The Canadian Market

Nelvana is a top Canadian licensing, retail and brand marketing agency representing top Global brands in the Canadian market including Bluey, Sesame Street, Care Bears, Thomas and Friends (softlines, home, party and sporting goods), Bakugan and Beyblade, in addition to their owned brands like Babar, Max & Ruby and YTV. Nelvana has also entered the creator space, representing top YouTubers Alexandra Gater (home décor expert with a millennial following) and Lauren Toyota (vegan comfort foods) for global merchandise opportunities. Nelvana has been seeing tremendous success with the expansion of the Sesame Street brand in Canada, including developing a new line of kids vitamins with WN Pharmaceuticals that has become one of the top selling brands of kids licensed gummy vitamins in the Canadian market. They have also launched several high profile branded collaborations for adults including with Peace Collective, Retrokid and

Cakeworthy. Nelvana also recently launched a line of apparel, capitalizing on the nostalgia of top Corus-owned TV station YTV. The line of tees and hoodies by Retrokid has been a top seller, with their Video and Arcade Top 10 inspired hoodie being their number one selling hoodie of all time. In addition, Nelvana has launched a number of Care Bears collaborations in 2022 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this beloved brand, including food partnerships with ihalo Krunch, Eva’s Original Chimneys and Bunner’s Bakeshop in addition to a number of apparel collabs that were available widely across Canadian retail and online. Additionally, in Fall 2022 Nelvana partnered with Toys R Us Canada on a national in-store promotion to celebrate Share Your Care Day with Care Bears which featured national out of section merchandising, a national crafting event and localized in-store events with meet and greets from the Cheer Bear and Grumpy Bear themselves. Nelvana also launched their first creator collabs with Alexandra Gater in 2022 – their Lottie candle by Cardea Auset launched in Spring, inspired by Alexandra’s sweet kitten Lottie, and their collaboration with Ten and Co for sustainable and decorative cleaning accessories launched Fall 2022. Nelvana’s strong connections with Canada’s leading broadcasters, retailers and licensees has allowed Nelvana to become the top Canadian licensing, retail and brand marketing agency it is today, representing premium Global brands in the Canadian market including Bluey, Sesame Street, Care Bears, Thomas and Friends (softlines, home, party and sporting goods), Bakugan and Beyblade.

Boat Rocker Studios Kids & Fam-

ily division develops, produces, and monetizes a catalogue of premium live-action and animated entertainment for audiences around the world. The Canada-based Kids & Family division collaborates with Rights & Brands on multiple franchise properties. With leading in-house animation capabilities and artful storytelling through Jam Filled Entertainment (2D and 3D Animation) and an investment in Industrial Brothers (Kids & Family Animation), Boat Rocker Studios is an award-winning global provider of truly original Kids & Family content. Dino Ranch follows the action-packed adventures of the Cassidy family as they tackle life in a fantastical, “prewestoric” setting where dinosaurs still roam. As the young ranchers learn the ropes, they discover the thrill of ranch life whilst navigating the great outdoors through unpredictable challenges. This series, packed with comedy and adventure, introduces kids to problem-solving, the foundations of forging life-long friendships, strengthening family and community bonds, and taking care of animals. Broadcast partners include Disney Jr, Disney+, CBC Kids and SRC.

Guru Studio is a Canadian creativedriven entertainment company and an industry leader in animated storytelling. They are renowned for creating, developing and producing awardwinning hit shows that captivate and inspire kids and families all over the world. Guru builds unique creative partnerships that support production, financing, distribution, licensing and brand management across all platforms. In the award-winning preschool series, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, True and her best friend Bartleby the cat come to the rescue of Rainbow City’s whimsical citizens. Based on the artwork of world-renowned artists FriendsWithYou, the series has capitavated children all over the world with four seasons now available on Netflix.

True empowers both boys and girls to be mindful, courageous and respectful of all living things. Season four is now airing with a plethora of associated licensed products including toys, books, games and live shows. In recent news, Guru has announced the expansion of True and the Rainbow Kingdom with Fauna Entertainment securing new licensing and media deals for the brand in Turkey and the Balkans. Fauna Entertainment is the exclusive licensing and media distribution partner for Guru Studio’s True and the Rainbow Kingdom in Turkey and the Balkans, managing apparel, publishing, accessories, games, broadcast television, digital media, and live shows. Fauna Entertainment has placed True and the Rainbow Kingdom on Cartoon Network Turkey which will begin airing in February 2023 and on Bosnian national television Hayatovci in 2023. Alongside FreeTV placement, the Turkish YouTube channel managed by Fauna has already surpassed twenty thousand subscribers! Fauna has also secured a number of key licensing partners including Beta Kids (picture and activity books), CA Games (puzzles), Hobby Tex (bedding) and Umit Canta (backpacks) which will all be launching in 2023. True and the Rainbow Kingdom will also be hitting the road in Turkey with live musical shows scheduled as early as February 2023.

Canada’s Sinking Ship Entertainment is a globally renowned and industry leading Production, Distribution, VFX and Interactive studio specializing in children’s and family content. Since its founding in 2004, Sinking Ship has won 24 Daytime Emmy awards, including series wins for Ghostwriter (Apple TV+), Dino Dan: Trek’s Adventures (Nickelodeon), Odd Squad (PBS Kids), and Giver (ION) and was named the Most Innovative Producer at the 2021 Banff World Media Festival. With a global reputation for quality, ground-breaking original series and companion interactive experiences, Sinking Ship has produced more than 24 series and distributed to more than 200 countries across the world. Sinking Ship’s Emmy award-winning brand Dino Dana has a successful publishing program with US-based independent publisher Mango Publishing. Volumes I and II of Dino Dana’s Field Guides have been #1 best sellers in Children’s Fossil Books on Amazon, and have sold into over 15 countries worldwide. In Canada, the books are distributed by Raincoast Books. The newest addition to the program is Dino Dana’s Activity Guide, which is full of stickers, fun facts, recipes, crafts, and other activities, along with 26 new dinosaurs like the Rugops, Gallimimus, and Animantarx. The activity guide was released on Dec 6th 2022 and will be available wherever books are sold.

