Last year’s License This! winner, Rosie Brooks, discusses her plans for the Festival of Licensing in this exclusive interview excerpt.
What you’ll be showcasing at the Festival?Â
Exhibiting under my own name Rosie Brooks, I will be showcasing my new IP ‘The Spoon is in the Lid’ a brand of original content created over the last five years celebrating the characters and plots of the world’s greatest operas and ballets.
There are Kings, Queens, dragons, princesses, mermaids and ghosts – the opera The Flying Dutchman even has a band of zombie pirates, what is not to love about that! I’ve always sought to fill this gap in the market with my illustrations and have been thrilled how keen many of the world’s opera houses I have spoken to can’t wait to stock my brand in their gift shops as all the prestigious venues share the same issue, that there is very little available either for children – or in the fun giftware category celebrating this subject matter – until now! I have created a huge library of illustrations of the top fifty titles and this is growing every day, I just can’t wait to speak to lots of amazing prospective licensees to turn the content into fabulous products!
The Spoon in the Lid also offers many opportunities for collaboration as many opera and ballet companies are looking at new and innovative ways to reach their audiences. I have just launched a range of operatic and musical greetings cards on sale with the card company Holy Mackerel, which are already selling extremely well online.
Do you have any announcements that we can share?
I am thrilled to announce my new partnership with the wonderful Licensing Agent ‘This is Iris’. We are absolutely buzzing with ideas! We can’t wait for the Virtual Licensing Fair to begin!
Is this the first time you’ll be exhibiting at ‘BLE’?Â
This is the first year I will be exhibiting with my new brand The Spoon is in the Lid. I was extremely lucky to win last year’s License This! Prize at Brand Licensing Europe and the opportunity to exhibit this year was a major part of the prize. I am hoping the transition to Virtual Licensing Festival will allow me to reach even further afield, especially as I am an ambassador for the Department of International’s Trade Creativity is Great campaign and my brand, celebrating the theatrical performing arts has a uniquely global audience. It has been great fun preparing for the Virtual Licensing Festival, I am really looking forward to the event itself. For more information on the Festival of Licensing visit www.thegloballicensinggroup.com/en/home.html
