New Ripley's Believe It or Not! to be Launched by Sony Signatures

Posted on January 22, 1999

Sony Signatures has announced that it will develop partners for licensing and merchandising efforts, including literary and dramatic rights, for the worldwide Ripley franchise. Sony Signatures has begun working with Ken Atchity and Wili Baronet of AEI/GP on a to reposition the Ripley franchise in the worlds of entertainment and merchandising. Highlights of Sony Signatures' repositioning of the Ripley's franchise include television episodes for TBS, an animated children's program, a biography of Robert Ripley, a feature film, a book series, a young adult graphic novel series, comic books, coloring books and game books.

"Ripley's, now in its 81st year, is the most recognized phenomena-oriented brand in the world with 38 museums worldwide and more than 10 million visitors annually," said Dell Furano, President and CEO of Sony Signatures. "The brand has such built-in worldwide appeal and there are creatively so many directions to go with it, that our new efforts to expand this franchise have already been met with great response. We look forward to working with AEI/GP's literary and publishing expertise to open up opportunities exponentially in these areas."

"Ripley saw and recognized the inherent life-defining beauty in the different and the extraordinary," commented Furano. "In today's world, where the generic has become daily fare, Ripley becomes the prototypical champion of the unusual."