Mondo TV Iberoamerica, part of the Italian group Mondo TV, one of the largest European producers and distributors of animated content, has announced a major new agreement with Sony Music Entertainment Italy that will see music from the hit live-action comedy-drama for teens, Heidi Bienvenida, appear on CD in Italy for the first time.
Fans can expect to see the release of a Heidi Bienvenida CD during the back-to-school period in Q3 2018.
Sony Music Entertainment Italy will have an exclusive license for recordings from the first Heidi Bienvenida television series with a second season option.
The rights cover Italy, San Marino, Vatican City and Italian Switzerland. Sony also has first negotiation rights for live events. A collaboration with Deborah Lurato, one of Italy’s most successful pop singers and a very popular star among teens, is also part of the agreement.
Combining the popular success of Heidi Bienvenida with the strength of the Sony name will underpin a number of jointly managed marketing initiatives, including of course CD launch and promotion events. Sony will also be managing the official Vevo video channel for Heidi Bienvenida.
Stefano Patara, VP, General Manager Strategic and Catalogue at Sony Music Entertainment said, “We are therefore working with Mondo TV on a lot of activities aimed at spreading the series’ musical content to various media and audiences, including trade, streaming platforms, regional events, promotions, live shows and much more.”
It has been a busy twelve months for Heidi Bienvenida – both the television series and the brand. As well as growth in Latin America, sales to Russia and Israel and a number of regional and global licensing deals, the second series of Heidi Bienvenida is on the way and a Heidi Bienvenida film, the first feature film in the history of Mondo TV.
The company has planned more engagements including a growing number of promotional, marketing and merchandising activities that Mondo TV is developing with partners already on board for the project.
Valentina La Macchia, Licensing Director of Mondo TV Iberoamerica, said, “Music is an enormously important component of Heidi Bienvenida and a major contributor to its popularity.”
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial is to produce books for the Latin American market, while in Italy the publishing category has been assigned to Mondadori, which will release its first two Heidi Bienvenida titles on June 26.
Panini has signed a worldwide deal to produce a wide range of Heidi-inspired products for newsstands and kiosks; the back to school period will see the release of the first Panini sticker album in conjunction with a Heidi Bienvenida magazine.
Also targeting newsstands, but with a different emphasis, Edizioni Playpress is planning a number of original publications for Italy.
Walcor, a leader in the food and confectionery sector, has received a license to create and market a range of confectionery for Christmas and Easter, while entertainment agency Echo srl is to produce Heidi Bienvenida-themed events for shopping centres.
