MAGICAL HORSES COME TO LIFE WITH NEW TOYS: BELLA SARA EXPANDS INTO THE FASHION DOLL CATEGORY
Seattle, 5th May 2009 – Jakks Pacific, Inc to represent the globally established online and television girls’ property Bella Sara(tm) in the USA and Canada markets.
The new deal, brokered by Marina Lum-Kang, SVP, Brand Extensions and Marketing, North America at ITV Global Entertainment Ltd, will see Jakks Pacific, Inc, develop the brand through distribution deals with toy stores, mass market retailers, mail order companies and online outlets. The license acquired encompasses a range of products including feature plush toys, figurines, dolls, play-sets, dress-up, kites and stationery.
Created for children aged 5 to 13 years old, Bella Sara is the award winning and hugely popular international children’s entertainment property set in a magical world of horses. Originally launched in Denmark by creator Gitte Odder Braendgaard, Bella Sara inspires pro-social dialogue and thought with positive messages, with the objective of stimulating children’s imaginations through interactive play. After its introduction to the U.S. in 2007 by Hidden City Games, Inc., Bella Sara quickly expanded globally into a leading international children’s entertainment property featuring trading cards, a virtual world, toys, apparel, animation and more.
Aysha Kidwai, Director, International Merchandising and Licensing at ITV Global Entertainment commented, “The USA and Canada are significant markets with huge potential and we are delighted to partner with the team at Jakks Pacific in this deal. They have vast expertise and an impressive track record in developing a portfolio of internationally renowned products and we are confident that Bella Sara will prove as successful in this important territory as it has in other parts of the world.”
Tom Delaney, SVP Marketing at Jakks Pacific said, “We are excited to be working with the creative talents of Gitte Odder Braendgaard, Hidden City and ITV. Bella Sara is a dynamic property which brings new excitement into the Fashion Doll category.”
“We are pleased to be partnering with Jakks Pacific, Inc. to produce and extend the Bella Sara™ brand. Their impressive product lines matched with experience and expertise aligns them as an ideal partner for Bella Sara,” stated Peter Adkison, CEO of Hidden City Games.
This deal follows the recently announced partnerships for the Bella Sara property with Giochi Preziosi for pan-European distribution and Kidz Entertainment / EEMC in Nordic and CEE territories.
Editors Notes
The Bella Sara consumer product portfolio is represented worldwide by ITV Global Entertainment. The globally successful girl’s trading card product debuted in North America in 2007, which has since established itself as one of the world’s leading trading card properties, achieving sales in excess of 83+ million units worldwide.
Since its debut, Bella Sara has received awards from numerous child development and parenting authorities, including the “Seal of Approval” from the National Parenting Center, the “Toy of the Year” from Creative Child magazine, the “Excellent Product” and “Outstanding Product” designations from iParenting Media, and “Best Products” award from Dr. Toy.
Hidden City Games:
Hidden City Games, Inc., a venture-backed game publisher headquartered in Seattle, develops and markets games to interactively engage players and collectors of all ages. The company is best known as the publisher of Bella Sara a mainstream internal children’s entertainment property for children ages 5 and up. The inspirational, horse-themed trading cards and magical online world launched nationwide in the United States in March of 2007 and globally shortly after. Bella Sara, the most successful trading card product ever developed for girls, links to a safe, fun-filled virtual world for kids at BellaSara.com and has quickly expanded to books, video games, arts and crafts, games, apparel and more. CEO Peter D. Adkison formerly founded Wizards of the Coast, Inc., which created the world’s first trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, and introduced the Pokémon trading card phenomenon to North America.
ITV Global Entertainment
ITV Global Entertainment Ltd is one of the World’s leading international TV distribution, home-entertainment, publishing, merchandising and licensing businesses.
ITV Global Entertainment’s International TV Distribution operation proudly represents a world-class portfolio from ITV Studios, Granada and over 200 leading independent producers. Showcasing over 40,000 hours of critically celebrated and hugely-popular original and formatted programming, including all new Hell’s Kitchen, Come Dine with Me, Dancing on Ice, I’m a Celebrity. Get Me Out of Here!, The Colour of Money, Coronation Street, Agatha Christie’s Marple and Poirot, Morse, Prime Suspect and the highly anticipated The Prisoner.
Based in London, Cologne, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro and Sydney, ITV Global Entertainment is an integrated part of ITV Global Content, led by Lee Bartlett, Managing Director.