Calhoun Sports have been creating licensed sports apparel since 1973. NHL is their main Canadian license which they have held since 2007. The NHL is more than a licence to Calhoun, it is a partnership with changing opportunities for both parties. The license was originally granted for their specialty category of swim but has been adjusted several times to meet the needs of the NHL league giving Calhoun many new opportunities. The license was expanded to include sweat pants, and latterly their territory was expanded to include the US Market. In 2021 they developed the Surf and Skate “Brand within the Brand” at the urging of the NHL. The Surf and Skate brand includes premium sweatshirts and t shirts with a retro style. Over and above sportswear, Calhoun has maintained beverage licenses in Canada since the 1990s. Today their only beverage brand is Molson Coors. They were lucky enough to have this brand during the “I am Canadian” program in 1994 when the “rant” became the best selling t shirt in Canada. The shirt sold extremely well in both independent and mass channels. Today Molson Coors is Calhoun’s oldest license. As General Motors maintains a strong presence in Canada the GM license is important to Calhoun. Since 2007. Chevy Trucks, Camaros and Corvette

are well received brands in Canada. And so to entertainment brands. Popular culture entertainment brands are important in Canada. Although the life of these licenses is less than sports, automotive or beverage they have very strong selling cycles. Past entertainment licensed successes include GoT, SoA, TWD, Snoopy, Simpsons, Mash and Survivor. E-commerce has become the most important growth sector for the company. Calhoun maintains multiple web sites and works with Amazon as a third party vendor. Their Canadian web site exploded at the beginning of COVID and Calhoun adjusted to meet the ensuing demand. The Bay is one of Canada’s oldest

companies and biggest retailers. They have 80 stores coast to coast and dominate the department store retailer market. Calhoun is currently adding licensed shops in Bay Stores across Canada. They are currently focused on NHL products but this will change to meet new opportunities and market demand. Calhoun is celebrating 50 years as an imprint product company. They are pioneers in the early screen print industry and one of the first companies to automate this previously manual process. They operate a cut, sew, print, sublimation and embroidery factory. This supplements and sometimes repairs imported products from Asia. Currently they operate an 40,000 square foot factory and maintain an outside 10,000 square foot warehouse. Domestic production allows them to react quickly to market demand and trends. The company believes that community is important to business and they are committed to their community and the history of Niagara. Their factory facade is representative of a 19th century cotton mill and they are closely involved with their local University and community activities including Community Kids, Niagara Hospitals and Healthcare and Ukrainian Relief.

Chouette/CrackBoom! Are majoring on two key licenses for 2023 – Caillou and The Little Prince. Caillou has more than 30 years of

heritage with 92 half-hour episodes as well as special events and shortform content. In addition, a new CGI series comprising 52 x 11 minutes is in production. Chouette has signed to publish a first TV-tie in hardcover picture book in Spring based on one of the Caillou specials. There are also plans to publish a second book in the Fall. A further Caillou highlight is a collaboration with CAPSANA, an organization dedicated to helping Canadians improve their physical and mental health by making better lifestyle choices, including reducing screen time via their PAUSE campaign. They recently wrote and published an article inspired by Chouette’s book Caillou Learns About Screen Time, on the subject on helping parents teach toddlers how to use screens and technology in the healthiest way possible. Chouette have also published a Healthy Toddler series, TV Tie-In Books in the Clubhouse and Playtime series and a series of Five-Minute Goodnight stories. Caillou remains popular across the globe. Chouette’s titles have been published in more than 50 countries and 20 languages and their sales are estimated at around 15 million books! Caillou has over half a million fans on social media and about 6.4 billion views on Youtube, with numbers that keep on growing each year. April 2023 marks the 80th anniversary of the first publication of The Little Prince. More than five million copies of The Little Prince are sold each year and it is the most-translated book in the world with 500 official translations and dialects. CrackBoom! is the official licensee for books featuring The Little Prince in both English and French in North America, and they are adding titles to their Little Prince collection, including one special book bearing the 80th anniversary stamp, with a final spread containing glow-in the dark stars! Featuring Saint-Exupéry’s original artwork, the books come in various formats and concepts that are well adapted to different age groups so that more and more children all over the world can get acquainted with this classic tale and its universe. A new animated series comprising 52 x 11 minute episodes is in production and to date there are over 250 active licensees generating over $100 million annually in retail sales. CrackBoom! Books is also preparing a number of major promotional campaigns to commemorate the 80th anniversary, taking place in independent bookstores across Quebec, as well as possibly in major retail chains such as Toy’R’Us Canada (TBC) and Indigo (TBC).

NTD Apparel has spent the last 30 years working to secure pop culture’s most iconic licenses, build an offering of fashion’s most influential brands and grow their in-house labels to become the partner of choice for customers, licensors, and suppliers. With forward thinking, high-level quality garments, strategic brand acquisitions and noteworthy retail marketing initiatives, we bring apparel to life. Located in Montreal, Canada they serve the entire Canadian market and more in all aspects of apparel, sleepwear, and accessories. Some of their top licenses include Paramount, Universal, Mattel, Nintendo, Pokémon, The Grinch, Sesame Street, Carebears, Hasbro, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Sonic, Peanuts, Bravado, Epic Rights, Warner Brothers music, Colleges ( Harvard, Yale, Michigan, UNC, Florida) and more.