Talkin'
Toys
GEARING UP FOR GHOSTBUSTERS
The Toy Book chats with Sony Pictures Consumer Products’ (SPCP) Mark Caplan, senior vice president, Global Consumer Products about 2016 plans. Congratulations on your recent promotion! What is your vision for the consumer products division? What are your long-term and short-term plans? It’s a benefit to our consumer products business to have a studio behind us that is a leader in filmed entertainment. We collectively have a long-term mentality in developing our consumer products business in concert with many other areas of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Ghostbusters is certainly one of the keys to building our business in the coming years ahead. We will introduce more content during the North American International Toy Fair in New York City, which will enable our ongoing efforts in consumer products. You’ve managed the Ghostbusters brand for more than 10 years. What are your plans for the franchise as we gear up for the new film to hit theaters this summer? We have a strong group of consumer products partners and retailers getting behind our efforts. Categories such as toys, apparel, publishing, mobile games, and backto-school are all going to be available in the weeks leading up to the film’s release in July. How are you addressing fans both new and old with Ghostbusters consumer products? Our consumer base is quite expansive. It originally started with fans that grew up with the films and the animated TV shows. Product was developed with them in mind. Companies such as Lego, Mattel, Funko, and Atari have created product perfectly suited for those uber fans and collectors alike. With the upcoming 2016 film, we are now moving the product into the mass market, targeting the younger generation, who prob-
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ably have heard about it from their parents or have seen it running the dozens of times per year on TV. How important is the international box office to the film launch? This will be a key to our success as we continue to build Ghostbusters into an ongoing licensing business. We have high hopes for the property in many countries where the overall film box office strength will help propel the success of the property. This will allow for many more opportunities to grow our consumer products business. What is your strategy for identifying and expanding in key areas of growth internationally for SPCP overall? As a global company, we have theatrical marketing offices in all major markets. This allows us to work cooperatively with our local staff. In terms of growth, we have a strong network of international agents that is helping us build consumer products programs and identify new opportunities. What’s new in the area of location-based entertainment for SPCP? This is certainly a growing area of our business. In fact, we have a couple of parks underway in Dubai and Russia, and are in discussions for China. In October of this year, Dubai Theme and Resorts will open Motiongate, a massive theme park that will house our Sony Pictures Studio location with
seven themed attractions based on Ghostbusters, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Hotel Transylvania, and The Smurfs, to name a few. How important is the growth and relevancy of an interactive gaming strategy for your franchises? It’s been an important area to our group for many years. It’s where I cut my teeth in the licensing business, going all the way back to the 16-bit era, when licensed games really started to impact the console business. We’ve traveled a long way since that time, and we are very involved in PlayStation 4 and the next generation consoles, in addition to mobile and virtual reality platforms. What is planned for The Smurfs? The Smurfs are an important ongoing business for SPCP. With another movie releasing in March 2017, we continue to develop new licensing partnerships. Jakks Pacific, Simon and Schuster, Rubie’s Costume Co., and Ubisoft are just some of the partners we have in our stable of licensees for the upcoming movie. »
Ghostbusters figures, from Mattel