As the deadline for this year’s competition (4 September) approaches, LicensingSource.net chats to Crispin Lowry, founder of Spookysaurus, one of last year’s License This! winners.
Hi, Crispin, thanks for your time. You must be busy in the run up to BLE, where you were one of last year’s Kelvyn Gardner License This! winners – what’s happened for you and Spookysaurus since then?
It’s been a spooktacular year! Maybe not in terms of massive advances (so no Spookysaurus movie deal just yet!) but a lot of groundwork, which I hope will lead to many bigger things. Thanks to the guidance of last year’s License This! judges, I have been developing ideas for Spookysaurus in many different ways. Sarah Lawrence from This is Iris has been a huge support encouraging me to keep on going and seek out opportunities at London Book Fair and CMC (Children’s Media Conference).
Listening to Sarah’s advice and attending these events have helped me to make new contacts and rekindle old ones, all of which I hope will serve spreading the Spookysaurus brand far and wide in the future.
What are your plans for the brand?
I am actively searching out representation with an agent and/or book publisher as I believe this is the best way to help the brand become all it can be. I hope that attending BLE may offer further opportunities with this.
I have spent the last year writing more and more. The first chapter book, Spookysaurus and the Child with no Fear, is ready to go, as are the first two stories of a set of new short stories, Spookysaurus the Truthsayer Tales. So, beyond BLE, regardless of what opportunities that may hold, it will be more writing, creating more content and more adventures featuring the Spookysaurus including a few new characters you’ve yet to meet.
What’s your stand number?
D195.
Have I remembered correctly? Was your son a big inspiration for Spookysaurus? Will he be making an appearance?
The person to help me first find the Spookysaurus was my nephew, Bobby. Back then he was five years old, now he’s 16 and although he is very proud of his uncle, he’s very busy being a teenager and preparing for his GCSE exams!
What did it mean to you to win the License This! competition?
A tremendous amount. Mainly because it made me know that professionals within the licensing industry saw potential in the Spookysaurus as a character and brand and in me as a creative. That belief has galvanised my confidence, focus and drive with the Spookysaurus and within myself. As a creative it’s hard to keep going sometimes as the market always has been and only continues to be tough and competitive. This can cause even the most successful to doubt themselves and their ideas, never mind a newbie. Winning the License This! competition has encouraged me to keep on going and become aware of the opportunities and possibilities I could explore with the Spookysaurus and more.
This year’s deadline to enter is 4 September – what would you say to other brands who could but haven’t yet entered?
Enter it! I’m just a single creative with an idea that I passionately believe in, but I was scared to put that idea out into the world in fear of it (and me) being judged. But entering, being shortlisted and then winning the License This! competition is a great way to have very experienced brand/character professionals see your small idea and the possibilities within it that you might not have thought of. In a world saturated in reboots and remakes, it’s about time for something new and fresh. But such things don’t stand a chance if they say hidden away in a sketchbook.
The Spookysaurus is still on the starting blocks of its brand development, but thanks to the success of winning last year it is now much more firmly footed than ever has been, as am I.
I am excited to see what being at BLE 2023 will do for the Spookysaurus. I am also excited to see what other brave new ideas will feature in this year’s competition, and wish all the participants the best of luck!
Brand Licensing Europe takes place from 4-6 October 2023 at London’s ExCeL. Visitor registration is now open. Simply click here for further details.
