Licensing Works, LLC, dba, Licensing Works! is a California LLC, located in Ventura county, established by Leslie Levine in October of 2007. We represent iconic timeless brands and are committed to making new brands iconic.
2 Leslie Levine: 30 years of corporate & entrepreneurial licensing experience in the family entertainment business with expertise in strategic planning, start-up management, marketing, television, promotions, and licensing. Graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in advertising, Levine was first employed by one of the top two advertising agencies in the Southwest, to plan media strategies for key national and regional brands. Later at The Coca-Cola Foods Division, Levine gained valuable packaged goods experience managing a $40 million media budget with oversight of several external agency media departments. Promoted to brand manager of Hi-C Fruit Drinks, a $100 million dollar beverage business, Ms. Levine stabilized and grew market share; increased profit contribution and exceeded volume objective. While there, Levine acquired the rights to IP such as Star Wars and deployed sports celebrities to drive greater sales volume and increase brand loyalty, thus learning the power of licensing as a strategic promotional tool, which has served her well throughout her career at Hasbro, Mattel, Harvey Entertainment, Playmates Toys, Hearst Entertainment, Classic Media and now with her own company, Licensing Works! Most recently Levine managed over thirty classic properties for Classic Media, where she was one of the key management team members responsible for growing the business to a $305 million valuation, resulting in the sale of the company.
3 John Gildea: A senior executive with extensive experience in the management of intellectual property assets across a broad variety of businesses, John Gildea has over 25 years of licensing experience. Gildea is credited with creating the licensing division at Hasbro, the iconic toy and game company, which has grown to be a $4 billion operation. Gildea hired Levine as his first new hire for the new Hasbro licensing division. Gildea worked at Hasbro, Inc., for 17 years, where he served as Vice President of Licensing and Consumer Promotions before becoming Senior Vice President of New Business Development for Hasbro Interactive. He developed strategic relationships with the entertainment, licensing and publishing industry leaders, including such high profile corporations as The Walt Disney Co., Warner Brothers Studios, Lyrick Studios, Sesame Workshop, Scholastic Publications and Nickelodeon. John also served as Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at Cookie Jar Entertainment, a leading children s entertainment content company, where he was responsible for developing and implementing the company s consumer products licensing strategy. Prior to joining the Licensing Works team, Gildea consulted with prestigious clients including: Crayola, a division of Hallmark Cards, Eric Carle Studio, super model, Emme, and Marsupial Media, a Television & Multi-Media production company established by Kathy Parker, co-creator of Barney.
4 Scott Cherrin: A non-practicing attorney, Scott brings his knowledge of business and legal affairs, copyright law and motion picture/television experience to merchandise licensing. A graduate of The University of Michigan and Michigan State University College of Law, Cherrin began his entertainment career working for the Endeavor Talent Agency. He worked with Levine at Classic Media. Scott set up Edgar Rice Burroughs' TARZAN at Warner Brothers Pictures for a live-action feature film. In addition, he also set-up the animated web series THE ADVENTURES OF VENUS KINCAID at Fox 2000 Pictures (20th Century Fox) as a live-action feature. In television, Cherrin developed a Hawaiian detective series, DIAMOND HEAD, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Bros. Television for the CBS Television Network based on the series of best-selling novels by Charles Knief that was set to star Scott Glenn. He also developed a reality television series with Reveille through NBC/Universal Television, ALISTAIR MACLEAN'S novel CIRCUS at Fox TV Pictures and a remake of BREWSTER S MILLIONS at ABC Family Channel. From 04-07, and again in 10-11, Cherrin was a business development consultant to Classic Media and for the principals Boomerang Media. Cherrin aided in the acquisition of classic characters.
5 Jill Collins: Jill brings 20+ years of entertainment, consumer, and family brand marketing success to the Licensing Works! management team. After graduating from Vanderbilt University (on a 4-yr academic scholarship) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and working with Grey Entertainment, Strottman International, and Applause LLC, Jill returned to Strottman in 2004 and remained there as V.P. Licensing and Partnerships until January 2015, when she joined forces with Licensing Works! At Strottman, Jill built and managed the highest-volume licensing/partnership group in the promotional marketing industry. She aligned clients such as Taco Bell, Chick-Fil-A, Chuck E. Cheese, Wendy s, LeapFrog and 76 gas stations with partners such as Disney, Hasbro, Mattel, Kraft Mac n Cheese, America s Got Talent, Monster Jam, The U.S. Mint, Frito-Lay and Microsoft to create more than 300 promotions. While at Applause, she managed all aspects of marketing, product development and sales for their $40MM Disney business. Throughout her career, Jill has also influenced promotional planning and execution across national retailers including Limited Too, Kmart, Blockbuster, Musicland, Macy s, Toys R Us, and Kohl s.