPEYE © 2022 King Features Syndicate, Inc. ™ Hearst Holdings, Inc. STIG LINDBERG MR CLUTTERBUCK BY MAURI KUNNAS © Mauri Kunnas 2021 PURENORWAY PURENorway® THE SMURFS 2022 – Licensed through I.M.P.S. (Brussels) www.smurf.com LITTLE GHOST LABAN © Tre Sandberg AB PETTSON & FINDUS © Sven Nordqvist SANTA CLAUS BY MAURI KUNNAS © Mauri Kunnas 2022 TOVE JANSSON © Tove Jansson TUMMEN © Tre Sandberg AB VEM? © Brokiga & Company AB MORE INFORMATION Scan to see the brand portfolio on our website LOLLO & BERNIE © Lollo & Bernie THE PHANTOM © 2022 King Features Syndicate, Inc. ™ Hearst Holdings, Inc. MAMMA MOO AND CROW © Jujja Wieslander & Sven Nordqvist

48 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 ABOUT US // Team Patrick Ullman CEO +46@rightsandbrands.compatrick.ullmanR&B733649329 Anna Lawrence Foreign Rights +46rightsandbrands.comanna.lawrence@Licensing/PublishingDirector707722255 Anna Svenman Retail & Sales +46rightsandbrands.comanna.svenman@Manager791011140 Matilda Bergström CRM +46rightsandbrands.commatilda.bergstrom@Manager709554440 Elin Larsson Digital Communication & Content +46rightsandbrands.comelin.larsson@Coordinator791011158 Kristin Tjulander Nordic Commercial Director +46rightsandbrands.comkristin.tjulander@707632872 Anna-Karin Sallander Approval & Office Manager +46rightsandbrands.comanna-karin@704177284 Ina Kråkström Legal +46rightsandbrands.comIna.krakstrom@Advisor791010036 Michelle Cortez Finance rightsandbrands.commichelle.cortez@Coordinator Elin Rydner Literary +rightsandbrands.comelin.rydner@Agent46769477040 Niklas Österling Category +46rightsandbrands.comniklas.osterling@Apparel/InteriorManager739624592 Martin Håkansson Business & Royalty +46rightsandbrands.commartin.hakansson@Controller761309285 Arvid Jansson +46rightsandbrands.comarvid.jansson@CFO701424033 Jennie Brown Sales Executive & Legal +46rightsandbrands.comJennie.brown@Advisor703549988 Nicolina Bagge Graphic +46rightsandbrands.comnicolina.bagge@Designer791010154 Fredrik Rahka GM R&B +358@rightsandbrands.comfredrik.rahkaOY408388246INMANAGEMENTR&BR&BTEAMSTOCKHOLM

R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 | 49 Hanna Pajunen-Walsh International Publishing Director – Children's Books and +358rightsandbrands.comhanna.pajunen-walsh@YA405833419 Mahsa Saboohian Sales Executive +47rightsandbrands.commahsa.saboohian@Norway91362606 Jun Hirst Regional Manager Asia +81rightsandjun.hirst@brands.com8077296750 Friederike Ridegh Literary +358rightsandbrands.comfriederike.ridegh@Agent408376325 Jens Beck Sales Executive Finland & +358rightsandbrands.comjens.beck@Denmark505055311 Pia Lindén Sales Executive Sweden +46rightsandbrands.comPia.linden@702082311 Laura Axam Rights +358rightsandbrands.comlaura.axam@Manager505188589 Magdalena BiernatHeikkinen Director, International Sales & +358@rightsandbrands.commagdalena.biernat-heikkinenLicensing406796294 Shatilla Holm Go To Market +46rightsandbrands.comshatilla.holm@Manager739182363 Ilkka Lind Sales Director Finland & Int. +358rightsandbrands.comilkka.lind@Sales407233270 Malin Karlsson Marketing and Permissions +358rightsandbrands.commalin.karlsson@Manager400329090 Ylva Palmbäck Head of +46rightsandbrands.comylva.palmback@Legal768797497 R&B TEAM INR&BHELSINKITEAMINOSLO R&B TEAM IN TOKYO

50 | R&B MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 2 ABOUT US // Contact RIGHTS & STOCKHOLMBRANDS Postal and visiting address: Rosenlundsgatan 31, 118 63 Stockholm, Sweden Contact: info@rightsandbrands.com RIGHTS & BRANDS HELSINKI Postal and visiting address: Salmisaarenranta 7 L, 00180 Helsinki, Finland Contact: info@rightsandbrands.com RightsJapan & Brands Japan Co, Ltd 3-1-1 Kamiosaki Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0021, Japan Tel: +81 364 56 46 77 Contact: Kumiko kumiko.ito@rightsandbrands.co.jpIto, China, Hong Kong & Taiwan Rights & Brands Asia Limited 21/F Cornell Center, 50Wing Tai Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong Contact: Bianca bianca.lee@rightsandbrands.asiaLee, Cyprus,SUB-AGENTSGreece and Romania Partner Plus Cyprus Limited 11 Bouboulinas Street, Nicosia, Cyprus Contact: Tina tina@partnerplus.grStathopoulou, Germany, France, Austria & BavariaSwitzerlandMedia GMBH Bavariafilmplatz 7, 82031 GermanyGeiselgasteig, Contact: Ivica Ivica.Maracic@bavaria-media.deMaracic, South-East Asia & Australia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Vietnam) Medialink InternationalAnimationLtd Suite 1001B, Tower I, South Seas Centre 75 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: +852 25 03 49 80 Contact: Noletta noletta@medialink.com.hkChiu, SMC,KoreaSeoul Merchandising Co, Ltd 5th Fl., Young Bldg. 19, Nambusunhwan-ro 351-gil Gangnam-gu, Seoul 06266 KOREA Contact: Jusung jusunglee@smckorea.comLee, Italy (Italy San Marino, Vatican City & Malta) Rai Com. S.P.A Via Umberto Novaro n. 18 00195 – Rome (Italy) Contact: cristina.perna@rai.itisabella.andreani@rai.it UK and Ireland The Point 1888 The Fungalow, 32 Arnolds Avenue, Hutton, Brentwood, CM13 1EU, Great Britain. Contact: Katie carrie.sharland@thepoint1888.comCarriekatie.wilkinson@thepoint1888.comWilkinson:Sharland, Eastern Europe & Russia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine) Brand4Rent Gorbunova street 2/3, office A826, Setun Plaza Moscow, Russia, 121596 Tel: +7 (495) 269 00 07 Contact: Denis info@brand4rent.rudk@brand4rent.ruKulakovand The United States of America and KingCanadaFeatures a unit of Hearst 300 West 57th Street, New York, New York 10019, USA 001 212.969.7583 Contact: Christina Nix Christina.NixLynch@hearst.comLynch, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank LDI Ltd 2 Raoul Wallenberg St., Tel Aviv, 6971901, Israel Contact: Keren Aloni-Carmeli, Keren@ldi.co.il

A license is an to else’s and right based on set

agreement for the right

name, brand

use someone

in an aspectsagencyWeagreement.area360usingallofcharacterrepresentationandbranding,frompublishingandPRtolicensing.

conditions