Licensing Expo 2025 will be held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, from May 20-22. The event is a global tradeshow dedicated to licensing, IP extension, and brand collaborations. It's known as the world's largest licensing trade show.
Key Details & News:
Dates: May 20-22, 2025.
Location: Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Focus: Licensing, IP extension, and brand collaborations.
Event Planner: The event planner is now open, offering enhanced digital tools and networking opportunities.
Keynote Session: Hasbro has announced their highly-anticipated keynote session, moderated by Marianne James.
Keynote Speakers: Walmart, Primark, and MINISO will be keynoting the event.
International Pavilion: This year's event introduces the International Pavilion, showcasing brands from Asia, including China, South Korea, and India.
Specialty Areas: The show floor also includes the Retail Lounge, the Cool Brands Café, and the Football and Soccer Pavilion.
Key Details & News:
Dates: May 20-22, 2025.
Location: Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Focus: Licensing, IP extension, and brand collaborations.
Event Planner: The event planner is now open, offering enhanced digital tools and networking opportunities.
Keynote Session: Hasbro has announced their highly-anticipated keynote session, moderated by Marianne James.
Keynote Speakers: Walmart, Primark, and MINISO will be keynoting the event.
International Pavilion: This year's event introduces the International Pavilion, showcasing brands from Asia, including China, South Korea, and India.
Specialty Areas: The show floor also includes the Retail Lounge, the Cool Brands Café, and the Football and Soccer Pavilion.
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FunTranscript
00:00My name is Tone Ellis de Asus and I represent Pop Culture Classroom.
00:10It's a Denver-based, non-for-profit organization.
00:13What we do is we develop classroom learning tools using pop culture media like comic books
00:18and graphic novels, and we also run the large Denver Comic Con event, Denver, Colorado,
00:24coming your way June 30th through July 2nd at the Carroll Convention Center.
00:30I may have to get together then.
00:31Yeah, most definitely.
00:32We're actually one of the top five Comic Cons in the nation.
00:35We're independent.
00:36You've got to be kidding me.
00:37Oh, seriously?
00:38Oh, I'm seriously?
00:39Absolutely.
00:40We're independent.
00:41We're family-friendly.
00:42And so if you're out in Denver in June, come out and see us.
00:46I know of shows like Longmire and they push for Western culture.
00:50Do you see more of a push now for Western comic book culture, you know what I mean?
00:54Western comic book culture?
00:55Yes, yes.
00:56In mainstream media now.
00:57Do you see like pushing more Western and Western motifs and stuff, you know what I mean?
01:01Oh, yeah.
01:02Oh, definitely, yes.
01:03You're starting to see a lot more of that.
01:05I mean, we have the superhero stuff and then we have the vampire things and all of those,
01:10of course, are being turned into movies and all kinds of neat things.
01:13So, it's the beginnings of a deep dive into that type of culture and getting out what
01:22else can, what are the possibilities.
01:24What motivates you guys to do pop culture?
01:25What motivates you to take education and make it into a building?
01:26What motivates you to use education for other purposes?
01:27Right.
01:28So, what is one of the influences that someone has to do that?
01:30Well, the organization started as an organization called Common Book Classroom and it happened when
01:40a group of self-described nerds, the comic book nerds like myself who grew up with comic
01:47books during the 80s.
01:48And it's them and a group of educators, a group of teachers.
01:52They also grew up with comic books and they said, hey, you know, indulging in this media
01:57when we were younger increased the wanting to read more, wanting to learn more about the world.
02:05Find more engagement.
02:06Find more engagement.
02:07Absolutely.
02:08It was that combination of different types of interests that Common Book Classroom came
02:12about.
02:13Okay.
02:14And then Denver Comic Con, that idea came out, you know, spontaneously, or not spontaneously,
02:19it came out at the same time as that education part of it.
02:22Because there was a need for bringing it to the classrooms, but it was also a need to showcase
02:26it in the event so the public would know more about it.
02:29And that's how that started.
02:31A few years after that, it became Pop Culture Classroom.
02:34And the reason why we changed the name is because we realized that Pop Culture is more than just
02:38comic books.
02:39It's movies.
02:40It's games.
02:41It's cosplay.
02:42It's all these different elements that we can turn into educational tools.
02:46So that's why we changed the name.
02:47From your perspective now, when you're at the License Expo, what are you trying to do with this?
02:50When you're here, what is your goal when you're at the License Expo?
02:52The goal here is kind of like investigating whatever areas we can get into.
02:55We have the classroom stuff.
02:57We have the Denver Comic Con.
02:59But it's more of an investigation of how we can increase our reach into different types of...
03:04What about gaming?
03:05Have you guys been exploring gaming?
03:06Yes, we have.
03:07Actually, we have a curriculum called Game On.
03:09It debuted last year.
03:10And it is a gaming set that teachers purchase or, for the most part, we give them a free
03:18and we hold workshops in how to use the game, Game On curriculum.
03:24But it basically uses different board game components and teaches them to the participant,
03:33the young kid, who develops their own board games.
03:36And then them and their classmates play the board games and the child, the participant,
03:44gets feedback from the board game that they created from their fellow classmates.
