Caution - LONG press release to follow this. My take on it is at the end.
Halifax, NS – 3 April 2017 – DHX Media (or the “Company”) (TSX: DHX.A, DHX.B, NASDAQ: DHXM), the world’s leading independent, pure-play children’s content company, has signed a deal with Cartoon Network U.S. for Mega Man, an original DHX Media co-production with Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc. (“Dentsu Entertainment”). The new series has also been picked up by DHX Media’s Family CHRGD for Canada. Based on the legendary Capcom Mega Man video game franchise, the 3D animated series goes into production this summer at DHX Media’s Vancouver studio. Man of Action Entertainment (Ben 10, Generator Rex, and the creators of the characters and team featured in Big Hero 6) will write and executive produce the series in collaboration with DHX Media and Dentsu Entertainment.
Mega Man is coming to Cartoon Network and Family CHRGD
DHX Media manages distribution and licensing rights worldwide, excluding Asia, for the new Mega Man series. Dentsu Entertainment manages distribution and licensing in Asia.
Ken Faier, Executive Producer, Content at DHX Media, said: “We are thrilled that Cartoon Network has picked up the new Mega Man series for its U.S. viewers. This deal points to the solid demand for our original kids’ content, and highlights the strength of our strategy of collaborating with leading industry peers such as Dentsu and Man of Action to refresh evergreen properties for today’s kids. Further, we believe Mega Man’s incredible heritage and proven popularity also positions the brand extremely well for longer term consumer product opportunities.”
Yuichi Kinoshita, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc., said “Mega Man is a unique and powerful character, whose positivity and youthfulness has made him beloved around the world for 30 years.”
Aimed at kids 6 to 11, as well as their parents who grew up loving the video games, the new Mega Man animated series will feature exciting new technologies and robots, as well as the introduction of Mega Man’s alter-ego, Aki Light. Aki is a normal, upbeat, schoolboy robot who has nano-core technology that allows him to transform into the mega powered super hero Mega Man! With his Mega Buster arm cannon and iconic helmet, Mega Man battles the wickedest villains Silicon City has to offer. Beloved characters, such as Mega Man’s robotic dog, Rush, will return – while new characters, like Mega Mini™ and Suna Light, will make their debut!
The Mega Man franchise is grounded in a series of video games, first launched in 1987 by Capcom, featuring battles fought by the eponymous blue robot protagonist and an ongoing cast of allies and enemies. The Mega Man multiverse has spawned over 130 video games on multiple gaming systems, selling over 31 million copies worldwide, as well as a plethora of toys, comics and collectibles. A highly rated Mega Man TV series was popular in the USA in the mid-1990s and aired on ABC Family. The new animated Mega Man series focuses on a normal, upbeat schoolboy robot, who discovers that deep within his programming lies secret protocols that can transform him into the powerful Mega Man. And, as the world’s first robotic super-hero, Mega Man must face the threats of Silicon City, while trying to preserve his secret identity and maintain a regular robot boy life.
For more information, please contact:
For DHX Media:
Investor Relations: Nancy Chan-Palmateer – Director, Investor Relations, DHX Media Ltd.
nancy.chanpalmateer@dhxmedia.com
+1 416-977-7358
Financial Media: Shaun Smith – Director, Corporate Communications, DHX Media Ltd.
shaun.smith@dhxmedia.com
+1 416-977-7230
Trade Media: Aimee Norman at DDA Blueprint PR
aimee@ddablueprint.com
+44 (0) 20 7932 9800
For Man of Action Entertainment:
Brenda Feldman
feldmanpr1@gmail.com
818-808-0000
For Cartoon Network:
Melissa Mills
Melissa.Mills@Turner.com
818-238-8252
About DHX Media
DHX Media Ltd. (www.dhxmedia.com) is the world’s leading independent, pure-play children’s content company. Owner of the world’s largest independent library of children’s content, at more than 12,500 half-hours, the Company is recognized globally for such brands as Teletubbies, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Caillou, In the Night Garden, Inspector Gadget, Make It Pop, Slugterra and the multiple award-winning Degrassi franchise. As a content producer and owner of intellectual property, DHX Media delivers shows that children love, licensing its content to major broadcasters and streaming services worldwide. Through its subsidiary, WildBrain, DHX Media also operates one of the largest networks of children’s content on YouTube. The company’s robust consumer products program generates royalties from merchandise based on its much-loved children’s brands. Headquartered in Canada, DHX Media has offices in 15 cities globally, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (DHX.A and DHX.B) and the NASDAQ Global Select Market (DHXM).
About Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc.
Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc. was formed in 2010 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Dentsu Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange, Code 4324). Dentsu Inc. is the world’s largest advertising agency, and a leading producer of Japanese animation, with approximately 55,000 full-time employees and more than 800 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. Dentsu Entertainment USA develops original animation programming and media content for domestic and international markets, and manages licensing programs for new and existing properties. Current projects include production of the new Mega Man™ animated TV series. Past projects include YO-KAI WATCH™ and LBX™ (a.k.a.” Little Battlers eXperience”), both highly successful animation, video game and toy franchises; Deltora Quest®, a 52-episode animated series airing globally, and based on the international top-selling fantasy-adventure book series of the same name; and Monsuno®, an innovative toy line and animated boys action adventure series currently airing on Nicktoons and free-to-air channels in more than 150 countries. Dentsu Entertainment USA is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, please visit www.dentsuent.com
About Man of Action Entertainment
Man of Action Entertainment are Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle, the writers’ collective behind comic’s largest franchise characters as well as original characters published by their imprint at Image Comics. Their creations include Ben 10, the $4.5 billion boys’ action franchise for which they’re executive producing a new iteration, and Generator Rex, both for Cartoon Network. Dentsu handpicked them to create, write and executive produce the all-new Mega Man series. They also launched Disney XD’s Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel’s Avengers Assemble as EXP/writers. Man of Action created the characters and team featured in Big Hero 6, Disney/Marvel’s Academy Award®-winning feature. In addition to creating successful video games, toy lines and comic books, Man of Action are the creator/producer/writers of current and upcoming feature films and live-action TV series based on their original comic books and graphic novels including I Kill Giants, Officer Downe, Kafka, The Crusades and The Great Unknown. http://manofaction.tv; http://www.Facebook.com/ManOfActionEnt; http://www.Twitter.com/ManOfActionEnt; http://instagram.com/ManOfActionENT
About Capcom
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including best-selling franchises Resident Evil ™, Street Fighter ™, Mega Man ™ and Devil May Cry ™. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Korea, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about Capcom and its products can be found at www.capcom.com or www.capcom-unity.com.
About Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is Turner’s global entertainment brand and the # 1 animation network in the U.S., offering the best in original content for kids and families with such hits as, Adventure Time, The Powerpuff Girls, Steven Universe, We Bare Bears and The Amazing World of Gumball. Seen in 192 countries and over 400 million homes, Cartoon Network inspires the next generation of creators and innovators by engaging its audience at the intersection of creativity and technology. Its award-winning pro-social initiative, Stop Bullying: Speak Up is an acknowledged and often used resource for kids and adults looking for tools that can assist in dealing with the ongoing issue of bullying.
Turner, a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, sports, animation and young adult multi-platform content for consumers around the world. Turner brands and businesses include CNN/U.S., HLN, CNN International and CNN.com, TBS, TNT, TCM, truTV, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, FilmStruck, Super Deluxe, iStreamPlanet and ELEAGUE.
Disclaimer
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” under applicable securities laws with respect to DHX Media including, without limitation, statements regarding timing of and certain other matters relating to the production of Mega Man, consumer products opportunities with respect to Mega Man, the markets and industries in which DHX Media operates, including demand for kids’ content, the business strategies and operational activities of DHX Media, and the growth and financial and operating performance of DHX Media. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on information currently available to the Company. Actual results or events may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, among other things, include delivery and scheduling risk associated with production, the Company’s ability to execute and close licensing transactions, and risk factors discussed in materials filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time including matters discussed under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Annual Information Form and annual Management Discussion and Analysis, which also form part of the Company’s annual report on Form 40-F filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.
My take on this:
It is good to see Mega Man getting a shot at a cartoon of his own in the United States, and on a major network such as Cartoon Network. I may be wrong but the last time I remember seeing Mega Man in an animated series was Captain N the Game Master in the late 80's/early 90's and that was a team effort, not a singles show.
I am all for cross pollination of successful franchises as it helps people in the other area of entertainment get to know a new franchise. Who is ready watch this?