Professional Agents Enhance Success

Back to Hong Kong Licensing Guide Main Menu continue In Asia, licensing agents play key roles as middlemen managing relations between licensors and licensees, says Dave Sharat of Hong Kong-based licensing agent Animation Int'l Ltd. The Japanese-owned company represents leading Japanese Anime studios producing TV Anime programmes on an integrated platform throughout Asia. "We secure the programme rights and other rights and market them around the region," says Sharat. Animation Int'l is an exclusive licensing agent with a market share of more than 75% of all Japanese Anime rights, related merchandise, publications, music and promotional rights. "We have around 300-odd licensees in Asia, three master licensees in Latin America and one in Europe," Sharat says. Programme rights are used to 'seed' characters in a particular market, followed by TV stations airing the programme/series. "About 6-8 months later, we roll out the other synergies such as merchandising, publications and strategic promotions," he says. Licenses are generally granted for 1-2 years, with renewal options to give partners a sense of commitment to the property. Animation Int'l specializes in Japanese Anime properties. "This is our unique selling proposition. We are a Japanese-owned company and the majority of Japanese studios are content to be represented by us in a manner that best suits their interests and priorities," Sharat says.   Licensing agents play key roles as middlemen between licensors and licensees and help to find common ground before arranging suitable contracts.     Back to Hong Kong Licensing Guide Main Menu continue