W!LDBRAIN inks TV Deal with SkyVu to turn BATTLE BEARS into a major television series and consumer products line. BATTLE BEARS To Be Showcased at World’s Largest Television Market This Weekend at MIPJR/ MIPCOM Los Angeles, CA (October 4, 2012) - W!LDBRAIN Entertainment, a DHX Media, Ltd. company and one of the world's foremost producers of animation and family entertainment, has signed a development deal with SkyVu Entertainment, the mobile gaming company co-founded by Ben Vu, creator of the hit mobile game franchise BATTLE BEARS. BATTLE BEARS has over 150,000 daily active users. The mobile games have surpassed 18 million downloads and are averaging over 100,000 new downloads every week. Rankings have hit as high as #2 on the App Store and ranks as the #1 action game and #1 adventure game in the US and over 40 other countries. BATTLE BEARS was the first mobile game to sell its original soundtracks on iTunes and the first to sell its branded merchandise through the games. BATTLE BEARS is a tongue-and-cheek action comedy featuring Oliver Bear and his friends who are charged with saving the world from the Huggables, a possessed horde of enemy pink bears out to hug you to death, unless you fend them off with an arsenal of unusual artillery that includes anything from the Unicorn Horn Crossbow to the BearZooka. “BATTLE BEARS has enjoyed worldwide success as a mobile game,” stated Michael Polis, President, W!LDBRAIN Entertainment and EVP, Branded Entertainment & Consumer Produts, DHX Media. “Between its built in fan base and the expandable universe that lends itself to consumer products and character-driven extensions such as series, BATTLE BEARS has the potential to become the next big boys action comedy brand,” he continued. SkyVu Co-Founder & CEO Ben Vu originally wrote BATTLE BEARS as a screenplay when he was an animation student at CalArts, the Walt Disney-founded film school whose alums include Oscar winning and nominated filmmakers Tim Burton, John Lasseter and Brad Bird. While working on the Oscar nominated film Coraline, Vu saw the debut of the iPhone as an opportunity for BATTLE BEARS. Vu adds, “Although we’ve built the brand in mobile games, millions of fans know the names of our heroes and continually ask what’s going to happen next. We look forward to partnering with W!LDBRAIN Entertainment to introduce BATTLE BEARS into the marketplace through multiple channels.”
By Ben Vu:
Dear BATTLE BEARS NATION,
Today I'm proud to announce that BATTLE BEARS is going to be a TV series! We have partnered with LA-based W!LDBRAIN Entertainment, makers of Yo Gabba Gabba! (Nickelodeon), The Ricky Gervais Show (HBO) and Teen Smithereen (Disney XD). The BATTLE BEARS TV series is going to be filled to the brim with the action and comedy you've come to expect from SkyVu but even better. We're talking a full season of 30 minute episodes featuring OLIVER, RIGGS, WIL, ASTORIA, TILLMAN, GRAHAM and the whole cast of enemies you've seen in game and many more that have to be revealed. W!LDBRAIN has assembled an amazing team that's working closely with us in crafting what will be bigger and better than any animated action comedy show out there.
BATTLE BEARS could not have gotten to this point without the support of you, the fans. The millions of you who played our games and shared the experience is why we are here today. You guys believed in our vision of a different kind of game that mixed cool appealing characters with core action and slightly edgy comedy. We didn't play it safe and neither did you and we proved to the world that mobile games can have very engaging characters and stories. All the 5-star reviews, all the fan art you send in, and all of your Facebook and forum posts is like fuel for our creative veins. When this TV show hits the air, you can turn to all our friends and family and say you were one of the first fans of BATTLE BEARS.
I'm also very proud of the SkyVu team for achieving this milestone. It seems like yesterday we were just 3 guys in a basement and SkyVu is now 29 people strong and growing. It's a joy to see the passion that gets poured into every game each and every day. We still have a ways to go but to get a major TV studio to invest in what we created is very special. From day one, we set out to create entertainment brands that will survive long after we're gone. We wanted to make games, characters, and stories that we wanted to experience and share with our family and friends. Thanks to the support of W!LDBRAIN and our loyal fans, we're able to continue to realize our dreams.
I now have to go play test BATTLE BEARS ZERO!
Thanks for your support!
Ben Vu
The Creator of the BATTLE BEARS
Co-Founder & CEO of SkyVu Entertainment