Los Angeles — In today’s economy, speed to market has never been more important, the war for talent has never been stronger, and costs have never been more under scrutiny. The Licensing Insiders is a disruptive, novel & flexible solution to these challenges.

A highly-skilled collective of multi-faceted consumer products and senior brand building experts, The Licensing Insiders work with all consumer segments, from entertainment studios, gaming, fashion and lifestyle brands, to publishing, sports, collegiate & corporate, bringing fractional expertise that hits the ground running.

Fractional means The Licensing Insiders can be deployed for any period of time, for any size and scale of business, eliminating the expense of recruitment, the cost of full-time heads, benefits and onboarding. As Simon Waters, former divisional head of Hasbro’s Consumer Products & Entertainment Division and one of seven inaugural partners says:

“All of us have seen brands commit random acts of marketing, launch programs shotgun in the hope they’d stick, or hire teams before they knew what was needed. I would have loved fractional expertise that I could deploy to make an impact fast without the need for full time overhead.”

The Licensing Insiders are all former Disney executives, whose sought-after career expertise gained at the world’s most innovative entertainment company, was hired to deliver billions of dollars of growth for the biggest media and lifestyle brands in the world, including Universal, Dreamworks, Lucasfilm LTD, Hasbro and Marvel, as well as household names like Nike, and retailers like Target and Walmart.

Marc Low, former global head of Universal’s Lifestyle Division and partner, adds,

“The world of licensing is highly dynamic, creating a myriad of new possibilities for emerging and established IP alike. Calling on the Licensing Insiders helps businesses fast track their growth plans by maximizing opportunities while avoiding the pitfalls of trial and error.”

The Licensing Insiders make an impact from day one. With a vast network of trusted relationships, they help build and execute a creative brand vision that matches your commercial ambition. When you hire an Insider, you hire access to expert skill sets across the entire licensing business model, from P&L leadership to digital marketing, content development, retail sales, creative, product management, and beyond.

Adding to the collective of diverse industry talent is Ann Buckingham, former Chief Commercialization & Strategy Officer for Create Me, Eva Steortz, Executive Coach and former SVP of Brand Development for 20th Century Fox, Darren Phillipson, former VP of Global Product Design for Alpha Group, Vince Brick, former Senior Director for Customer Strategic Marketing at Hasbro, and Maria Ancieta-Risher, former VP of NBCUniversal Consumer Products, who adds;

“The globalization of content now readily available at our fingertips through streaming, online and linear creates opportunities for brand building faster and on a global scale. Being able to leverage our collective global expertise for market expansions & international activations in the US & North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia are proven strengths that our clients can tap into instantly.”

Simon Waters
Simon has built, led & operated some of the largest entertainment & lifestyle brands in the world, like Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, My Little Pony & Transformers. A senior divisional leader who began his career in the music business in the UK before relocating to the US, Simon works in the heart of the entertainment industry. He has worked with boards, investors, private equity firms and multiple management teams. He was most recently responsible for leading Hasbro Consumer Products from No.12 global licensor to No.5, doubling revenue and tripling operating profit, while opening 23 offices around the world. As an expert storyteller who has presented to stadium sized audiences, a developer of brands, original IP and founder of a tech start-up, Simon loves to apply his global expertise & creativity to helping operations of all sizes and scale deliver the brand growth & resonance they deserve.

Marc Low
Marc is a strategic business leader with extensive experience scaling businesses internationally. His passion is building lifestyle brands, with a deep understanding for how product, branding, marketing, retail and digital need to work in unison to deliver powerful and authentic consumer propositions. Marc drove the sales, marketing, merchandising, retail, and creative functions for brands including Nike, Disney & Universal, launching major initiatives including Nike’s foray into soccer, and pioneered the DTR business model while at Disney. Most recently, he created the growth blueprint Universal’s Consumer Products internationally, opening 12 direct offices across EMEA, Asia & Latin America, expanding the international share of global revenue from 20% to 65% in just 4 years. Marc is creatively and commercially-minded and loves a good challenge.