03:49How can they get more information about you?
03:51It's www.popcultureclassroom.org.
03:55Or you can go to Denver Comic Con dot com.
03:58Either way, I'll be there.
03:59I'll see you.
04:00Absolutely.
04:01Thank you, sir.
04:02Green?
04:03Blue?
04:04Yeah.
04:05Yes.
04:06Alright.
04:07You are a handler.
04:08You need to be out of the photo.
04:09Yep.
04:10Somebody keeps hitting my ladder.
04:13Stop.
04:14Walking around the ladder.
04:19Alright.
04:20Look right here, everybody.
04:25Right here.
04:26Let me out.
04:27Alright.
04:28On three.
04:29One, two, three.
04:30Go.
04:31Hi.
04:32My name is Dale Mathis.
04:33We are at Las Vegas Licensing Expo 2017.
04:37And right here we have...
04:40Oops, sorry.
04:41What's your company name?
04:43The company is called Hopey's World.
04:45My daughter, Hope, who's seven years old, has created her own brand.
04:49And this is it.
04:50This is great.
04:51How did that...
04:52Just walk us through.
04:53Okay.
04:54So about...
04:55About three years ago.
04:57Say hi.
04:58So about three years ago, my daughter...
05:03Well, we started noticing my daughter...
05:06her artwork and how unique it was.
05:10It was...
05:11It started...
05:12You mean different from like...
05:13Let me rephrase that.
05:14Okay.
05:15It was...
05:16It was art.
05:17By definition, art is unique.
05:18But you noticed a different feel.
05:20Right, right, right, right.
05:21So we started noticing how unique her art was.
05:23And I'm an artist myself.
05:27So I took some of her drawings and actually 3D rendered them and made them into sculptures.
05:32Okay.
05:33And so we made little sculptures, put them around the house.
05:36We thought they were cool.
05:37But then as we started speaking to Hope about her drawings, about her characters,
05:42they had little stories, little back stories about each character.
05:46So we thought, well, why don't we start making books?
05:48Why don't we make a book about it and give each character a life?
05:52A story.
05:53A story.
05:54A story.
05:55A story, yeah.
05:56And that's how it all...
05:57That's how it all manifested.
05:59So what is your goal when you're at the licensing expo?
06:02Are you saying that people, when they want licensing opportunities, are they basically
06:05trying to say, look, this is a brand that's going to grow up?
06:07Or do you see this for toys or accessories?
06:11How do you see this?
06:12We look at it as everything.
06:13We're looking at...
06:14We're looking to possibly get animation deals, toy deals.
06:19Like Mattel.
06:20Yeah.
06:21Okay.
06:22Book publishing deals.
06:23You name it.
06:24Whatever we can bring to it and make it into something is what we're looking for here at
06:29licensing expo.
06:30Can Hope say what she was inspired?
06:32What character do you like best to draw about her?
06:35Super Hope.
06:36What's that about her?
06:38She's the superhero that protects the island.
06:41The island of hope?
06:42Or is that right there?
06:44The island of Esperer.
06:45The island of Esperer.
06:46The island of Esperer.
06:47Okay.
06:48So this is...
06:49Show me the character.
06:50This is Super Hope.
06:51She looks nice.
06:52She looks really great and stuff like this.
06:54Is it fun now seeing...
06:55Able to hold and touch...
06:56Touch...
06:57Touch...
06:58Touch...
06:59Touch your drawings?
07:00Yeah.
07:01You know.
07:02What was the question?
07:03I said is it fun now to actually hold and touch her physical drawings?
07:06Oh.
07:07What he's saying to you is how does it feel to actually have the Super Hope in your hand
07:13rather than just having her on paper.
07:15Does it feel better?
07:16Is it cooler?
07:17It's cooler.
07:18Yeah.
07:19Okay.
07:20So it's cooler to have a three dimensional.
07:21Yeah.
07:22And then so from your point of view, how are you perceiving the expo for you?
07:26Is this your first time doing the expo?
07:27It's my first time doing expo.
07:28I came here last year, 2016, me and my wife just to walk the floor to get a feel of what
07:34it was because we didn't really know what it was or anything about licensing.
07:37It's huge.
07:38Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:39We've learned that over the last year.
07:41So a couple of months ago, we took the plunge.
07:46And got a booth.
07:47And got a booth.
07:48Which was pretty pricey.
07:49Had you had all of your background artwork?
07:53I mean, because obviously if you had the booth artwork, you had to go and print it up
07:56and scale it up.
07:57Had you already had that or did that help you in the process too?
08:00Actually, to be honest with you, the drawing that you see in the background, Hope actually
08:03drew that.
08:04Oh, that's great.
08:05Yeah.
08:06So what we did was we just rendered it, digitally rendered it to make it look a little more clean.
08:10Okay.
08:11For the show.
08:12But yeah, everything you see in the booth is from her.
08:13You know, from the book.
08:14She has her own book.
08:17So this is the book.
08:19Now in the book, if you look at that drawing here, this is the actual original drawing.
08:29So basically, all we did was 3D render it and make it, not 3D render it, but rendered it
08:33and digitally enhanced it and made it look a little more cleaner.
