Award-winning animation studio Laika has tapped Striker Entertainment LLC to serve as its worldwide licensing agent.
Founded in Portland, Oregon in 2005, Laika’s mission has been to blend art, craft, science and technology to tell new, original, and innovative stories, resulting in four Oscar–nominated features to date that includes Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), The Boxtrolls (2014), ParaNorman (2012) and Coraline (2009). The studio’s community of storytellers, artists, inventors, technicians, and craftspeople from around the world is committed to making movies that matter.
Says Travis Knight, Laika’s President & CEO and director of its latest feature film, Kubo and the Two Strings, “Laika’s reason for being is to make films and tell stories that bring people together and inspire them to dream,”.
“Knitting our artistry and storytelling more meaningfully into our fans’ lives through the world of consumer products is a continuation of that vision. It’s an enormous privilege to partner with industry-leading firm Striker to further advance Laika’s future expansion,” he adds.
Avers Brad Wald, Laika’s CFO and head of business operations, “As Laika looks to broaden its licensing program, we will be working in conjunction with Striker to develop a global licensing program with best-in-class licensees to ensure the highest level of quality and authenticity for our ground-breaking catalog of films,”
Before joining Laika in 2016, Wald’s career highlights included managing NBCUniversal’s highly successful commercial activities surrounding Downton Abbey.
Besides working closely with distribution and home entertainment teams to fully expand the show’s global reach, Wald developed new ancillary revenue streams from scratch including a Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association award-winning consumer products portfolio.
