Interview: Jeremy Zag

Founder and CEO, ZAG

What is your focus at this year’s BLE?

ZAG is attending BLE 2022 following an incredible two years for flagship brand Miraculous™ - Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, a modern-day story of two young, magical, transforming iconic super-heroes featuring a blend of genres from action to superhero to comedy and romance; and we will also be presenting the newest series, Ghostforce™, an original comedy action series for kids and families that follows three junior high school students who form a secret team to defend their city from the ghastly ghouls haunting it.

You have had a lot of exciting announcements over the past few months – can you highlight some of them for us?

Most recently we announced the launch of ZAG Play that focuses on developing engaging stories beyond the screen into brands that inspire the new generation to discover their true character. ZAG Play includes our licensing and merchandising, promotions and gaming businesses, and a newly launched toy division, all led by Julian Zag, EVP Global Operations and Head of ZAG Play. In July we appointed Luca Bonecchi as Head of Consumer Products for ZAG Play Europe (excluding Germany and France). He has an impressive background in consumer products and character licensing, and we’re pleased to have him on board. He joins our ZAG Play licensing leaders Lisa Foster, SVP Licensing, North America, Angela Cortez, VP for LatAm, and Carlotta Caracciolo, VP, Middle East and Africa. Our gaming division is led by Elinor Schopps, VP of Games & Interactive Experiences, and Hyde Schram is Vice President, Global Promotions. The new toy division is led by Helena Perheentupa, our former Licensing VP for Central, Eastern, Northern Europe and Russia, who is tasked with creating imaginative and complementary products to those of our licensees, for example toy products that due to economies of scale, are not viable at the regional level for licensing partners, but with global retail placement, we will reach critical mass to manufacture them. Together with our partners, the new ZAG Play toy division will offer fans a wider range of inventive and original toys for fans to engage with our brands. In August we announced a new Miraculous Happy Meal promotion with McDonalds that will run across most of McDonalds 6,000+ restaurants across Europe from August to September. We’re delighted that this new promotion will feature sustainable

premiums in the form of Miraculous activity packs! We also just signed a license with Schreiber Foods for Ladybug and Cat Noir to become the first licensed characters to appear on Walmart’s Great Value Low-Fat Yogurt Smoothies. As a kids’ brand, it’s important to ZAG that we communicate positive messages to children, including the importance of healthy eating. Being healthy is crucial to their growth and we are delighted that Schreiber Foods and Walmart are harnessing the superpowers of our heroes to bring tasty and healthy treats to families across the U.S. This summer we also saw the first performances of our Miraculous Live Tour in Latin America, starting with Buenos Aires and Rosario in Argentina, and coming to Brazil in June next year. This musical theatre show will also launch in France in October, and Italy in March 2023. Other exciting new deals for Miraculous include an exclusive global deal with Emoji Company to create multiple product lines that will feature unique emoji® x Miraculous™ brand icons; a global deal with Tel Aviv based PMI for a line of collectibles, impulse, stationery, and school supplies; and a pan European deal with TCC Global as the exclusive loyalty partner. These new partners join existing global and pan-regional partners including Playmates, Ferrero, PEZ, Swatch’s Flik Flak, Epopia, Spread Group, Crayola, InSpirit Designs, and Rubies. We now have over 450 licensing partners around the globe. And we have several new global partners who we will be announcing later in the year.

What are the licensing plans around the Miraculous theatrical movie?

Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie—the origin story to the TV series will be supported amongst other initiatives by an expanded toyline from ZAG Play and Playmates; the launch of the first Miraculous Console Game, Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx, published by GameMill Entertainment for XBOX, Playstation and Nintendo Switch; a new mobile game from ZAG Games; and several co-branded partnerships to be announced very soon!

When will the toys for Ghostforce from ZAG Play and Playmates be available, and what other licensing plans do you have?

Since launching last summer in Europe on Disney EMEA, Ghostforce has been earning spectacular ratings which is translating to increased demand for branded merchandise. Rubies, BlueOcean, Panini, and Edel will bring Halloween Costumes, magazines, books and more to the market later this year in Europe. In the U.S., Ghostforce is available on Disney XD, and in Latin America, on Discovery Kids. In spring 2023, ZAG Play and Playmates will be launching the Ghostforce toy line featuring figurines of the major heroes and a collection of boo capsules, and will play on the collectivity of the ghosts.

What other projects can we expect to see from ZAG in the coming year or two?

We are in pre-production on our animated musical Melody, which I will direct, and Katy Perry will co-write and perform the songs for the film. ZAG is also ramping up production and we have the partners and facilities to make this happen, including the opening of our state-of-the-art studios in Paris this month. We recently signed an agreement with Cross Creek Pictures to co-produce ten animated, live-action and hybrid format feature film projects, all based on ZAG’s IP. One of the titles will be a Ghostforce live-action movie developed alongside Michael Gracey, the director of The Greatest Showman; and we also have Ladylion, an animated musical to be developed in collaboration with global wildlife ambassador Dean Schneider, who inspires and educates his millions of followers across the globe about the beauty and importance of our planet’s wildlife. We’ve also signed a co-production agreement with SAMG for 7 animated TV movies. ZAG and SAMG have coproduced several hit projects over the last 10 years including ZAG and ON Kids and Family’s globally popular Miraculous™ – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir; Ghostforce, Power Players and Zak Storm, and this new agreement solidifies the ongoing relationship between the two companies.