Maurizio Distefano the evolution of Licensing to develop licensing programme as second film announced
Maurizio Distefano the evolution of Licensing (MD Licensing) has been appointed by The Copyrights Group to manage the licensing programme in Italy for Paddington Bear, the internationally loved children’s character and brand.
Paddington has appeared in numerous books and television adaptations and in November 2014 the first full-length Paddington film was released to huge critical and commercial success. Part of a franchise, the second film will be released in December 2017 much to the delight of parents and children alike.
With his old hat, duffel coat, battered suitcase and his love of marmalade sandwiches, Paddington is a classic and enduring character. Friendly, well-meaning and kind, Paddington has an unfortunate habit of getting into trouble despite his best efforts. Arriving from Peru at London’s Paddington station, where he was found, adopted and named by the Brown family, the first story ‘A Bear Called Paddington’ was published in 1958. Since then, British-born writer Michael Bond has been delighting children and families all over the world with his stories about Paddington for almost 60 years. Today, more than 150 titles are dedicated to his adventures and have been translated into 40 different languages, selling more than 35 million copies worldwide. With over 130 licensees signed globally, Paddington even has his own theme park in Japan!
The Paddington licensing campaign was further boosted in 2014 by a movie version starring Nicole Kidman, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters and Ben Wishaw, who voiced an amazing CGI Paddington. The film was a great success, making more than $270 million at the worldwide box office — and more than $6 million in Italy alone. In 2015 Paddington was ranked fourth in the 100 most influential brands of the year.
With a second film planned for release in Christmas 2017, featuring Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson in another strong cast, brand awareness is expected to be further boosted. MD Licensing is planning a wide-ranging licensing campaign in Italy focused on toys, gifts, games, confectionery, plush and much more.
Maurizio Distefano, President MD the evolution of Licensing, commented: “Paddington is a much-loved children’s brand whose many fans worldwide, love his friendly manner and adventures. With the film sequel on its way, we expect brand awareness to be stronger than ever in the Italian market in the coming year and the Paddington brand to be more successful than ever among licensees and at retail.”
Polly Emery, Brand and Marketing Director at The Copyrights Group, added: “”We are thrilled to be partnering with MD Licensing, to build the Paddington brand in Italy. Together with publishing partner Mondadori and Eagle, who will be distributing the Paddington movie, we are looking forward to seeing exciting activity for Paddington in Italy..”
Editors Notes
About Paddington:
For almost 60 years, British-born writer Michael Bond has been entertaining children and families all over the world with his stories about Paddington, the bear from Darkest Peru famous for his love of marmalade. Since the first book, A Bear Called Paddington, was published by HarperCollins in 1958, a further 13 full-length novels and countless other formats have been published. Paddington’s adventures have been adapted several times for television and at the end of 2014 Paddington made his debut onto the big screen. A second Paddington movie, Paddington 2, is set to launch on the 10th November, 2017 in the UK. In recognition of Paddington’s extraordinary popularity and success, Michael Bond was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from the Queen for services to children’s literature in 1997 and a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2015.
Today, there are over 150 book titles available in 40 languages and in more than 100 countries, book sales are in excess of 35 million. The PADDINGTON DVD released in 2015 was the fastest and strongest selling DVD of 2015 in the UK. Paddington has a growing online presence with over 600 thousand Facebook fans and over 20 thousand Twitter followers.
In 2016 the Paddington brand was purchased by Studiocanal, part of the Vivendi group.
Follow Paddington on Twitter at @paddingtonbear Like Paddington’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PaddingtonBear/
Paddington Bear™ © Paddington and Co Ltd/Studiocanal S.A. 2016 Licensed on behalf of Studiocanal S.A. by Copyrights Group
For further information please contact :
Jane Garner & Suzy Wyld
jgarner@kilog.co.uk / swyld@kilog.co.uk
For further information please contact :
Jane Garner & Suzy Wyld
jgarner@kilog.co.uk / swyld@kilog.co.uk
kilogrammedia
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brent pelham
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For more information on Paddington and The Copyrights Group, please contact Polly Emery, Brand and Marketing Director on:
t +44 (0) 203 714 1181