V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 12 26 as] Secrets d’Histoire and Inside N.Y.C. Firefighters Secret Training Camp”, said Warsop. “Iconic animated series linked to Panini Group’s brand legacy in publishing and Manga comics [are]: the Naruto series and the Simon’s Cat series.” As far as future plans are concerned, Warsop said that Panini Media’s immediately focusing on the “development of franchises and series in production or pre-production with additional seasons; development of drama TV series; continued expansion in the depth of our geographic presence; launching a Panini Media Family concept including a family audience drama and animated series; and integrating our actual children’s and teen library under this new umbrella with titles like Heroes From Cozy Forest, The Orphans and The New Adventures of Poly”. Panini’s Story It all started with two brothers in Modena, Italy: Giuseppe and Benito Panini who, in 1961 created Panini, a business selling figurine cards. Soon, two other brothers, Franco and Umberto, joined the group, which became very successful selling figurines of football players. In 1988 the brothers sold the company to the Maxwell Group. In 1992, after Robert Maxwell’s financial problems and his mysterious death, Panini was acquired by two Italian companies that, in 1994, sold the company to Marvel Entertainment for $150 million. Five years later, Marvel — experiencing financial problems itself — sold the company to a group that included Panini’s senior management headed by its president, Argentinean-born Aldo Hugo Sallustro (with a 75 percent ownership) and investor Vittorio Merloni (who holds the remaining 25 percent). Before joining Panini, Sallustro was an executive with one of Merloni’s companies. The deal called for Panini’s new owners to pay Marvel $104 million, plus $15.8 million of bank debt accumulated by Panini (the balance of $11.2 million was paid by Marvel), thus relieving Marvel of all obligations. Under the new ownership, Panini embarked on a series of acquisitions in the U.S. that brought an exclusive license to produce NBA (basketball) trading cards (2009); the Texas-based Donruss, which came with NFL (American football) trading cards licenses (2009) and the NHL (hockey) license (2010). Also in 2010, Panini acquired a license to create stickers for the upcoming London Olympic Games. Panini’s 2011 revenue was 621 million euro ($772 million). Last year, a “new kid” appeared on the content block in a big way: Panini Media. The “kid,” however, looked too old to be either a “kid” or “new.” Indeed, those not-too-familiar with licensing and merchandising soon discovered that the “kid” was almost 50 years old and already had an impressive program library being marketed under its label, The Licensing Machine (TLM)/Panini Media. VideoAge asked Kent, U.K.-based TLM director, Peter J. Warsop, to finally introduce Panini’s film and TV activities to the international entertainment industry and tell us when Panini entered the film-TV content business and why. “Panini will regularly buy franchise rights for collectables and publishing covering the whole world or perhaps for a region,” said Warsop. “As such we would sometimes find that in some countries the franchise would be too underexposed for us to launch our mass market products successfully. Faced with this scenario we had the choice of either not launching everywhere or helping to create the right level of awareness of the franchise ourselves. The latter option was one we took on our shoulders occasionally and this would often mean finding the right broadcaster to air the program around which we could build a program of activity. “Around seven years ago we were recognized as a company that was developing new areas and were encouraged to consider representing media and merchandise rights, particularly in Europe for some Japanese principals. To do justice to this new area of business, Panini quickly realized it would be necessary to specialize and operate through a separate division, which was immediately set up and now operates under the name of ‘The Licensing Machine’ — an agency specializing in media, merchandise and interactive rights. Naruto was one of the very first TV series to be represented. The popular Japanese animation series is still doing extremely well; we are now preparing to sell the ninth series.” Warsop also explained Panini’s traditional activities. “The business has been evolving for the last 50 years but has not, previously, strayed far beyond our principal activity of printed entertainment products,” he said. “As we see more and more interactive media opportunities, both stand-alone and those that support and promote our printed products, it is a natural progression to see Panini now involved in all areas of the multimedia world. Collectables, such as sticker albums, trading cards and trading card games are a favorite pastime and source of reference for both juveniles and adults all around the world and we are actively involved in over 100 territories as the global brand leader within the product category. Collectables put us in touch with millions of consumers, creating a warm and interactive association. Add to this our considerable in-depth marketing activities where we have built a close working relationship with many broadcasters and media specialists and we are feeling most comfortable within the media sector.” Warsop then explained how Panini is structured: “The Panini Group is privately owned and its management holds the significant balance of equity. The head office is based in Modena, Italy, where many central services are provided. The main thrusts of Panini’s operations are orchestrated through a network of subsidiary companies, 100 percent owned by the group. “There are 13 of them situated in most of Panini’s key markets and they perform the key disciplines of sales, marketing and distribution in their own and surrounding territories. A team of regional and area managers look after the others,” he said. “Panini Media is a department within The Licensing Machine, the group’s licensing agency, which has the task of servicing the needs of our principals in getting their programs aired on various platforms within the multimedia world. Panini Media has offices in Modena and the U.K., and sales consultants operate out of a number of territories. Panini Media’s Sales and Acquisitions manager, Bruno Zarka, works between his French office and those in Modena (management and sales and marketing services) and the U.K. (finance and technical services).” Warsop also explained that Panini Media’s main library is “comprehensively structured around drama TV series with four major focuses: Pop culture, with Metal Hurlant Chronicles; crime, with Jordskott; high concept drama, with Signs and historical costume stories, with a new series to be revealed at the upcoming MIPCOM 2012. “[As per] documentary drama and history formats, [they’re] structured with a partnership with Societe Europeenne de Production, one of the most recognized French producers for iconic audience leaders in primetime programs [such Panini’s TLM Has All The Ingredients for Show Biz Signs Canadian producer Michel Zgarka and French actress Yse Brisson with Panini Media’s Bruno Zarka F o c u s O n I t a l y
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