Total Licensing Winter 2007 - (Page 61)
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LICENSING CHAPMAN ENTERTAINMENT When Keith Chapman Creative Director first
started creating characters, he had the dream of following in the footsteps
of Walt Disney and creating his own world famous characters. He achieved
this with the origination of Bob the Builder which has become one of the
biggest pre-school properties in recent times. Bob’s success has allowed
him to concentrate on creating characters full-time. Greg Lynn Managing
Director and Executve Producer , a long-time friend of Keith’s suggested
forming their own company as a vehicle to promote Keith’s other ideas and
creations. The third director is Andrew Haydon Financial and Commercial
Director , who was also a friend for years. Chapman Entertainment was
formed in 2002, with the express aim of promoting the girl’s pre-school
property Fifi and the Flowertots. Keith explained that Fifi presented
itself almost as a brief. As an idea generator with an advertising
background, he looks for gaps in the market, and solutions to those gaps.
He had created Bob the Builder which was enjoying tremendous success but
saw no equivalent for girls. Keith wanted to invent a solution, he then
came up with the universal symbol of the flower and it all grew from
there! Fifi and the Flowertots is a stop-frame animation series which
premiered on Five’s Milkshake and Nick Jr. in May 2005. It is now a
global success, the series has been sold to over 150 territories, and in
the UK, 5 million products have been sold. Several licensing deals have
recently been signed for the property in the UK and internationally. In
November 2006, Fifi and the Flowertots was the number two pre-school
license. Roary the Racing Car is Chapman Entertainment’s second project.
This also grew from what Keith saw as a gap in the market although this
property was not designed by him, it was designed by Dave Jenkins who
presented Keith with rough drawings of the property originally Reilly the
Racing Car . Keith recognised it as a strong idea with great potential and
set about developing it. Pixar’s Cars had been out, as had The Fast and
the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift, the car theme is also massive in the toy arena
but until now, un-tapped by the television or preschool market. Roary the
Racing Car is a mixture of stop-frame animation and CGI which has the
ability to create a sense of speed. As with Fifi, it blends humour with
education and moralistic messages. The voice talent of comedian Peter Kay
adds an extra edge of humour to the series. The pre-school series is due
to premiere in the UK in Spring this year on Five’s Milkshake! and Nick
Jr. Roary made his licensing debut at the New York Licensing Show in June
2006. Val Fry - previously VP of Licensing for Thomas the Tank Engine, a
post held for 12 years - was hired to develop the licensing program for
Roary, just prior to the June show. Toys and publishing are planned for a
Summer/Autumn roll-out and a DVD release is due for Autumn. Also in the
pipeline is a pre-Christmas 2007 clothing line, with more releases planned
for 2008. In carefully spacing product releases, Chapman Entertainment aim
to make Roary an evergreen property, following in the footsteps of Bob and
Fifi. As well as filling a gap in the marketplace, Roary also filled a gap
in the company which can now boast a preschool property for both boys and
girls. The next step for Chapman Entertainment as seen by the directors is
to develop a live-action property and a property for the older demographic.
Sugarfoot is the solution they have devised for the latter gap. Sugarfoot
has already been taken to Mipcom and was well received. Greg described the
property as falling somewhere between The Simpson’s and South Park,
something for the adults. Keith Chapman clearly has an eye for a gap and a
magic touch when it comes to developing properties. He attributes this to a
few factors, he emphasises the design of the character is crucial, needing
appealing and complementary colours. He is also very strict with toy
companies about colour schemes to ensure full continuity from series to
product lines. Keith ensures that he remains heavily involved in all
stages of development. The confidence gained from Fifi’s success, has
allowed Chapman Entertainment to make the move to produce Roary in-house.
As explained by the directors, this is an ideal business aim, to become
more self-contained. Agents are still needed globally and Target will
still be in charge of TV distribution for the properties. A company which
started in 2002 and hired its first employee in 2004, Chapman
Entertainment is now a company of fourteen. In December 2006, they moved
from their offices in Wimbledon, consisting of 906 square foot to a new
office in Putney covering 5,000 square foot. With expansion, both of the
workforce and the portfolio, and the aim to create more evergreen
properties, Chapman Entertainment seems set for a bright future. The
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Total Licensing Winter 2007
Total Licensing Winter 2007
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