Falcon’s Beyond ties in with Melia Hotels

Above and Beyond

Cecil Magpuri, CEO, talks to us aboout the unique expansion and creation capabilities of Falcon’s Beyond.

Can you give us a brief history of Falcon’s Beyond, how it came into being, and the ethos behind the company?

Falcon’s Beyond is a leading fully integrated global entertainment development company specializing in intellectual property creation and expansion. We’re headquartered in Orlando, Florida and, since our founding in 2000, have been involved in the master planning of more than $100 billion worth of development projects, producing award-winning entertainment experiences, and creating exceptional media content and experiential technology for worldwide audiences. Now, our company is laser-focused on a mission that we believe is truly unprecedented: activating intellectual property simultaneously across all forms of consumer entertainment – media content, consumer products, and hardest of all, themed location-based entertainment, all at once. We intend to be the first to accomplish this extraordinary feat by implementing a unique 360-degree brand expander methodology to activate and grow both proprietary and partner IP concurrently across all forms of entertainment.

Tell us about the 360-Brand Expander methodology.

To transform existing, traditional IP deployment channels, Falcon’s has developed an unprecedented 360-degree IP expander methodology that enables us to partner with brands and unleash the power of physical and digital story immersion, concurrently. And, ultimately, we believe this will take fandom to a whole new level. Think of this methodology as a catalyst that activates an IP concurrently across all forms of entertainment – compressing the timeline for IP monetization. We’re quite bullish on this methodology. Renowned brands have already recognized the unique expertise we bring, and the opportunities we can deliver, and are partnering with us to ignite their IPs across the transmedia spectrum. In just the last few months, we have announced significant partnerships, including with Moonbug Entertainment to expand its CoComelon and Blippi Brands into immersive entertainment, Epic Story Media to supercharge our Katmandu brand, and BRON Studios to co-develop and coproduce various projects.

Which forms of entertainment do you cover?

With our methodology, we intend to activate IPs across ALL forms of entertainment – episodic series, films, books, video games, consumer products, themed entertainment destinations, resort experiences, and location-based attractions. Essentially, we want to help our partner brands be

everywhere a consumer can experience them. A great, real-time example of this approach is the work we are doing to expand our own Katmandu brand. Since its opening in 2007, Katmandu Park in Mallorca has introduced millions of guests to its whimsical worlds of imaginative possibilities. Now, we are reimagining this beloved IP and bringing it to life in multiple ways: as a cutting-edge new theme park in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic opening by late 2022 or early 2023; through an original AVOD/SVOD animated series; in a Roblox multi-player online game; through a collectible trading card game; and of course, through a collection of consumer products. And, in years to come, consumers will experience even more Katmandu Parks across the world. Through an exclusive joint venture with Meliá Hotels International, one of the world’s largest leisure hotel groups, Falcon’s will bring Katmandu theme parks to many other global leisure markets. It’s important to highlight that this JV with Melia gives Falcon’s a significant advantage in the IP expansion field: through it, we have unparalleled access to important real estate operated by this dominant hotel company. Subsequently, we can and will incorporate entertainment and IP into the guest experience at their high-end properties across the globe, which not only creates a game-changing paradigm, but a new category all together: resortainment.

Can you give some examples of your award-winning immersive experiences?

Falcon’s Beyond’s business segments’ list of client and IP collaborators includes Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Atlantis, Marvel, National Geographic, NASA, AT&T, Lego, Hard Rock, Formula 1, Lionsgate, Cartoon Network and Microsoft, among others. Falcon’s Beyond and Meliá Hotels International, one of the world’s leading leisure hotel companies, just announced a new resort brand, Falcon’s Resorts by Meliá, and a new entertainment destination brand, Falcon’s Beyond Destinations.

You recently announced the plans to become publicly listed in a short-time frame – what does this mean for the company going forward?

Falcon’s Beyond turns imagined worlds into reality, and we are thrilled to be partnering with the FAST II team as they join with us in this transformative transaction to become a publicly traded company. Falcon’s Beyond intends to use the funds raised in this transaction to continue to scale globally, build out the company’s brick-and-mortar experiential entertainment operations and enhance our proprietary content. The announcement represents an exciting new chapter that will enable Falcon’s Beyond to accelerate growth in its high-performing core markets, expand into new ones and rapidly deploy IP across all verticals in the global entertainment industry. Furthermore, Falcon’s Beyond also plans to continue to build upon our successful track record of delivering highly profitable theme parks, resorts and attractions with patented technologies, feature films, episodic series, consumer products, licensing and merchandising.

On July 12, 2022, Falcon’s Beyond announced its entry into a definitive merger agreement with FAST II, a special purpose acquisition company (NYSE: FZT), that is expected to result in Falcon’s Beyond becoming a publicly listed company on Nasdaq. Upon the closing of the transaction, the new combined company will be named “Falcon’s Beyond Global” and is expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FBYD.” The transaction is expected to close in either the second half of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023.

“...Creating a game-changing paradigm, and a new category all together: resortainment...”