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The
Force is Strong on This One:
LucasFilm's Howard Roffman Takes You Behind the Scenes of a Licensing
Blockbuster
By Tim
Connolly
November 1, 2002
Howard
Roffman |
TDM:
The number of licensees for Attack of the Clones was one-third less
than with Phantom Menace, without a major drop-off in sales; is
this less-is-more approach something that Lucasfilm plans to stick
with for future film releases?
HR: Our strategy has always been to respond to
consumer demand. It's really the only way to manage a long-term
brand like Star Wars. We're the first to admit that in 1999 we oversupplied
the market, but, in fairness to everyone involved, it was hard to
gauge the demand going into Episode I because there had not been
a new Star Wars film for 16 years.
Now we have a good read on the market, and certainly for 2002 I
would say that we and our licensees have done a good job of keeping
supply in line with demand - with the possible exception of lightsabers,
which have been in short supply! We'll carefully look at our results,
not only for this year, but for 2003 and 2004 in making our decisions
for Episode III in 2005.
TDM: "Co-op marketing," the practice
of requiring licensees to pay an added royalty to help pay for product
promotion, seems to be a hot-button issue in licensing. Can you
comment on Lucasfilm's stance in this area?
HR: We have never worked with our licensees in
this way. We create a separate budget internally and fund our marketing
and promotional programs from that budget.
TDM: The current entertainment toy market has been
characterized as oversaturated; can you foresee a time when Star
Wars merchandise may have to compete for shelf space?
HR: I can't think of a time when Star Wars merchandise
didn't have to compete for shelf space! It's a competitive world
out there and everything has to hold its own. Star Wars earns the
shelf space it gets.
TDM: Where do you see the future of licensing heading
in the entertainment industry?
HR: The current retail climate is understandably
conservative. Inevitably that will mean a shrinking of opportunities
to launch new entertainment licenses, simply because new introductions
are risky and the industry is risk averse at the moment. I think
that will mean both a shift away from licensing and a reliance on
more proven properties.
Back
Previously
published in the November Issue of ToyDirectory online Magazine.
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Lowdown on Licensing: ToyDirectory
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the whole food-chain
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