ABOUT US

The Licensing Group Ltd (TLG) was founded in 1992 in Los Angeles by Danny Simon, one of the industry’s premier innovators and foreign licensing experts. The principal focus of the licensing agency is Entertainment, Lifestyle and Corporate Brand licensing. The Licensing Group continues to generate successful licensing programs for both the domestic and global markets. TLG also represents manufacturers with the acquisition of licenses and consults on licensing to both licensors and licensees as well as to organizations and government entities.

A Little History

Before opening The Licensing Group Ltd, Danny Simon headed up the licensing departments at major Hollywood studios such as Lorimar Productions, 20th Century Fox and Carolco Pictures., representing blockbuster properties such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, and the first RAMBO series of three films.

TLG added the representation of television and video entertainment to its services as the exclusive licensing agent for Baywatch, at the time of its airing, the most popular television show in the world. On behalf of Baywatch, TLG embarked on an international licensing program that incorporated live action shows and resulted in dozens of licensed product categories.

TLG parlayed its film and TV experience into what was then a new frontier: video games. Simon took on worldwide representation of Midway Games Inc., which included Mortal Kombat, one of the most popular video games of all time. After launching a successful licensing program based on the game, TLG brought Mortal Kombat to Hollywood via New Line Cinema. With Simon as the Executive Producer, the blockbuster movie remained number one at the box office for three weeks, generating more than $150 million at the box office. The film was followed by a live action tour, and a live action TV series; Mortal Kombat remains a successful game series.

TLG has represented many intellectual properties throughout the years. Currently, The Licensing Group has the honor of representing Tsuburaya Productions’ ULTRAMAN franchise as its exclusive licensing agent in North America. TLG launched the Classic Ultraman licensing program targeting the Ultraman fan base cultivated during the 1966 – 1981 run of the live-action TV series in the U.S. The program enjoyed almost immediate success and did so without the benefit of media support. Now Classic ULTRAMAN (the original 8 TV series), Anime ULTRAMAN a top anime series on Netflix in its second season, and the Ultra Galaxy Fight Saga, have made a robust licensing program possible. An upcoming big budget animated feature for Netflix will debut in 2024, and future international media projects will be made possible from the Tsuburaya empire.

About Danny Simon

Danny Simon has been committed to the development of the licensing industry’s trade association, LIMA, re-named Licensing International. He is one of the co-founding members and was inducted into the LIMA Hall of Fame. Simon was a co-developer and co-dean of LIMA’s Certificate of Licensing Studies Program, a year-long course designed to help foster better licensing skills and an improved understanding of licensing for those currently working in or looking to enter the industry.

Simon has shared his knowledge of licensing at many licensing conferences throughout the United States and in dozens of other countries, and he has taught a course on licensing at the college level at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He is coauthor of four seminal books on licensing that have been endorsed by Licensing International: THE BASICS OF LICENSING, THE BASICS OF LICENSING: Licensee Edition, THE BASICS OF LICENSING International Edition, and BUSINESS OF LICENSING. The Basics of Licensing has been translated into multiple languages and is the first publication on licensing to be translated into Chinese. He is an annual contributor to “Licensing Update,” published by Aspen Press, is the Entertainment Editor for the trade magazine “The Licensing Journal,” and has authored numerous articles on the subject of licensing.