Six Deals Signed Including Random House For UK Publishing

FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) announced today a raft of licensees in significant categories for UK & Eire for the heroic pre-school property Tree Fu Tom™. Random House Children’s Publishers (RHCP) has signed for publishing; Aykroyd and TDP for children’s nightwear and underwear; Trade Mark Collections for bags, wallets and umbrellas; Spearmark for lunchware, tableware & drinkware and lighting; Worlds Apart for bedroom and play accessories; and Character World for bedroom textiles, furniture and accessories.

Under the four year agreement, RHCP has the publishing rights for all categories, apart from annuals. The licensing programme will begin its full roll out next year with toys, publishing and apparel launching in spring/summer followed by all other major categories in autumn/winter.

A number of products will appear at retail ahead of the full roll out with FremantleMedia Home Entertainment launching the first DVD release launching this autumn.

Pindy O’ Brien, FME VP UK Brand Licensing and Retail said: “Tree Fu Tom has been a huge hit on screen and the reaction from within the industry has been incredible. We are delighted to announce this prestigious set of new partners and look forward to working with them to develop a magical product range.”

FME holds the worldwide distribution (excluding UK) and ancillary rights for Tree Fu Tom and is set to announce additional deals in further categories for the pre-school property in the near future.

Tree Fu Tom combines innovative elements of heroic action, fantasy and magic, coupled with unique interactive physical activity. Set in an enchanted world where movement creates magic, viewers are encouraged to interact with the show through physical actions that have been devised and approved by movement development specialists to assist in the development of children. Former Doctor Who stars Sophie Aldred and David Tennant voice the lead characters Tom and Twigs. The series airs on CBeebies and is the channel’s number one show of the year to date (Source: BARB, consolidated data).

With animation by award-winning Blue Zoo Animation, Tree Fu Tom is a co-production between FME and the BBC for CBeebies. The executive producers for the BBC are Jackie Edwards and Alison Stewart, and Bob Higgins and Sander Schwartz for FME. Tree Fu Tom was created by and is produced by Daniel Bays.