Italian transmedia company Atlantyca Entertainment, which is involved in publishing, IP creation, television production and distribution, and licensing and merchandising, is launching a new branch, Atlantyca IP Agency, within its production and distribution division. The new operation’s primary mandate is to sell TV and associated rights tied to its children’s book properties. Atlantyca is best known globally for its Geronimo Stilton franchise and its various spinoffs.
Atlantyca’s in-house production department is fully scheduled – it is working on the third season of the Geronimo Stilton TV series, in association with Moonscoop, among other projects – and that spurred the decision to look for third-party partners to develop other properties, according to Caterina Vacchi, Atlantyca’s head of production and executive producer. “We have some properties that are perfect for audiovisual rights, but we don’t have the capacity to make it happen,” she says.
Many of the book series that the IP Agency will focus on originated within Atlantyca Dreamfarm, a children’s book developer and designer the company acquired in 2010.
Lucia Geraldine Scott, who has been with Atlantyca since 2008, has been named sales manager of the new arm and will continue to report to Vacchi. “We want partners that can take a transmedia approach to our brands,” Scott explains. “The transmedia strategy is the winning one at this moment in time.”
Some of the properties with the best potential, according to Scott, based on the number of books published, copies in print, and countries where they have been sold, include Agatha Mystery (11 books and four more planned for 2013, with Penguin on board for English-speaking territories); Minerva Mint (five books, with Stone Arch on board in the U.S.); Enchanted Emporium (six books, also with Stone Arch stateside); Lily Lace (five books); and Klinkus Bark (10 books). All told, Atlantyca has more than 4,200 translation deals in place with 130-plus global publishers.
Atlantyca IP Agency will be presenting its publishing properties at the major television markets, including MIPCOM and MIPTV, in the coming year.
