Three subsids of kidvid heavyweight Entertainment Rights, whose stables include Casper the Friendly Ghost, VeggieTales and the Lone Ranger, have been acquired by Boomerang Media.
Teaming with deep-pocketed private equity firm GTCR, Boomerang plans to invest $200 million in franchises based on library characters. The properties are potent enough that DreamWorks and Jerry Bruckheimer are among the players previously revealed to be pursuing film projects based on them.
Entertainment Rights, Big Idea and Classic Media are the companies being rolled into Boomerang. Founders Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman, who sold Classic Media to Entertainment Rights in 2007, are running the newly fortified company.
The two also served as heads of Broadway Video Entertainment, founded by Lorne Michaels. Ellenbogen also was prexy and CEO of Marvel Entertainment, where he established a long-term deal with Sony for the Spider-Man pics.
Entertainment Rights’ portfolio includes Lassie, Underdog, Lamb Chop, Mr. Magoo and holiday mainstays such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.”
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