Key new licensing partners on board

Leading family entertainment producer and distributor Chorion is further expanding the reach of its hit pre-school property OLIVIA, appointing two new licensing agents in Latin America. Tycoon Enterprises will represent the licensing and merchandising rights to the property in Mexico, Central America (Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama), Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Peru and the Caribbean Islands; while IMC (International Merchandising Consultants) will be covering Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. The 3D CGI animated children’s television series based on the award-winning, best-selling book series by Ian Falconer has launched strongly on Nickelodeon (US), Treehouse (CN), Five in the UK, ABC Australia and TF1 France and the 52 x 11-minute animated series will air on over 120 top broadcasters around the world by the end of this year.

Chorion is building OLIVIA into a global franchise, developing the licensing and merchandising base of the property and Spin Master is already on board as global master toy partner developing a wide range of pre-school toys for rollout in autumn 2010. Simon & Schuster, publisher of the original books is on board in the US and UK for TV tie-in books which debut in the US this fall.

OLIVIA is currently on air throughout Latin America on The Disney Channel and both agents will be representing the TV tie-in product for the brand.

Robert Traub, SVP, Licensing the Americas at Chorion says: “OLIVIA is proving to be a successful show in Latin America and we are thrilled to bring on board both Tycoon and IMC who have a great track record in the region. We look forward to working closely with them to develop OLIVIA consumer products for these territories.”

Dalia Benbassat VP of Corporate Relations at Tycoon Enterprises comments: “We are delighted to be working with such charismatic young girl!! Olivia is a promising young star and we are sure Latin American audiences will quickly take to her!”

Leonardo Gutter, Owner/President of IMC adds: “We feel very proud to be working on the OLIVIA license. The property has the charisma, the sympathy and the appropriate message to capture the imaginations of the children in our region.”

OLIVIA is animated by the Academy Award® nominated company Brown Bag Films. It is executive produced by Chorion’s Diana Manson and Kurt Mueller, and Brown Bag Films’ Cathal Gaffney.

Olivia is today’s girl. She is a 6 ¾ old dynamo who believes she can do anything and sees every day as an opportunity to try new things. Her vivid imagination takes her on grand adventures, both real and fantasy, and like all children, her antics occasionally result in endearing misadventures. Olivia’s confidence and positive nature inspires kids everywhere to think boldly and follow their dreams.