I saw a Kickstarter set for an old TV show, that brings up the question ...

How do you find licensing opportunities & contacts?
Is there a website with Intellectual Property for rent?

If I wanted to make a set based on Planet of the Apes, Logan's Run, or Manimal ... where do you even start the process of getting permission?

Just produce the product and start to advertise....Disney will tell you.

On the helpful suggestion side....might want to contact a smaller manufacturer (Monster wax, RR Parks or Unstoppable) and see what their professional suggestions may be.

There are shows where you can find available licenses -- i.e.:

https://www.licensingexpo.com/en/home.html

There are likely others as well. Otherwise you'd need to find the agent for the property you want to license.

Looks like there is also a licensing site:

https://www.licenseglobal.com/

I had to go look what licenses are setting up at the LicensingExpo. Lots of options, but many of them have been done before. Yes, I guess manufacturers have to dive deep into research.

quote:

Originally posted by make-mine-marvel:
I had to go look what licenses are setting up at the LicensingExpo. Lots of options, but many of them have been done before.

I have always assumed that some of the recurring licenses we see in entertainment cards is due to the fact that the license holder makes it easy and cost effective to license -- the they are out there trying to drum up product with their license.

Elvis comes to mind -- I'm guessing it is easy to license Elvis just based on the number of Elvis sets that have been produced.

I guess the TV Kickstarter you're talking about is ours. It's the only current Kickstarter running (until Friday the 13th) and it's for the 60th Anniversary series of Lost In Space, the Initial Adventures.

I wish I could tell you I acquired that license through a series of shrewd moves and tough negotiations, but in reality, sometimes you don't have to find the license, it finds YOU.

Monsterwax happens to be one of the two parties that records the Lost In Space podcast. It's a fully immersive, high end audio experience that deep dives into reviewing each episode of the classic TV series. (It's called Alpha Control and is on all the streaming services, as well as online at LostInSpacePodcast.com LostInSpacePodcast.com)

Anyway, it's professionally sounding enough that it grew in popularity and it caught the attention of the producers of the new Lost In Space (who also licensed the vintage series). Kevin Burns was the main guy and it turned out he listened regularly and he genuinely loved the 1960s version. So when he contacted us, we were thrilled to interview him and discuss the crossover series. (Which I thought was pretty good, even though it was completely different from the original series.)

That led to other connections that Kevin's company had, including Ron Gross, one of his licensed artists. Ron does phenomenal photo-realistic paintings of the show, and he liked the quality and philosophy behind Monsterwax cards (low mintage releases, thick card stock, detailed writing, etc.) So he contacted me and we became friends with a mutual interest in doing a card series on the best season of the show. (Before Dr. Smith became a comic character and the monsters were tamed by CBS censors. The first season was when Smith was out to murder the entire family!)

We did a first series (Lost In Space: The Art of Ron Gross) and a couple of years later, we're doing this sequel that includes the aliens, monsters, and plot lines intended in the first season, but didn't wind up getting aired.

So we wound up with the license in a roundabout way, but it's been a real pleasure working with that crew and I personally love the cards. The campaign ends next Friday 13 at midnight, so I hope those who are interested check it out before then:

Lost In Space Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...ing-cards?ref=fd6bsh

PS. New episodes of the Podcast have been on hiatus for the last couple of years, but we do have a new episode in the works and hope to get back into the groove! The old ones are still streaming, too.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: monsterwax,

Wonderful.
Thank you for the insight, and good luck!

Thanks! We're closing in on $15K (and the campaign ends Friday the 13th Dec.)