New Orleans: Nelvana has named Sidney A. Kaufman executive vp worldwide marketing for Nelvana Communications, the Toronto-based company’s u.s. subsidiary.
Kaufman joins Nelvana from Total Licensing Services, a full-service licensing and merchandising company which he founded in 1994. He will continue to represent selected tls properties in his new role with Nelvana.
In other Nelvana news, with its latest $34-million stock issue expected to close on or around Feb. 4 (with gross proceeds to Nelvana of $32 million), new capital is expected to be channeled into new business and library acquisitions which could well play into its Saturday morning deal with cbs.
The agreement – a two-year contract that has Nelvana producing six animated series for the u.s. network’s 1998 fall schedule – left many industry execs asking what Nelvana had to give up to secure the position, questioning whether cbs would maximize its promotion capability, and speculating that the deal came complete with risk for the Canadian production company.
Toper Taylor, president of Nelvana Communications, admits the licence fee derived from the deal is on the low end of expectations, but says the ancillary benefits will generate exposure and long-term revenue streams.
Nelvana is handling the merchandising on the cbs shows. Besides owning a piece of international sales, cbs is a 50-50 partner in revenue from all sources based in the u.s., which therefore provides the incentive for the network to leverage the programming.
Increased profile and a guaranteed broadcast block in the u.s. are also key for Nelvana in the deal, Taylor adds.
‘The reception we’ve received already is extraordinary. It increases our visibility as a primary player in the kids’ business and each day that goes by, the risk becomes less substantial. The world market is responding to help a Canadian company succeed in the u.s. It puts us into an extraordinary position to increase reach into all areas of the kids’ business.’
The acquisition of related business proposed in the equity financing announcement may include everything from new video distribution businesses to merchandising entities.
As for the acquisition of properties, high-concept animation is the focus, preschool to adult. Currently 90% of Nelvana’s development is based on either North American or u.k. literary properties.
The cbs purchase consists of 78 episodes of Franklin, Anatole, The Dumb Bunnies, From the Files of the Flying Rhinoceros, Guardians of the Legend and Birdz. According to Taylor, the average budget per episode in the six-pack is us$350,000