New company boasts a portfolio of 400 copyrights and more than 140 trademarks, combining dynamic characters and storylines with a market strategy that includes web series video content, AI-powered toys, animated and live-action feature movies, and seamlessly accessible augmented reality experiences.
Cutting-edge transmedia company Elf Labs has launched today with a plan to bring pioneering immersive storytelling and IP distribution to market. The company will combine dynamic storylines featuring iconic characters reimagined, state-of-the-art compression, and AI-powered production and distribution technology to target high-growth franchises in all demographics—toddlers to teens and YA to adults. To support these efforts, Elf Labs has secured top-tier talent and strategic partners, including Dreamworks alumnus Mike De Seve, branding industry titan Bernt Ullmann, and leading global technology company Cosmic Wire.
Elf Labs has assembled a portfolio of 400 copyrights and over 140 trademarks for many of the most beloved characters in history, including classic and reimagined renditions of Snow White, Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, and others. This allows the company and its partners to monetize these brands through global consumer product licensing, including books, apparel, and more. Elf Labs achieved this feat by strategically acquiring the Junior Elf book catalog, comprising 200+ titles featuring timeless characters originally published by Rand McNally. The company successfully registered character trademarks at the United States Patent and Trademark Office for over a decade.
“Elf Labs’ platform is a multi-patented system designed to incubate, develop, and launch mega IP franchises,” said David Phillips, Elf Labs’ CEO. “Combining the world's most iconic IP with captivating creative and revolutionary technology will allow Elf Labs to truly reimagine entertainment.”
Phillips assembled a team of production, marketing, and technology experts to help monetize these reimagined iconic characters for modern consumers. Elf Labs’ content partners hold 31 Emmys and credits, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Madagascar, and Shrek. Before launch, Elf Labs quietly wrote and seeded the Once Upon a Zombie series featuring Zombie Cinderella®, Zombie Rapunzel®, Zombie Tinker Bell®, Zombie Peter Pan®, and others. Although in stealth mode, the first release sold 100,000 copies and won 12 awards, including Best YA Fiction (The Purple Dragonfly Award) and Best Juvenile Fiction (The President's Award).
“A creative production is only as good as its storyline, and the all-star roster of characters that Elf Labs secured has provided my team with an incredible jumping-off point,” said Mike De Seve, founder of Baboon Animation, a globally renowned animation and screenwriting collective. “I am excited to partner with David and the team to bring innovative content to life across many mediums.”
Elf Labs also offers an integrated approach to IP distribution with the help of its technology partner, Cosmic Wire. Combining state-of-the-art technology and next-generation content production, the partnership allows the two media companies to bridge the physical and digital realms, creating innovative spatial worlds where audiences interact with beloved characters through seamless AR/VR experiences accessible on any device with an internet connection. Cosmic Wire also has an integrated marketing engine to democratize its characters and stories across millions of channels.
“Cosmic Wire’s technology allows for a whole new level of immersion into IP, unlike anything that has existed before,” said Jerad Finck, CEO/Founder of Cosmic Wire. “Elf Labs’ willingness to push the boundaries creatively and experientially makes them the perfect partner for us to co-create a groundbreaking transmedia storytelling experience.”
Elf Labs’ go-to-market strategy includes web series video content, AI-powered toys, animated and live-action feature movies, and seamlessly accessible augmented reality experiences. The company’s latest original series, RoboStars™, presents a new type of hero that artfully utilizes robots like Robo Cinderella and Robo Pinocchio as a metaphor for free will, inspiring kids with the power to reject robotic reactions to internal and external challenges because we all possess the power to create proactive, positive change. Guided by Ullmann’s decades of experience helping celebrity business leaders build their brands, Elf Labs plans to execute licensing deals around its expanded character offerings to drive merchandise revenue.
“I have coordinated thousands of licensing deals and have never been as excited as I am to join the Elf Labs team due to the enormous growth potential for its IP,” says Ullmann, Head of Licensing. “With access to some of the most monetizable character brands in history, the possibilities are endless.”
Source: Elf Labs
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
