BLE’s License This! 2016 Finalists Revealed

LONDON: The four finalists have been announced for this year’s License This! competition, which is slated to take place at Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) next month.

The finalists are Charlotte Reed for May The Thoughts Be With You, a book of Charlotte’s thoughts and illustrations; Stuart Cox for I Like Birds, featuring bird-themed greeting cards and designs; David Lawrence Jones for Super Geek Heroes, an animation about a group of nursery school children with friendly superpowers; and Ryan Winchcombe and Chris Berntsen for Chihuahua Hiyaa, a TV series concept following five young Chihuahuas.

The final on October 13 will see the finalists present their ideas to a live audience and a panel of judges, chaired by Kelvyn Gardner, the managing director of LIMA UK. Other judges are Tom Gunn from Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products; Jane Evans from JELC; Sam Ferguson from Jazwares; Pat Reading from UU Ltd; Max Lister from Natural History Museum; Clare Piggot from Larkshead Media; and Pippa Smith from Marks & Spencer.

The winner of the competition will receive a cash prize, a fully furnished stand at next year’s BLE, a one-year LIMA membership and a ticket to the LIMA Licensing Essentials Course & Spring Fling Networking Party in May 2017.

Gardner commented: “Having received 24 entries for the contest this year, the judging panel had a difficult task. As ever, the caliber of entries was extremely high with lots of very interesting new property concepts. However, we felt the final four have strong licensing potential and we are looking forward to hearing their pitch at BLE.”