Buzzy Bee returns to TV – and he’s going digital

Media release buzz – 1
26 September, 2011

Buzzy Bee returns to TV – and he’s going digital

Buzzy Bee™ is taking off!

The generations-popular Kiwi toy has been turned in to a television star by Kiwi entertainment IP company Lion Rock Ventures which has just signed a co-production deal with Malaysian production company Lemon Sky Animation.

The deal licenses Lemon Sky to produce the animation work for 52 seven minute TV episodes featuring Buzzy Bee. Lion Rock has also secured a television distribution agreement with international TV sales company Beyond Entertainment to distribute the series worldwide.

As a result Beyond is taking Buzzy Bee to the world television market in Cannes in October.
The show has been accepted into the ‘Kids Jury’ competition, an in-market event where children are the judges of a selection of new kid’s shows.

With a full TV series funded to more than NZ$5.0 million and production underway, Lion Rock is also targeting the lucrative digital world to extend the Buzzy Bee concept developed via the new TV series.

“This new series – which is our second – is now being transformed into an interactive property with the financial support of the Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia (MDeC),” McKegg says.

“Our long term strategy is to develop a new concept in children’s entertainment. The goal is to present our viewers and their family communities with an entertaining, informative, stimulating experience. We believe that reaching out to our little viewers’ immediate communities will have the effect of bringing the family together, not pushing them apart as so many TV, web or apps games seem to do.

“We are aware of many parents becoming resentful of games that turn their children away from family interaction. We’d like to develop a property to break that mould. After all Buzzy Bee has been creating some of the first family moments for more than 75 years so any extension of the property should do the same.”

McKegg says the aims may seem lofty, but asks why not?

“Why not be the first. We’re not asking parents to have a direct involvement, most are far too busy, but we do want to bring them in a lot closer to what is happening on the screen. I suspect many parents would be surprised at how sophisticated and creative some game play can be. We think parents should be given more opportunities to observe what their children are capable of creating.”

He says the Buzzy Bee TV show is predicated on “lovely old fashion values that actually never expire. For that reason the new series has opted for the timeless medium of radio as a means for the television characters to reach viewers.”

Within the TV show Buzzy hosts Rolling Down’s Radio, a small community-focused radio station that plays music - from the ‘Buzzy City Rollers’ - and viewers at home watching the show can call in and talk directly with Buzzy.

“Theatrically, we have broken the fourth wall,” says McKegg, “introducing the perception of two-way conversations with our animated characters.”

Viewers wishing to contribute are invited to record their own stories after the show on the website via the web-based Rolling Downs Radio. Over time, viewers can collect a library of their own favourite stories. “Wouldn’t it be great for them to share these with grandma, grandpa, uncle Mike and of course their parents,” McKegg asks.

“Fundamentally we will be recording posterity, which is a very interesting new concept in children’s interactive entertainment. Everyone knows how important photos and videos of children are to parents - now Buzzy Bee provides them with the opportunity for audio and video recordings.”

Lion Rock has a head start in the online space because the animated digital assets it created in the first TV series makes it faster to launch the web based initiatives, McKegg says.

The company has been engaging with several international and New Zealand digital media companies with a view to developing its cross-media approach.

McKegg says Malaysia represents an excellent example of the “smart economy” working in New Zealand’s favour.

“Given that entertainment IP is a relatively new market sector for the New Zealand investor, it has been difficult attracting capital. Up to now the directors and shareholders have been funding the development of the franchise, and to a degree, we have had to learn by doing.

“But it is expected the cash flows from TV sales and licensing income - following the roll out of the media initiatives - will demonstrate to the investment community the value of entertainment IP and in our case Buzzy Bee’s long term asset value.

“It’s a well-trod path,” says McKegg. “There are many companies whose only assets are children’s entertainment properties, some whose values are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. But like any industry, quality assets take time to develop and build.”

The Malaysian deal gives Lion Rock sufficient programming to last several years on kids TV channels around the world.

“It is this long term presence that will enable the characters and values of the show to properly establish themselves in the minds of the viewing children,” McKegg Says.

It is the second TV series featuring Buzzy Bee & Friends. In 2009 TVNZ purchased the first NZ on Air supported Buzzy Bee & Friends series comprising 13 x five-minute episodes plus a single 23 minute pilot. That series continues to be shown on TVNZ (TV6) and TVNZ will broadcast the second larger series.

McKegg says the company’s “ambitious strategy” will see it venture in to unchartered waters.

“However the business model will simultaneously follow the more traditional route of other worldwide children’s brands with a strong consumer licensing programme world-wide where royalties from the sale of branded Buzzy Bee products flow back to New Zealand,” he says.
ends

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