LICENSE A FAMOUS CHARACTER
USING CELEBRITY TALENT
Some film and TV characters can only be played by a particular celebrity.
There are a number of reasons for this, such as the character having always only ever been played by a particular celebrity (i.e. Bruce Willis as John McClane from Die Hard) or the character being played by a particular celebrity in a current film or TV series (i.e. Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie from Marvel Studio’s Thor franchise). This is a great opportunity to use the double star power of a famous character + celebrity.
CONSIDERATIONS:
Talent will need to be cleared and paid for separately from the IP license. Typically Rights Holders do not get involved in talent negotiations but they will need to know that talent is on board.
Typically talent will need to review and approve the material in addition to the Rights Holders, which adds an extra layer to the approval process.
Although Born Licensing do not negotiate talent deals, we know a lot of great people that do. Feel free to ask us for a recommendation.
CASE STUDY #1:
Direct Line x Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love & Thunder
Direct Line continued their theme of recruiting popular heroes for their advertising by bringing on Tessa Thompson to play her Marvel Studios character King Valkyrie from the Thor franchise.
It was important throughout the production to ensure that both the talent and the Rights Holders were comfortable with the development of materials. Born Licensing managed the negotiations and approval process with Marvel Studios as it related to the character and IP license. We did this on behalf of Direct Line’s creative agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, whist another third party managed talent negotiations and approvals seperately.
CASE STUDY #2:
PGA TOUR Superstore x Happy Gilmore
America's largest specialty golf retailer, PGA TOUR Superstore brought Derick ‘Chubbs’ Peterson – and his legendary mahogany prosthetic hand – out of retirement. The campaign saw Carl Weathers reprise his role as Chubbs from the hit 1996 movie, Happy Gilmore. PGA TOUR Superstore had previously used famous professional golfers such as Nick Faldo and Harry Higgs in their advertising. For this campaign, their creative agency Tombras had the brilliant idea of doing something a little more unique doubling the star power with the use of a famous character and celebrity talent.
Born Licensing managed the approval process with the Rights Holders of Happy Gilmore whilst the agency managed approvals with talent directly.
CASE STUDY #3:
ASDA x Elf by Havas
UK supermarket Asda introduced a very special festive colleague, and star of its 2022 Christmas campaign: Buddy the Elf. The campaign uses original footage from Elf to plant the beloved Buddy played by Will Ferrell right at the heart of a bustling Asda store. Securing agreements with both the Rights Holders of Elf and with Will Ferrell was crucial in bringing this campaign to life. Born Licensing secured the IP license for Elf and the Buddy character whilst Talent Republic brokered the agreement with Will Ferrell.
Ensuring both the talent and Rights Holders were comfortable with the creative was essential. Born Licensing worked closely with Talent Republic to manage the resource-heavy approval process for Asda’s creative agency, Havas. This was the first time that Elf had ever been licensed in the advertising and marketing space.