Ex-WildBrain execs Nico Lockhart and Jessie Stephenson launch IP development studio

Nico Lockhart, left, and Jessie Stephenson

Former WildBrain execs Nico Lockhart and Jessie Stephenson have launched an IP development studio and agency called TeamFalco.

TeamFalco aims to help brands, IP owners and creators grow their audiences on platforms such as YouTube and Roblox.

The company provides audience and competitor consultancy services, full production services, series development and platform strategies, and platform management, iterative creative and marketing support.

Lockhart, who acts as MD of TeamFalco, is a former production executive at WildBrain, while Stephenson was previously a platform and content strategist at WildBrain, Little Dot Studios and Lunar X.

The pair have spent the last decade in digital, where they have gained expertise in developing, rebooting and launching original IP for YouTube. These programmes have amassed multibillion views and also have life on traditional platforms including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, CCTV, Cartoon Network, Kidoodle, Cartoonito and Peacock.

“Many commissioners and IP owners are still struggling to capitalise on YouTube, as they are failing at the first hurdle which is thinking about discovery in development,” Lockhart said.

“The art of reaching targeted audiences with programming and creative decisions has been lost in the move to video on demand, and brands and IP owners are paying the price. YouTube has levelled the playing field, but to stand out from the crowd brands have to keep pace with shifting audience behaviours.”

Stephenson added: “People are still looking for great stories and compelling characters, but helping audiences both find the creative and stick with it is hard.

“Creative with an eye to distribution and consumption isn’t new and neither is the idea of using data, but too often brands don’t know what data is useful nor how to use the bits that are in an additive manner. By starting with great creative and applying meaningful insights, we turn eyeballs into audiences, and audiences into fans.”