41 Entertainment’s Allen Bohbot

Allen Bohbot, managing director of 41 Entertainment, tells TV Kids about taking on Skylanders Academy and the other brand-centric properties in his expanding portfolio.

In 2011, Activision Blizzard released its first Skylanders video game. Fusing console gaming with physical toys, the property has been a breakout success, notching up more than $3 billion in revenues. With that kind of brand awareness, it’s no wonder Activision wanted to extend the franchise further, setting up an in-house studio and producing the CGI-animated series Skylanders Academy, which subsequently landed on Netflix. Renewed for a third season, the show is being offered outside of the Netflix window by 41 Entertainment.

***Image***TV KIDS: How did the deal for Skylanders Academy come about?
BOHBOT: Skylanders is a property created by Activision Blizzard, the large video game company. It was released about six years ago with new technology that quickly became a multi-billion-dollar enterprise. In 2016, Activision Blizzard Studios launched Skylanders Academy as a Netflix original; season one achieved instant success and two additional seasons were commissioned. Activision Blizzard Studios was looking for a distribution partner with experience in global animation and expertise in managing a Netflix original. We understood the specs and were very excited to work with them on this major brand. We’ll be acting as exclusive global sales agent for pay TV, free TV, home entertainment and electronic sell-through (not SVOD, obviously). We will officially launch the property at MIPCOM 2017 with screenings at MIPJunior. The show is a pure comedy, brilliantly written by Eric Rogers, with a great voice cast—including Justin Long, Ashley Tisdale, Jonathan Banks and Susan Sarandon—and a $1-million-per-episode production budget! The show is already dubbed in 25 languages and we believe the property will be well received by the market.

TV KIDS: You worked with Netflix on Tarzan and Jane and Kong: King of the Apes. What has that experience been like?
BOHBOT: It’s been great. Netflix is a great partner. We launched Kong in 2016 and then Tarzan and Jane in 2017, both as originals, and both have been picked up by Netflix for second seasons.

Our relationship also led to Super Monsters, another Netflix original, which takes place at Pitchfork Pines Preschool, where the children of the world’s famous (and not-so-famous) monsters come to learn how to be the best people, and the best monsters, they can be. Drac, Cleo, Lobo, Katya, Zoe and Frankie are preschoolers with dual identities—they’re humans in the day and monsters after dark. That’s why this preschool starts each day at the end of the day. It’s adorable! So, we have three Netflix originals to date.

TV KIDS: What other new shows do you currently have in the works?
BOHBOT: We have two totally new and cool properties. Shooting Star is the story of a 13-year-old girl, Piper, struck by a sentient star while playing soccer with her friends. Her life is changed forever as she is unwittingly transformed into the supehero Shooting Star. Set in New York City, this battle of good versus evil is juxtaposed against the roller-coaster ride of adolescence as Piper has to balance her life as a junior high school student with being the hero destined to save the world—and from the “mean girls” in her school. It’s an action comedy created by the former chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios, Avi Arad, and masterfully written by Skylanders’ Eric Rogers and Josh Haber.

The Mini Musketeers follows the adventures of 6-year-olds D’artanya, Athos, Aramis and Portia years before they become the most famous heroes in all of France as the elite fighting force from which the French King Louis XIII will create the legendaryMousquetaires de la Garde. But Louis isn’t the king quite yet—when we first meet him, the young prince is a timid little 6-year-old. It’s hard to imagine how he will ever become brave enough, wise enough and confident enough to rule one of the largest empires in the world. Louis is isolated because of his position, doted on by his parents, coddled by the courtiers, spoiled by the palace staff and secretly tormented by a jealous 7-year-old named Millie, who pretends to be so sweet and nice. The pampered prince is about to get the one thing he truly needs: a group of friends to call his own.

TV KIDS: How essential is that kind of diversity for thriving in today’s competi­tive kids’ landscape?
BOHBOT: We believe that it is important to have variety and breadth as a major independent in the kids’ and family space. Some of our competitors focus on preschool, others on comedy, etc. We wanted to have a full bouquet of quality animation for all age targets. We feel that story creation and script writing are best done in the U.S.—it is really the strength of the American market. On the other hand, quality animation is now available worldwide, so we choose production partners worldwide. Our product is all CG and at the higher end of the market. It’s a mini-studio concept. That’s where we think we’re going to be more successful.

For 2017, we are thrilled with this strong multi-genre, multi-season lineup of properties that we are bringing to MIPCOM. We feel that each title is high-quality CG animation and each is in different stages of completion: one is completely produced, four are in production, and two are ready to begin production early next year. With many instantly recognizable brands and genres covering multiple needs—comedy, boys’ action, girls’ action, as well as preschool—our titles are attractive to a global linear and nonlinear marketplace.

And, of course, we have the classic PAC-MAN and the Ghostly Adventures.

TV KIDS: Are you already exploring L&M opportunities on your new shows?
BOHBOT: It depends on the property. PAC-MAN has 170 licensees and 2,000 SKUs worldwide. Kong, Tarzan and Jane and Super Monsters are just launching. Shooting Star and The Mini Musketeers are totally new. It’s case by case.