PLAYDIGM Entertainment Licensing & Branding

Back in 1986 I was expanding my company’s product line at the advice I received  from buyers of games attending the American Toy Fair in New York.  We only had the Original Bruce Lee Martial Arts Game at the time and the facts were made clear.  It costs almost the same amount of money to activate a Buyers Account for a one game company as it does for a company with many products.   Therefore, they prefer to purchase from companies with a product line.

So all that year, my friends and I worked on designing new games for the company.  That is how Night of the Ninja – a Reality Role Playing System came into being, as well as my Terminator board game.

I loved the original James Cameron Terminator film and immediately after seeing it I started work on a board game.  It took several months, but an interesting game was created so I contacted the company Hemdale, who controlled the rights at the time.  I was told it was a bad time to try and license the Terminator brand.  It seemed that Mr. and Mrs. Cameron were in the midst of a divorce and the rights to the proprietary property were in dispute (Gale Anne Hurd was producer of Terminator and claimed co-creation of it as well).

While at the Chicago Hobby Industries of America trade convention, I saw a Japanese model company with a 12 inch Terminator robot model. After a long conversation about how they got the legal right to manufacture a product based on the powerful Terminator brand, I bought one.  They had negotiated their deal prior to the legal complications between Mr. Cameron and Ms. Hurd.

Not being so lucky, I ended up with a fantastic Future Robot versus humans board game but very risky to manufacture and market without the Arnold Schwarzenegger robotic look and story. A generic version would require a huge marketing budget to get the world to know it existed. Whereas, a product with the Terminator brand on it would receive instant recognition.

After waiting years for the legal dispute to be settled, I once again contacted the licensing rep but since the entire project rights had been sold to a new company, the licensing costs had skyrocketed.

I waited again for years and now the Terminator rights are again in question since “Salvation”  and Sony  watched three companies owned by Anderson and Kubicek who own the Terminator rights filed for bankruptcy, triggered by a disputed debt owed to Pacificor, LLC, a Santa Barbara hedge fund that loaned them money to make the purchase, along with working capital.

Until this mess is over, I won’t be attempting to license the famous Terminator rights.  Mind you, if the rights do become available, maybe you could buy them and cut me a sweet deal (lol).  My board game captures the flavor and story perfectly *(so if there are any major game companies out there give me a call because maybe you are able to afford it).

The key is to keep pursuing your projects and if one iron in the fire grows cold, grab another and get it red hot.  Sooner or later the Terminator iron may get hot again, but they sure better make the franchise generate a lot more buzz and money or it may not be worth as much as they are presently asking to charge licensees.

Sandford Tuey

admin@Playdigm.com

Persistence is Omnipotent!

How much are the rights to the TERMINATOR brand worth?

Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek acquired the sci-fi franchise in 2007 for approximately  $25 million and produced  ‘Terminator Salvation’.  They are   looking to sell their brand rights as the  companies they own are fighting off bankruptcy and not cyborgs.

Anderson and Kubicek’s Halcyon Holding Group retained FTI Capital Advisors and have requested court approval to “evaluate strategic alternatives.”

The Original Terminator was released in 1984.  Production company Hemdale Film Corporation owned 50%  and creator James Cameron sold his 50% to his producing partner and future wife Gale Anne Hurd for $1.  They have since divorced.

In 1990, Carolco Pictures, owned by producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, bought Hemdale’s position for $10 million then promptly released ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’.  However In 1997, Carolco went bankrupt, but the partners started C2 Pictures which purchased their old firm’s stake for $8 million and paid around $8 million for the remaining 50% from Hurd.

In 2007,  novice producers Anderson and Kubicek purchased the Terminator rights.  Anderson claims that the Terminator rights are now worth more than $60 million – twice what he and his partner bought it for. The box office and DVD sales seem to prove that ‘Terminator: Salvation’  is worth more than expected and should even generate more sequels.  Predicting future revenue for any entertainment project is hard to do but this franchise is on solid ground as long as the next story plot is compelling and draws the fans.

How many more times will such a powerful brand change hands, no one knows.  My guesstimate is that the Terminator Trademark and brand will be a viable entertainment asset for generations to come and will hold its value.

I look forward to the next installment, as do millions of audience members and fans.  Be prepared for the Rise and War Of The Machines