SUTIKKI ENGAGES WILDBRAIN TO GROW GLOBAL AUDIENCE FOR KUROBA! ON YOUTUBE

WildBrain has Been Selected to Execute a Growth Strategy for the Brand

LOS ANGELES AND LONDON – 10th October  2018 Sutikki, the kids and family division of Bento Box Entertainment, announced today an agreement with WildBrain, a leading digital kids’ network & studio. Under the deal, WildBrain will manage the Kuroba! YouTube channel globally, excluding China.

Kuroba! is a new, proprietary and patented toy-based brand that recently launched at retail, with advertising and animated content on YouTube.  The brand targets girls between the ages of six and nine, and offers its audience a compelling toy experience that blends battle with collectability and customization – a rare combination for this demographic. Kuroba! launched a dedicated YouTube channel earlier this year (YouTube.com/Kurobaworld) to support the initial toy launch. In addition to leading global merchandising efforts for the brand, Sutikki is currently in production on additional animated adventures featuring Kuroba! Characters including Emberfox, Octoboss and Pegaplant.

Starting October 2018, WildBrain takes over the channel and rights management of Kuroba! on YouTube and will launch more than 70 minutes of animated content on the channel to develop a wider global audience for the franchise. WildBrain will be exclusively responsible for managing all Kuroba! content, developing a global audience and wider brand awareness to coincide with the release of the brand’s “rock-paper-scissors” inspired toys at U.S. Walmart locations this month. Global powerhouse Playmates Toys is the master toy partner for Kuroba! and has released a range of products based around the brand.

Jon Gisby, WildBrain Managing Director, says: “Kuroba is a compelling proposition for YouTube: a toy brand with an imaginative and exciting series of animation adventures and a customisable range of toys that creators can embrace for their own storytelling. The WildBrain team is looking forward to using its expertise in brand management on YouTube to grow the global Kuroba audience in the lead-up to Christmas.” 

The Kuroba are powerful spirits who have lived in peace and friendship for many years, bringing harmony to the world.  A mysterious mishap has upset this balance, causing the Kuroba to become mashed-up combinations of one another – unleashing mischief and mayhem upon the Earth.  Three young girls have been chosen to become “Kuroba Keepers” tasked with finding these spirits and restoring harmony back to the world.  For more information, visit kurobaworld.com

“WildBrain is the perfect partner to grow the Kuroba! experience and story worldwide,” said Sutikki Co-Founder and Executive Producer Irene Weibel. “We are excited that kids will learn more about the Kuroba! story, connect with the characters, and discover the cool competitive game play behind the brand.”

About WildBrain

WildBrain is an industry leader in the management and creation of preschool and children’s entertainment content on platforms such as YouTube, Amazon Video Direct and others. WildBrain’s branded YouTube network is one of the largest of its kind, featuring more than 110,000 videos for over 600 kids’ brands in up to 22 languages. The WildBrain network, which has over 50 million subscribers, generated over 129 billion minutes of watch time across 25 billion views, from July 2017 through June 2018. Connecting kids’ content owners with advertisers in the Advertising Video-on-Demand (AVOD) space, the WildBrain network features popular third-party brands such as Fireman Sam, Curious George, Shopkins and Ben 10, as well as much of DHX Media’s world-renowned library of 13,000 half-hours of kids’ and family content, including Peanuts, Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Caillou, Inspector Gadget, Degrassi, Yo Gabba Gabba! and many others. WildBrain Studios also specializes in the creation of new, original content for its network, such as animated and live-action shorts; toy-play and stop-motion videos; preschool counting and alphabet videos; nursery rhymes and more. WildBrain is a wholly owned subsidiary of DHX Media (TSX: DHX; NASDAQ: DHXM).

About Sutikki

Sutikki — Japanese for sticky — is the kids and family division of Bento Box Entertainment. Founded in 2016 by executives Irene Weibel and Andrew Kerr, Sutikki (sutikki.com) creates, produces, distributes and merchandises compelling content built for today’s kids aged 2-11. Sutikki believes in the power of story and its ability to drive commercial success globally. It is currently in production on its first preschool program, Moon and Me, scheduled to premiere on the BBC’s CBeebies channel and NBCUniversal’s Universal Kids later this year. It has also launched Kuroba!, a new proprietary and patented toy-based brand, at retail with Playmates Toys, with animated content available on YouTube. 

About Bento Box Entertainment

Bento Box Entertainment (BBE) is a multiple-time Emmy® award-winning entertainment content and technology company.  With studios in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Toronto, BBE produces animated comedy series for broadcast, cable and digital networks.  With creative thinking, disruptive content and innovative technology at its core, BBE is dedicated to extending its reach to new audiences via its digital, content rights, live events, merchandise, brand management and Sutikki (kids and family) business units. BBE can be followed across social media channels @bentoboxent.

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Press Contacts:

Matt Biscuiti                                                                
The Lippin Group for Sutikki (New York)         
+1-212-986-7080                                             
matt@lippingroup.com                                     

Kevin Broderick
The Lippin Group for Sutikki (Los Angeles)
+1-323-965-1990
kevin@lippingroup.com

Kate Smith
WildBrain
+44 (0) 7920 366 127
Kate.Smith@wildbrain.com