Horror is not just for Halloween

Horror... not just for Halloween!

Robert Marick, Executive Vice President Global Consumer Products and Experiences, MGM, talks BLE and the worldwide appetite for all things horror...

Firstly, can you outline the activities MGM will be revealing at BLE – and how important the show is to the company?

BLE continues to be an extremely important show for MGM and each year its importance is elevated. This year, more than ever, BLE will be critical in connecting with our existing and new licensees and retailers. Historically, we would meet with most of our EMEA customers at Licensing Show / Las Vegas, but that was not the case this past year due to Covid. So, we look forward to reconnecting with those customers in London. At BLE, MGM will be pursuing a threepronged approach in highlighting our properties. First, with our upcoming new releases, we will provide exciting new content and marketing updates for our latest franchise extensions including WEDNESDAY, CREED III and VIKINGS: VALHALA. Second, we will share franchise updates on some of our evergreen franchise programs including PINK PANTHER, MIDNITE MOVIES and SCI FI STORIES. Finally, we excited to announce a new licensing program around TEEN WOLF.

How do you maintain the popularity of all the top IPs?

MGM Studios is fortunate to have a strong property portfolio that has resonated with consumers globally. Their popularity starts with great storytelling, broad consumer appeal and compelling characters. With this strong foundation, we rely on various creative design approaches, marketing and social media support to keep our I.P. in pop-culture relevance. Whether its PINK PANTHER’S YouTube following (10 billion views and 18 million subscribers) or ROCKY’S positive DNA to keep its fans motivated during tough times, consumers around the world look up to MGM IP as a beacon of inspiration, and nostalgia they want to share with their friends and family. Our contemporary and trend-right designs also help reimagine the brand for new generations.

The world seems to be going crazy for all things horror and MGM is of course perfectly tied in to deliver this! Can you give some examples, both of IP and consumer product offerings, that are fitting into this trend?

What was once a genre that was relegated to just October, has now become a year-round business. MGM has one of the richest horror catalogues around including, CANDYMAN, POLTERGEIST, CARRIE, AMITYVILLE HORROR, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and dozens more. What triggers a horror IP to rise to the top and elevate to pop-culture status is tough to predict. I suspect that it’s the chills and emotional thrills of the film storytelling, when nurtured over time, translates to a pop-culture winner. Take for example, KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (KKFOS). Next year, the film will be celebrating its 35th anniversary, but it only found its audience five or so years ago. Each year the licensing program got bigger and bigger. Today, I am proud to say that KKFOS has a growing roster of over 26 licensees, across 10 categories. including video games, gift & novelty, costumes, locationbased entertainment and more.

And can you outline how you have done this in the US, and now the expansion into Europe?

Because each horror property can resonate to a different consumer, MGM CP has taken a portfolio approach and bundled all of its horror titles, under the MIDNITE MOVIES branding umbrella. This strategic approach has allowed us to sell, market and promote the offering under one brand instead multiple individual properties. The benefit to the consumer is that it offers them a chance to explore other horror properties that they might have forgotten. Europe is quickly catching up to the US interest with anything horror. Our European licensing partners are taking notice with our horror titles such as KKFOS and are committing now. I expect that this year year’s BLE will see a surge in horror program licensing. By this time next year, MGM will have roster of horror licensees similar to the US.

Do you find, with genres such as sci-fi and horror, that you localise licensing programs, depending on the country/region?

Only to the degree that a property resonates more in one region versus another. Within our genre programs we try to discourage property cherrypicking and instead focus on licensing the portfolio. In this case, we look to license our horror properties under MIDNITE MOVIES or our science fiction properties under SCI-FI STORIES umbrella brand and encourage licensees to take on multiple properties, they then select the ones that make the most sense for their market.