Entertainment Rights PLC (formally known as Sleepy Kids) was a British multinational mass media and entertainment
conglomerate that specialized in TV-shows and cartoons, children’s media, films, and distribution. In May 2009, the company was acquired by Boomerang Media and merged into its own subsidiary
Classic Media
Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...
.
History
Early history
In 1989, "Sleepy Kids" was founded by Martin and Vivien Schrager-Powell. It was created in order to produce ''
Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone'' (''Potsworth and Co.'' in the UK), a children's animated series. Schrager-Powell's business partner was
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
. Within months of its founding, Sleepy Kids became a public company. It produced ''
Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop
''Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop'' (known as ''Dr. Globule'' in France) is a 1994-1997 animated television series created by Tony Barnes and produced by Philippe Mounier PMMP and Fairwater Films and distributed in the UK by The Sleepy Kid ...
'' and ''
Budgie the Little Helicopter
''Budgie the Little Helicopter'' is a British animated television series, relating to a fictional helicopter and his friends, based on a series of children's books. The characters were based on the books by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. The s ...
''.
In December 1998, the company merged with
The Richard Digance Card Company, Clipper Films and Ridgeway Films, and after these mergers, the company was renamed SKD Media PLC.
In 1999, the company acquired
Siriol Productions
Calon (Welsh for 'heart') is the trading name of Mount Stuart Media Ltd., a British animation television production company based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, which primarily produced animation series in Welsh for S4C. The company was form ...
. In July, SKD purchased the Southampton-based Boom! Boom!, the property owners of the
Basil Brush
Basil Brush is a fictional red fox, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips. The character has ...
character.
Rebranding and expansion as Entertainment Rights
In October, SKD Media announced that they would acquire fellow independent business Carrington Productions International. In November, SKD announced to change their name to Entertainment Rights.
Under their new name, Entertainment Rights continued on with their expansion. Their first acquisition after the name change came in April, with the worldwide pre-sale rights to then-upcoming
GMTV
GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...
series ''
Cubeez''. In August, the company signed a co-production deal with Disney-owned
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Buena ( ) is a borough in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,603,[Barbie in the Nutcracker
''Barbie in the Nutcracker'' is a 2001 computer-animated fantasy film directed by Owen Hurley and written Linda Engelsiepen and Hilary Hinkle from a screenplay by Rob Hudnut. Featuring the voice of Kelly Sheridan as Barbie, it marked the firs ...]
'' from
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
, which was set for a Winter 2001 release. In March, The company purchased UK-based children's distributor Link Entertainment, which also included its licensing subsidiary Link Licensing. In August, the company formed a home video division named Right Entertainment and signed a $500,000 advance UK distribution deal with
Universal Pictures Video. The company also announced an international expansion for their properties but ruled out if Universal would distribute them outside the UK as well. Another purchase came in November, when stop-motion animation company
Woodland Animations
Ivor Sydney Wood (4 May 1932 – 13 October 2004) was a prolific Anglo-French' animator, director, producer and writer. He was known for his work on children's television series.
Born in Leeds to an English father and a French mother, his famil ...
, well-known for producing ''
Postman Pat
''Postman Pat'' is a British stop-motion animated television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendal ...
'' was acquired.
After the success of ''Barbie in the Nutcracker'', Mattel and Entertainment Rights agreed for a worldwide deal to distribute the second movie - ''
Barbie as Rapunzel
''Barbie as Rapunzel'' is a 2002 computer-animated fairy tale film directed by Owen Hurley. It was released to video and DVD on October 1, 2002, and made its television premiere on Nickelodeon on November 24, 2002.
The film is the second entry in ...
'', in April 2002, excluding the United States.
In 2004, Entertainment Rights acquired Tell-Tale Productions and rights to most of the in-house
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...
library from
Hallmark Entertainment
Halcyon Studios, LLC., formerly known as Sonar Entertainment, RHI Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment, Qintex Entertainment, HRI Group and Robert Halmi Inc., is an American entertainment company specializing in the production and distribution ...
.
At the end of 2004, Entertainment Rights employed 95 people. In the 2005 financial year, Entertainment Rights'
revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
was £12.4 million. The company bid for
Chorion
The chorion is the outermost fetal membrane around the embryo in mammals, birds and reptiles (amniotes). It develops from an outer fold on the surface of the yolk sac, which lies outside the zona pellucida (in mammals), known as the vitell ...
but the offer was rejected.
In 2005,
Siriol Productions
Calon (Welsh for 'heart') is the trading name of Mount Stuart Media Ltd., a British animation television production company based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, which primarily produced animation series in Welsh for S4C. The company was form ...
came under new management. The company was renamed "
Calon". Most of the rights to completed productions were kept by Entertainment Rights. In October 2005, the company expanded their ''Barbie'' licensed deal with Mattel to include three more movies.
On 11 January 2007, Entertainment Rights acquired Classic Media for (£106.9 million). Before completion, both companies announced distribution and production agreements with
Genius Products
Genius Products (also known as Genius Entertainment) was an entertainment company based in Santa Monica, California, United States.
The ''Baby Genius'' line was one of a number of "smart toys" that came out in response to a study book about the ...
.
In December 2008, the company appointed
Deborah Dugan
Deborah Dugan is an American executive who was the first female president and CEO of the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammy Awards, in 2019 and 2020. She served as the president of Disney Publishing Worldwide from 2002 to 2006, havin ...
, former president of
Disney Publishing Worldwide
Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints inclu ...
, as its CEO in North America. There had been financial instability within the company.
By January 2009, the company had dismissed one third of its employees. The company's market value decreased from £267 million in March 2007 to £5.5 million. By February 2009, six companies had requested to purchase Entertainment Rights. Also in February 2009, Entertainment Rights was fined £245,000 by the
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investmen ...
for failing to inform shareholders of "a potential $14 million earnings hit in a timely manner".
On 1 April 2009, Entertainment Rights went into voluntary
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
. On the same day,
Boomerang Media
Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...
announced it had acquired all of Entertainment Rights' subsidiaries including Entertainment Rights itself, Big Idea and Classic Media. On 11 May 2009, Boomerang Media announced that the former UK and US subsidiaries of Entertainment Rights would operate as a unified business under the name "Classic Media", while Big Idea would operate under its own name.
Boomerang Media was created by former owners of Classic Media until it was sold to Entertainment Rights in 2006.
In 2012, Classic Media was acquired by
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...
.
DreamWorks Animation was then acquired by
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
in 2016, thus
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
gaining the rights to most of Entertainment Rights' catalogue of works.
List of licensed programmes and acquisitions
Original programmes
* ''
Potsworth & Co.'' (1989-1990, as Sleepy Kids, co-produced with
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
and
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' (2000-2001, co-produced with Cubeez Ltd. and Optical Image Broadcast for GMTV)
* ''Merlin the Magical Puppy'' (2002, produced by The Little Entertainment Company)
* ''
)
** ''Postman Pat and the Greendale Rocket''
** ''Postman Pat and the Pirate Treasure''
** ''Postman Pat Clowns Around''
** ''Postman Pat's Magic Christmas''
* ''
'' (2004-2005, Series 1-2 only, produced by The Little Entertainment Company)
* ''
'' (2005-2006, Series 2 only, produced by Tell-Tale Productions, co-funded and distributed by
...