08:36But after doing that, we decided when we made the book to just actually use a Crayola
08:41drawings because it was more authentic.
08:43Actually, I saw the episode of Your Business by a JJ Ramberg show on MSNBC and there was a
08:48company that was doing an elevator pitch about taking people's children's drawings and turning
08:52them into physical books.
08:53Right.
08:54And I thought that's exactly what reminded me of what you guys are doing here with this
08:56process and stuff.
08:57But we took it to another level.
08:58Not only did we make the book, but we actually made characters, three dimensional characters.
09:04Hopefully we can get a toy line.
09:06Actually, this looks a lot like some Latin American type styling dolls.
09:11Sometimes I've seen some dolls, Dawn of the Dead type or just some of that Latino art like
09:15this.
09:16I mean, I've seen some.
09:17I've seen that you say that because Hope is actually Filipina.
09:19Okay.
09:20And there's a huge influence, a Spaniard influence on the island.
09:24I mean, in the culture, I'm sorry.
09:26Yeah.
09:27So that's probably where she kind of picked up on that.
09:28I can see it very much in the work there.
09:30It's a cultural thing.
09:31How can they get more information about you and Hope and what you guys are doing?
09:34You can visit us at hopeysworld.com.
09:37That's our website.
09:39The parent company is called Ainako.
09:42Ainako.com.
09:43Okay.
09:44Yeah.
09:45Do you want to introduce anybody?
09:46I'm sorry.
09:47This is my wife.
09:48Sometimes I see if you want to buy.
09:50I don't want to be rude.
09:52But you know, you should ask first.
09:55Right.
09:56But this is my wife, Rhea.
09:57Yeah.
09:58This is Hope's mom's.
09:59Oh, have you taken this back to the Philippines yet?
10:01Have they seen this yet?
10:03Not yet.
10:04So that's the plan.
10:06We are going to take it at Hope.
10:08But I can see a Filipino animator designed to write.
10:11Just for that market, you know, to elevate.
10:14You know what I mean?
10:15I can see you guys doing a deal for them.
10:17And then also, once you have them doing it as an animation project.
10:20Right.
10:21You know, Southeast Asia.
10:22Right.
10:23Expanding out and stuff.
10:24You know what I mean?
10:25Exactly.
10:26That is the goal.
10:27That is the goal.
10:28In the story that Hope has written, there's a lot of Filipino culture in the story.
10:33So, yeah.
10:34Definitely the roots are back home.
10:36Yes.
10:37I'm from the States.
10:38She's from the Philippines.
10:39I mean, to her, it's really, not to me, it's really right.
10:41You need to send this to Bruno Mars to have him do the soundtrack?
10:44Most definitely.
10:45Bruno, you hear us?
10:46Can you hear us?
10:47We need you, my brother.
10:48Yes.
10:49He know he fries.
10:51I will tag this.
10:53Definitely send a care package to Bruno Mars' people.
10:57You know what I mean?
10:58Definitely.
10:59Definitely.
11:00Yeah.
11:01Yeah.
11:02Yeah.
11:03Yeah.
11:04Yeah.
11:05Yeah.
11:06But if you got somebody like that on board.
11:07Because sometimes stars, they don't always have a kid vehicle and they haven't had a chance
11:10to do something like this.
11:11So, if they could get on board and put their, as a producer and say, look, could you bring
11:16this?
11:17Sometimes people on Netflix will ask, Bruno, do you have anything?
11:19Amazon will ask something like that.
11:20Right.
11:21So, with this, they could actually say, look, look, we can do a TV deal with Bruno Mars.
11:23Right.
11:24You can do all the music.
11:25Right.
11:26Or do a voice.
11:27Right.
11:28The characters and stuff like that, you know?
11:29Right.
11:30Right.
11:31Right.
11:32And then, and then promote a Filipino bride, and then, you know, and promote a cross with
11:33a bride.
11:34Right.
11:35So, reach out to Bruno.
11:36Don't be shy.
11:37Send him a package.
11:38Bruno.
11:39Don't take care of my brother.
11:40You got to send him a package, you know what I mean?
11:41Like that.
11:42He doesn't write.
11:43Call.
11:44Play date with Hope.
11:45You know what I mean?
11:46For Bruno.
11:47Yes, this is her play date.
11:48Yeah, play date.
11:49Okay.
11:50Can you tell me something?
11:52There you go on the vara.
11:53They can be forgotten.
11:54Uh, yeah.
11:55That sounds great.
11:56Yeah.
11:57Thoughts the case now, I think so.
11:58You know what, they'll get better.
11:59Go.
12:00Ms.
12:00Parliament.
12:01A vaccine.
12:02You know what, these days are hard in my life.
12:03They are hard about to stay.
12:03They feel better about you, when you are killed.
12:04You man.
12:05I'm Premier episódio with Mountain妳.
12:07It's crazy.
12:08That's, I think, comekritaos, who said you got a man.
12:10Let me tell you about where you've been talking about.
12:11Somebodyals father when they're talking about you.
12:13You know what you're talking about me, so I can say der to the
12:14hua for you.
12:14How about you?
12:15So, right.