The disability charity Scope has secured a distribution deal with the entertainment giant NBCUniversal and is in talks to develop a television show based on its Mindful Monsters subscription boxes.
Scope launched Mindful Monsters in June 2017 as a way to provide regular unrestricted income by offering a monthly box of family activities to help introduce children to mindfulness, featuring four colourful monster characters: Thinky, Sparky, Giggles and Snug.
The scheme, which also includes a version designed for use in schools, has so far brought in about £1m in income for Scope, and the charity has started negotiations for licencing and royalties for the characters.
It has already secured a publishing deal with the educational publishing company Scholastic, with books due to hit the shelves next February.
And Scope has struck up a deal with NBCUniversal to distribute a series of digital animations based on the characters, the first step towards developing a television series.
The charity is in talks with another media company to produce the films, which will then be distributed by NBCUniversal.
If the films generate sufficient interest, they will be turned into a full television series.
The charity is working with the children’s scriptwriter and producer Catherine Williams, who has previously worked on The New Teletubbies, and the animation producer Ceri Barnes, co-creator of The Floogals. It is also working with the digital production company Plug-in Media to develop the idea.
Tracy Griffin, executive director of marketing, fundraising and communications at Scope, told Third Sector the charity was also exploring the possibility of merchandise, such as plush toys, based on the books and TV series.
She said there was currently no financial value attached to the deal, but the charity would receive royalties from the licencing deal if the television series went ahead.
But she added that the real value to the charity would be to enhance brand awareness, increase the number of subscribers and lower the cost of acquisition for the Mindful Monsters subscription boxes.
“It’s really exciting that we’ve created something with so much scope to flex and develop into something that can be used in so many different ways,” Griffin said.
“Many of the schools are using it to talk about mindfulness and empathy around race and disability, it’s supporting children with their mental health and then it’s offering a fun toy through the vibrancy of the monsters. It’s great to see the ecosystem around this beginning to flourish.”
She said her ambition for the project was for it “to become the next Teletubbies”.