Eva Steortz
Eva started her career in research and still grounds her work in insights to inform unique brand positioning, strategy and activation ideation. She spent 20 years at the Walt Disney Company including VP roles leading teams and running retail marketing. Her favorite role was leading franchise development for the world’s largest entertainment brands including CARS which exceeded expectations at $4 Billion in retail sales at its height and remains on toy shelves today. As a brand strategy consultant, Eva has continued to work with entertainment studios, toy companies as well as video game and publishing companies. Also a published author and an Executive Coach, Eva is a positive, inspiring champion of bold moves. She loves big ideas and making them happen.

Maria Ancieta-Risher
Maria is a multilingual, multicultural executive and brand builder with an extensive background in cross-border and cross-cultural team leadership. Maria began her career as a Buyer for the first ever private label for Baby Superstores, Inc (Babies R US), where she learned the importance of building a trusted brand with expectant moms and gained operational experience at a ‘category killer retailer.’ During her tenure at Disney Consumer Products, she led Disney’s first apparel DTR for Walmart, earning accolades for Outstanding Performance and Retail Partnership and 40% Growth YOY. She later won the Best Retail Partnership award for Babies R US and played a key role in the Disney Baby Launch, driving category and product innovation in the infant segment. At Universal, as General Manager of Consumer Products for the Latin American region, she expanded Universal’s consumer products business by establishing the first-ever CP operations in Mexico and Brazil, and tripled revenue in less than 5 years. She led global taskforces to launch the first Universal brand in the baby space, ‘Welcome to the Universe Baby,’ and executed the ET anniversary on a global scale. Her expertise lies in building trusted brands, generating revenue, and pioneering category and product development.

Ann Buckingham
Ann is a seasoned global leader with deep licensing and brand building expertise. Her experience spans corporations and start-ups such as Disney, DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox, Heyman Corporation, and CreateMe Technologies. At Heyman, she transformed the business from a distributor into a robust $600 million apparel manufacturing brand, securing a #2 market share in North America. During her tenure with Disney, Ann drove Disney’s entry into the Fashion, Home and Seasonal categories, accelerating market share from 35% to 65%. At DreamWorks, she led double digit growth by building strategic partnerships with major retail accounts like Target, Ikea, Wal-Mart, and Inditex, leading the Trolls merchandise licensing program to $1 billion in global retail sales. Ann is also a global sourcing expert, driving 8-10% margin gains for her clients through more efficient sourcing strategies. At CreateMe, Ann generated $15 million in revenue through strategic acquisitions while executing a sustainable apparel manufacturing strategy. Ann is a passionate leader, holding multiple advisory roles and is deeply involved in her local community.

Vince Brick
Vince is a senior Retail Sales & Marketing expert with experience leading and collaborating with some of the world’s most influential retailers across all channels of distribution. He has led the development, sell-in and sell-thru of major entertainment and brand programs at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Walgreens and beyond. A scrappy entrepreneur working in the corporate world, Vince takes products from the factory floor, to the retail floor, navigating and streamlining development, production, supply chain, fulfillment, placement and marketing, so clients make the impact at retail that they deserve. Vince also comes with senior Walmart expertise. Being based in Bentonville, Arkansas, his proximity adds immediate client value with his proven track record record of getting products in front of key decision makers across the entire store footprint. As an example, he recently expanded Walmart distribution for a client’s business by 3X, with new listings, department placement and promotions.

Darren Phillipson
Darren is a seasoned toy industry executive, having worked in the field of Consumer Products, Licensing and Entertainment for over 25 years. He has held leadership positions at several of the world’s top toy and licensing companies including Lucasfilm Licensing, Disney Consumer Products, Dreamworks SKG and Mattel. Darren has a Passion for Play and is the recipient of over 100 awards from renowned toy industry organizations including 20 TOTY-nominated toys with 3 category winners. In 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022, Darren was a Mojo Nation 100 Finalist – representing the 100 most influential figures working in toy and game design today. He is an Executive Producer on four children’s preschool shows and is the Co-Creator of a series currently in development with Netflix. Darren is also a part-time Professor at the world-renowned Otis School of Art and Design in LA where he teaches on the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Toy Design.