AND… ACTION! SPOTLIGHT LICENSING ANNOUNCES DOWNTON ABBEY™ MOVIE LICENSEES

With the long-awaited Downton Abbeymovie coming to  theaters this September, Spotlight Licensing and Brand Management has been hard at work behind the scenes to secure new licensees for the much-anticipated feature film.

“We’ve been looking forward to a Downton Abbeymovie just like millions of other fans. We hope they will be just as excited as we are to not only see this next chapter of the Crawley family saga on the big screen but also to see it inspire a wide range of beautiful new DowntonAbbey products,” says Spotlight Licensing President Carole Postal.

Postal was pleased to announce the following as key Downton Abbey licensees:   

Cost Plus World Market, a longtime licensing partner during Downton Abbey’s acclaimed television run, welcomes the movie this fall with several new Direct-To-Retail Downton Abbey food and houseware products as part of a broader offering which will also include select products from fellow Downton licensees.

Lot18 has been granted rights to produce and market Downton Abbey branded Red, White, and Sparkling Wines.

Willow Creek Press will be creatingDownton Abbey2020 Wall Calendars, Mini Calendars and Engagement Calendars, as well as 1000-piece Puzzles featuring images from the forthcoming film. Products will be available to ship July 22nd.

The Downton Abbey movie will be released in September 2019 in the US. It is a Carnival Films production, with Focus Features and Universal Pictures International distributing.

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About Downton Abbey: Downton Abbey the series is a critically acclaimed and multi award-winning period drama, written and created by Julian Fellowes and executive produced by Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge and Nigel Marchant. The series aired for six seasons on ITV in the UK and on MASTERPIECE on PBS in the US. It reached more than 26 million viewers in its final season, making it the highest-rated PBS drama series of all time. It has also been distributed in over 250 territories worldwide. 

Winner of numerous national and international awards, Downton Abbey’s notable accolades include three Golden Globes and fifteen Primetime Emmy Awards. With a total of 69 nominations, Downton Abbey is the most nominated non-US show in the history of the Emmys, and probably Britain’s most successful scripted television export. The show even garnered a Guinness World Record for highest critical ratings for a TV show, and was honored with a Special BAFTA Award in recognition of its outstanding global success.

About Focus Features: Focus Features acquires and produces specialty films for the global market, and holds a library of iconic movies from fearless filmmakers. Current and upcoming domestic releases from Focus include Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, director Morgan Neville’s documentary on Mister Rogers; Joel Edgerton’s coming-of-age and coming-out drama Boy Erased, about a boy’s true-life experience at a conversion therapy program, starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe; Mary, Queen of Scots with Saoirse Ronan as Mary and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I; On the Basis of Sex, the real-life drama of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg staring Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer; Asghar Farhadi’s Spanish-language drama Everybody Knows (Todos lo Saben) starring Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz; Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s directorial debut The Mustang; Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die with Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, and Selena Gomez; Neil Jordan’s thriller Greta starring Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz; Harriet about the iconic freedom fighter Harriet Tubman starring Cynthia Erivo and Leslie Odom Jr. and directed by Kasi Lemmons; and the anticipated Downton Abbey movie starring the entire original cast. 

Focus is part of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG), which produces, acquires, markets and distributes filmed entertainment worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television and other distribution platforms. UFEG’s global division also includes Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Fandango, DreamWorks Animation Film and Television. UFEG is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.  

About Carnival Films: Carnival Films is a division of NBCUniversal International Studios and one of the UK’s leading drama specialists. The company is responsible for the global television phenomenon Downton Abbey and current primetime series such as The Last Kingdom for Netflix, Jamestown for Sky One and upcoming Belgravia for ITV / EPIX. The company is currently producing the Downton Abbey movie, with Focus Features and Universal Pictures International distributing. Other shows produced over Carnival’s history include Poirot, Hotel Babylon, Whitechapel and Dracula, as well as award-winning mini-series such as Traffik, Any Human Heart, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies and The Hollow Crown anthology. Carnival has received a host of national and international awards including Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes and BAFTAs, and has been recognized as the UK’s best production company at both the Bulldog Awards and Broadcast Awards.

About Lot18: Founded in 2010, Lot18 is the nation’s premier wine e-commerce platform, founded with the mission to migrate the wine industry online and create the world’s most personalized and professionally curated wine buying experience.

About Willow Creek Press: Willow Creek Press is a family-owned, multi-generational company in the heart of Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Established in 1976, it boasts a 40 year-old tradition of having a passion for projects and partnerships, with an unwavering commitment to quality products.

About Spotlight Licensing: Spotlight Licensing and Brand Management, Inc. (spotlightlicensing.com) is a New York City based boutique licensing agency specializing in representation of Entertainment, Art/Design, Digital and Character Brands including Downton Abbey, BOO The World’s Cutest Dog, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, Elmer, The Great British Baking Show, Imperial War Museums, The Last Kingdom, Little House on the Prairie, andPrecious Moments among others.