The Expanding World of Vlad & Niki

“Vlad & Niki” is an imaginative, live-action preschool YouTube series, showcasing the everyday comedic antics of two young brothers, starring eight-old Vlad Vashketov and six-year-old Niki Vashketov, along with the help of their humorous mother Victoria Vashketova. “Vlad & Niki” have more than 236+ million subscribers worldwide, with 78+ million subscribers on their English Channel. They have received more than 135+ billion total views. In Australia and New Zealand they capture an average of 19+ million monthly views The streaming short-form content is packed with non-stop adventures, creativity and tons of fun. Localized on 21 channels and translated into 18 languages, the key preschool learning themes for “Vlad & Niki” include family fun, discovery play, home adventures, indoor and outdoor fun and games, singing and dancing. The inspiration for the series began when Vlad noticed the antics of other kids while watching YouTube, and wanted to make a video of his own. The Vashketov family began recording and uploading videos of the boys during their free time on the weekends in their home. As their popularity grew, so did the families’ creativity. Each episode is produced with an innovative mix of live action, animation and music to create comedic videos that capture the attention of the preschool demographic. Their one-yearold brother Christian often gueststars in the episodes. “Vlad & Niki” continues to be well received by critics as well as the public as the dynamic duo captured three more prestigious awards in 2021, including being named ‘Best Web Series for Kids’ by the National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA); winning the Shorty Awards honor for ‘Best Influencers & Celebrity YouTube Campaign’ and the 42nd Annual Telly Awards’ ‘Bronze Winner in the Gen-

eral Children’s Online.’ Those were added to earlier recognition from the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences’ 10th Annual Lovie Awards ‘Outstanding Work Shortlist’ category. The two young brothers have received numerous YouTube Creative Awards, commonly known as Play Buttons, including a Ruby Play Button for 50 million subscribers; three Diamond Ruby Play Buttons for 10 million subscribers; 16 Gold Ruby Play Buttons for a million subscribers; and 16 Silver Ruby Play Buttons for one hundred thousand subscribers. In recent news, WarnerMedia Kids & Family acquired the Vlad & Niki library to begin streaming on HBO Max’s Cartoonito in March 2022. In addition, mobile apps have surpassed more than 100,000,000 downloads. On the licensing side, a deal with Playmates Toys includes more than 15 SKUs and Zuru Toys will produce 2 SKUs. Vlad is the rambunctious, adventurous and competitive older brother who enjoys playing soccer, kickboxing, and water sports. A natural performer, Vlad is obsessed with animals and, when not in school, he spends his free time hip hop dancing and singing to his favorite performers including Maroon 5 and Imagine Dragons. Vlad is in second grade and speaks English and Russian. Niki is the precocious younger brother who loves traveling, fashion, singing, dancing, painting and being creative. In his free time he enjoys do-it-yourself projects, arts and crafts, cooking and baking - pies are his favorite. Niki is in kindergarten and speaks English and Russian. Victoria is the fun-loving mother whose lively personality is essential to the “Vlad & Niki” storytelling. The mother of three began her career performing as a competitive gymnast in Russia. She had a reputation for being the lively, expressive gymnast showcasing her exuberant personality during competition. The “Vlad & Niki” video-streaming property is created, written and produced by Sergey, the boys’ father, and his wife Victoria. Before garnering viral global attention, Sergey was a successful salesman and applied his skills to help create a worldwide brand that includes international licensing deals and brand integration. Vlad & Niki brand-new toys and playsets created by Zuru Toys and Playmates Toys are available in retailers such as Target, Walmart, Amazon and Smyths in Europe. Fans can become fully immersive with “Vlad & Niki” on their website https://vladandniki. com where consumers will be able to watch videos, play games and purchase exclusive merchandise including apparel, accessories, drinkware and home goods. Vlad and Niki are encouraging preschoolers to learn and engage in exciting adventures with 12 mobile application games for Android and IOS. Their games, which have 100,000,000 downloads feature music, funny animations, entertaining challenges and adorable characters. The family now resides in Miami, Florida. For more information visit Vlad & Niki on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/ vladandniki

2021 Awards

• Vlad & Niki and Zuru won the silver prize in Toy Shop’s

UK’s 2021 Independent Toy Awards Silver Prize in ‘License of the Year’ category

• Shorty Awards 2021 - won “Best Influencer & Celebrity

YouTube Campaign”

• National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA) 2021 Awards – awarded “Best Web Series for Kids”

• 42nd Annual Telly Awards - won “Bronze Winner in the

General Children’s Online” category

• 11th Annual Streamy Awards - received a nomination for

“Best Influencer Campaign”

