Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd. (YRF), is India’s leading film studio, having created many of the country’s most popular and memorable theatrical films; classics such as Silsila, Kabhi Kabhie, Lamhe, DDLJ to more contemporary titles including Ek Tha Tiger, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, and its iconic Dhoom franchise which set benchmarks for action films. In recent years, YRF has expanded its distribution and now services a worldwide market through its offices in the UK, UAE and the US, which affords YRF the opportunity to make its product accessible to a large captive global market.
In response to the demand from innumerable fans of its films, YRF established YRF Licensing as a means of providing a diversified range of merchandise based on the company’s catalogue and contemporary library of movie titles. YRF Licensing has successfully licensed its content to a number of India’s leading manufacturers, producing an impressive range of licensed products in various product categories such as home décor, housewares, apparel, publishing, bags, stationery and greeting cards. With the hugely anticipated Christmas release of Dhoom:3, the third film of the highly successful Dhoom film franchise, many more exciting products will be introduced into the market later this year.
To expand its licensing efforts into markets outside of India, the company has appointed Danny Simon of The Licensing Group Ltd, a Los Angeles based company, as its consultant. With more than three decades of experience in the licensing and merchandising industry, and expertise in international licensing, Danny brings to YRF Licensing the necessary knowledge and skills that will benefit the company’s expansion and meet the unique challenges that these markets present.
An inveterate entertainment licensing professional, Danny has headed licensing divisions at several of Hollywood’s leading production companies, including Lorimar Productions, Twentieth Century Fox and Carolco Pictures. He has played a pivotal role in launching various licensing programs in the United States and around the world for such well known properties as the television shows Dallas, Dynasty, M*A*S*H and Baywatch. Danny has built licensing programs for such legendary films as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the series of RAMBO films, and Mortal Kombat.
Presently, Danny is the CEO and President of The Licensing Group Ltd, an independent full service licensing company founded in 1992. Over the years the company has represented, in addition to many others, well known properties such as Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Studios; James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment; cable television’s Studio USA Network; video game company Midway Games; the infamous RMS Titanic; and celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and David Hasselhoff.
Yash Raj Films is a name often regarded as being synonymous with the word “Bollywood.” Watched by audiences around the world, YRF films are especially popular in such international markets as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the region of MENA and others. In keeping pace with expansion of the company’s growing distribution plans of its film titles, YRF Licensing has already begun licensing and merchandising efforts in the Indian sub-continent. Recent successes include licenses in such categories as social expression, publishing, notebooks and diaries.
With the announced new collaboration between YRF Licensing and Danny Simon, YRF Licensing is now well positioned to participate in licensing on a global scale.