Bento Box’s Sutikki to Open U.K. Office

LONDON/LOS ANGELES: Bento Box Entertainment has unveiled its plans for Sutikki UK, the company’s first office in Europe, which will be focused on expanding the new kids’ and family division that launched late last year.

Sutikki was co-founded by Andrew Kerr and Irene Weibel in October 2016. Former DHX Media exec Stephen Gould is on board to lead the U.K. office and serve as territory head for the U.K. and EMEA. He will initially concentrate on increasing licensing opportunities for Moon and Me. The new London-based office is expected to officially open this summer.

Before this appointment, Gould was the managing director for the U.K. and Eire at DHX Media’s CPLG, where he worked on a portfolio that included Teletubbies, In the Night Garden, Twirlywoos and Sesame Street, among other titles. Earlier in his career, he was employed by such companies as HIT Entertainment, Zodiak Entertainment, Ragdoll Worldwide and DreamWorks.

“In addition to being a fellow Ragdoll alumnus, Stephen has a raft of experience and an enviable pedigree within the licensing industry, and I am honored that he will be joining our growing team,” said Kerr. “Sutikki was founded to be an international venture, and the opening of our first European office formalizes our commitment to being a full-service, worldwide business less than six months from our launch.”

Gould added: “I am thrilled to have joined Sutikki at the start of this exciting new enterprise. When I was approached by Andrew Kerr about taking this position, I had four primary interests: this market, working for a company with a compelling vision, capitalizing on great capabilities and working with outstanding like-minded people. To be able to engage the licensing marketplace with a top brand like Moon and Me from Andy Davenport is both an honor and a privilege. The broad and very positive trade reaction to date has been simply phenomenal and I very much look forward to realizing the ambitions of all of the partners and stakeholders not only with Moon and Me, but also a growing portfolio of IP moving forward.”