CCI Entertainment executives say that a new emphasis on licensing, digital media, and live-action drama has reinvented their organization.

The Toronto-based shop, led by CEO and co-chairman Arnie Zipursky and co-chairman Charles Falzon, is riding high on the global success of its children’s properties, in particular the animated series Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, which has become a multi-tier, multi-platform phenomenon.

The cartoon – which currently airs on channels in over 50 countries including RTP in Portugal, France 5 and E-Junior in the Middle East – has found life in books, puzzles, home furnishings, accessories and toys, sold in territories including Australia and Germany. Harry is also the subject of a theater tour produced by the U.K.’s Premier Productions, getting underway this year with more than 60 tour dates in Britain.

Canada is next on the radar, with CCI set to launch DVDs, books and toys this year in partnership with broadcaster Treehouse. Harry is a copro with the U.K.’s Collingwood O’Hare Entertainment, which handles design, while CCI manages pre- and post-production, including scripts and voices.

Falzon tells Playback the prodco wanted to take the brand to a whole new level by adding play value, extended storytelling through books, and interactivity through games.

‘We’re no longer a TV production company that went into some merchandising,’ he says. ‘Our development mindset, both creative and marketing-wise, is now simultaneously multi-level.’

The marketing veteran, who founded Catalyst Entertainment, joined forces with Zipursky (then head of Cambium Entertainment) in 2002 to create Cambium Catalyst International. He left soon thereafter, only to return to the fold a couple of years ago.

‘Even though we’ve been in business for 25 years, it feels very new…like we’re taking a lot of experience and putting it into a new company,’ says Zipursky, adding that CCI sees licensing as the ‘greatest upside’ in the business model.

The branding and licensing of its properties, which include the popular YTV series Ghost Trackers, the bug cartoon Erky Perky, and the CGI series Monster by Mistake, are also getting a boost from the company’s digital division, which has developed websites for each of the brands.

The website for Ghost Trackers – which has generated over three million hits in Canada since it launched last year – features ringtones, blogs, games and an online ghost tracker ‘training center.’

The show was also turned into an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Toronto Eaton Centre shopping mall, while talks are underway for a licence to create ‘ghost tracking’ equipment for kids.

On the live-action production front, CCI recently wrapped the $14-million Canada/China copro Iron Road, about the building of the Canadian railroad, in China and B.C.

The drama, starring Peter O’Toole, Sam Neill and Sun Li, is scheduled for feature release in Asia and Europe, and broadcast on CBC in 2008.

Iron Road is the first of seven films currently on the slate at CCI, as it looks to expand its library beyond children’s programming, according to Falzon.

‘Broadcasters come to us for quality programming and ask for new things, not just animated series. We want to be able to provide them with other options,’ he explains.

The busy 20-strong shop, which recently opened a small office in Los Angeles, headed by EVP of licensing Jennifer Bennett, is hoping to enter more creative partnerships with Canuck producers, as well as broadcasters and toy companies.

Adds Zipursky, ‘We’re always looking for new talent and for great original properties to invest in.’

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