Paddles, the lovable polar bear cub accidentally delivered by the Stork to a frozen River Shannon in Ireland, has now found himself even further from home: in Australia! State-of-the art animation and media company FuturumKids, whose delightful new CGI show for four-to-sevenyear-olds, Paddles, has launched in a number of markets, has announced its arrival in its first major market outside Europe with a deal to show Paddles on the Stan streaming service in Australia. Stan is a video-on-demand subscription service that provides its customers with access to a wide range of movies, television programmes, sports and other audio-visual content. This includes original productions and high-quality acquisitions, notably in children’s programming, where Stan is has been building a strong portfolio of quality kids’ content. Paddles, FuturumKid’s premium series, certainly fits that bill. With its emphasis on programming quality and wide availability on multiple devices, Stan has the fastest subscription growth rate of any streaming service in Australia. The show will launch on the Australian network in the autumn boosting the fast-growing presence of the lovable polar bear in multiple markets. The deal was brokered by brand management company Monster Entertainment, which last year signed a global distribution deal for Paddles. Monster Entertainment will focus on bringing Paddles to new territories around the world, except Korea, which will be managed by local company Neon. Paddles, a charming, exciting and very funny 52 x 11 series, tells the story of a polar bear cub that accidentally finds itself in Ireland – and is brought up by a pack of Irish wolfhounds. Through the adventures, mistakes and discoveries of its funny and huggable star, and his friends Bracken, Bridie and Fagan, Paddles shows its young audience that being different is something to be celebrated and enjoyed. This appointment is the latest stage in the broadcast and merchandising development of Paddles, whose makers include members of the team behind the seven-time Emmy-award-winning children’s series Jakers! FuturumKids also contains senior figures from HIT Entertainment and its global franchises Bob the Builder, Barney and Thomas and Friends. Paddles has already been sold to Cartoonito UK and launched on Ireland’s RTE with more major broadcast deals imminent. The Futurum team will be building on this success at MIPTV, where it expects to see strong interest in the show, which is also making inroads into the licensing arena. In fact as well as distribution deals with Monster and Neon, an e-commerce venture for plush is in the works, with a merchandising strategy already in place. This is led by Niall Watters, formerly Head of Brand Partnerships at ChannelSight, a leading e-commerce intelligence and performance optimisation platform. He is now Head of Commercial at Futurum Group and building a merchandising strategy that will start by bringing specially developed Paddles plush and other items to market at the same time as the show launches in a number of countries. In fact the first range of Paddles licensing and merchandising products is already on the way and a number of other deals are to be announced in the runup to MIPTV. Brendan Kelly, Head of Sales at FuturumKids, says: “There’s always a very strong demand for pre-school entertainment but it takes something special to attract the attention of a streaming service like Stan, which is focusing on building a portfolio of quality kids’ shows. We believe Paddles’ perfectly fits this aim and are thrilled that Monster Entertainment has brokered this deal with a leading name in Australia’s VoD market.”

With more than 25 offices around the world, IMG represents some of the world’s most prestigious corporate trademarks and institutions, sports brands, teams and federations, fashion labels, lifestyle, media, and entertainment properties, as well as major personalities. In Australia, IMG are currently promoting three key collaborations – Been Trill x Culture Kings; Van Gogh Museum x Anthea Crawford; and Kakeo Friends x Cotton On Group.

BEEN TRILL X CULTURE KINGS

Been Trill, the streetwear label originally founded by Matthew Williams, Virgil Abloh, Heron Preston, and Justin Saunders, has partnered with Australia’s premium streetwear retailer Culture Kings to launch an adult’s streetwear and accessories collection. The first collection launched at the end of 2021 and featured Been Trill’s bold colours, detailed embellishments, and signature styles in a collection of jackets, tracksuits, hoodies, t-shirts, bags, hats, and more. In line with Been Trill’s high graphic, youth forward vision, Culture Kings have developed a collection that builds on the label’s recognizable logos and symbols and featured cyberthemed graphics that provided bold and eccentric products in the refined streetwear space. Their second collection called “New World”, has dropped into the market as of February 2022 and features a graphic heavy range across men’s and women’s outwear, t-shirts, shorts, and accessories.

VAN GOGH MUSEUM X ANTHEA CRAWFORD

Celebrating 45 years of Australian Style, Anthea Crawford one of

Australia’s leading womenswear designers partnered with the Van Gogh Museum to launch a limited-edition autumn/ winter 2021 collection. The timeless event and occasion wear of Anthea Crawford is known for the tailoring and stylish separates that feature print, colour, and sumptuous fabrics as key brand signatures. In collaborating with the Vincent van Gogh Museum, the perfect synergy was found with Vincent van Gogh’s iconic artwork, bold colours, and recognisable creative style to produce a 19-piece collection of dresses, blouses, t-shirts, trousers, coats, and jackets. The collection was available globally online and featured in Australia’s leading department stores, David Jones, and Myer.

KAKAO FRIENDS X COTTON ON GROUP

Finally, the Australian-born fashion retailer, The Cotton On Group has partnered with the South Korean brand, Kakao Friends to launch a fun, youth focused fashion range. Launched in mid-2021 across their Singapore, Malaysia and Australia stores and eCommerce, the Cotton On collection ranges across men’s and women’s daywear, sleepwear, and accessories. Using the extensive range of Kakao Friends creative assets, Cotton On have produced a cute, quirky, and graphic driven, characterbased collection of pyjamas, slippers, sleep masks, onesies, tees, rugby tops, shirts, caps, and socks. In 2022, Cotton On have expanded Kakao Friends into their kids range and will be launching into other categories later in the year.