DIC Entertainment (DIC), a global brand management company, has launched the first online video channel, www.kewlcartoons.com, dedicated to new and classic cartoons for families and children. The site serves as a one-stop entertainment destination, as well as bridges together the web communities from DIC's array of renowned brands." The announcement was made today by Jeffrey Edell, President & COO of DIC. DIC also names Frederic Soulie to the new position of Head of Interactive at DIC, managing the company’s extensive network of sites and reporting to Edell, who oversees all company operations in addition to new media initiatives.
KEWLcartoons.com features 24/7, on demand channels of free streaming animated television series from DIC's library of over 3000 half-hours of programming, including Dino Squad, Inspector Gadget, The Littles, Liberty’s Kids, as well as live-action series such as Cake, Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills, and much more. An overview of the current properties available on the site can be found on the next page.
The community also features imkewl chat, games and more. The site is uniquely designed to work for both PC and Mac users. Viewers can also navigate through DIC property sites that appeal to a wide audience ranging from preschool to teens, including the following:
• Kewlopolis.com, the site for the children’s programming block, KEWLopolis on CBS, ties into all of the programming airing on the Saturday morning television block. The online community serves as a destination for Kid's 6–12 with a portal to individual series websites. Additionally, the entertainment site features programming information, games, polls, news and more.
• DinoSquad.com is a compelling 3-D interactive community for Boys 6 – 11, featuring Dinosaur avatars, multi-player games and educational information on global warming and the history of dinosaurs.
• Horseland.com is a unique community that allows kids to interactively "breed" and "train" virtual horses, and compete with themselves and each other. The site synchronizes the interaction between the “Horseland” television series and the website, allowing users to interact with the characters and animals from the series. There are currently 1.5 Million active players on the site.
• MommyAndMe.com, the preeminent brand for new mothers, recently re-launched with new features, including Mommy blogs, forums, polls and an exclusive mother/child play area.
• Trollz.com is a popular and innovative online community based on the animated television series. The web community is cool, empowering and aspirational and designed to completely immerse visitors into the exciting world of Trollz. Using a fun and intuitive map-driven interface, visitors can fully explore the world of Trollzopolis and its many “gems” hidden inside each location. Over 250,000 kids visit Trollz.com every month.
• The hit tween music and celebrity-driven magazine KEWL Magazine launched a companion site www.kewlmag.com, which is a partner in the kewlcartoons.com network.
• DIC Entertainment’s newly re-designed corporate site, www.dicentertainment.com, can also be accessed through kewlcartoons.com.
In 2008, kewlcartoons.com will grow substantially with the launch of new property sites for DIC brands, including Eloise, Beginner’s Bible, and Inspector Gadget, celebrating its 25th anniversary, and with the addition of hundreds of more hours of DIC programming.
“We are thrilled to have Fred’s expertise in new media, particularly his experience in the areas of development and operations from MySpace and various other ventures,” states Edell. “Under his management, we anticipate that the new network will entertain more than 700,000 kids and serve up over 150 million pages views each month with each site delivering on our commitment to entertain and educate children in a safe and controlled environment.” He adds. “We will continue to build the site with new interactive elements and compelling content to become a leading entertainment destination for kids.” Soulie joined DIC as the Senior Director of Corporate and Strategic Planning.
Prior to joining DIC, Soulie served as Manager of Strategic Planning at Intermix Media, Inc.--the publicly traded parent company of MySpace--where he worked with Edell who formerly served as Chairman of Intermix Media. In this capacity, he was actively involved in the company's mergers and acquisitions. Soulie also identified and developed post-acquisition integration strategies for five successful acquisitions. He also managed successful online properties including dating websites. Soulie received an MBA in Finance from Pepperdine University in California and a BA in International Business from the University of Montpellier in France. A native of France, Mr. Soulie began his career at Societe Generale Bank, one of the largest banks of the EURO zone.
About DiC Entertainment: DiC Entertainment, a fully-integrated global brand management company, is dedicated to creating, developing, producing, distributing, marketing and merchandising family-based intellectual properties. The Company serves as the worldwide licensor or agent for brands such as McDonald's, Strawberry Shortcake, Madeline, Mommy & Me, Eloise and The Beginner's Bible. As a pre-eminent supplier of kid's programming worldwide, DIC has developed strategic partnerships with key broadcast partners throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia.