The New York Rights Fair has announced two new sessions on innovation in international rights and licensing for its inaugural fair, which will be held from May 30 to June 1 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York.
The panels will examine rights and licensing across media and formats, from books to television, toys, and video games. At the first session, at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Wattpad CEO and cofounder Allen Lau will discuss his work managing Wattpad’s community of more than 65 million global users, which includes more than 4 million writers.
The second session, at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, will bring Elena Favilli, author of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and CEO of Timbuktu Labs, and Laura Nevanlinna, CEO and cofounder of Kaiken Entertainment, to discuss crowdsourcing books and working in the "360 storytelling" and virtual reality spaces, respectively. Nevanlinna will also discuss her work establishing the Angry Birds global and licensing program.
“All three speakers are very much about empowering the members of their communities, be they authors, readers, gamers or other brand participants,” said industry consultant Rüdiger Wischenbart who is moderating both sessions.
Krista Rafanello, senior marketing director of Publishers Weekly and show manager for the New York Rights Fair, added: “The New York Rights Fair is pleased to be the new leader in exploring and facilitating rights and licensing in the publishing industry for agents and rights professionals from around the world.”
