W!LDBRAIN Entertainment To Extend “Battle Bears” Brand
W!LDBRAIN inks TV Deal with SkyVu to turn Battle Bears into a major television series and consumer products line.
Battle Bears To Be Showcased at World’s Largest Television Market This Weekend at MIPJR/ MIPCOM
Los Angeles, CA (October 4, 2012) – W!LDBRAIN Entertainment, a DHX Media, Ltd. company and one of the world’s foremost producers of animation and family entertainment, has signed a development deal with SkyVu Entertainment, the mobile gaming company co-founded by Ben Vu, creator of the hit mobile game franchise Battle Bears. Battle Bears has over 150,000 daily active users. The mobile games have surpassed 18 million downloads and are averaging over 100,000 new downloads every week. Rankings have hit as high as #2 on the App Store and ranks as the #1 action game and #1 adventure game in the US and over 40 other countries. Battle Bears was the first mobile game to sell its original soundtracks on iTunes and the first to sell its branded merchandise through the games.
Battle Bears is a tongue-and-cheek action comedy featuring Oliver Bear and his friends who are charged with saving the world from the Huggables, a possessed horde of enemy pink bears out to hug you to death, unless you fend them off with an arsenal of unusual artillery that includes anything from the Unicorn Horn Crossbow to the BearZooka.
“Battle Bears has enjoyed worldwide success as a mobile game,” stated Michael Polis, President, W!LDBRAIN Entertainment and EVP, Branded Entertainment & Consumer Produts, DHX Media. “Between its built in fan base and the expandable universe that lends itself to consumer products and character-driven extensions such as series, Battle Bears has the potential to become the next big boys action comedy brand,” he continued.
SkyVu Co-Founder & CEO Ben Vu originally wrote Battle Bears as a screenplay when he was an animation student at CalArts, the Walt Disney-founded film school whose alums include Oscar winning and nominated filmmakers Tim Burton, John Lasseter and Brad Bird. While working on the Oscar nominated film Coraline, Vu saw the debut of the iPhone as an opportunity for Battle Bears.
Vu adds, “Although we’ve built the brand in mobile games, millions of fans know the names of our heroes and continually ask what’s going to happen next. We look forward to partnering with W!LDBRAIN Entertainment to introduce Battle Bears into the marketplace through multiple channels.”
