Live Company Group PLC (LON:LVCG) Executive Chairman David Ciclitira caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss their new BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise contract in Korea.
Q1: David, I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things today, firstly, the 2017 accounts. Can you explain the accounts from last year and what they actually represent for Live Company Group?
A1: Basically, as the accounts say, the accounts were really for a very short period, the company traded and remember there was Christmas holidays during that period for literally 9 days.
The accounts show a small loss in relation to BRICKLIVE Group because it’s a reverse transaction and there is an exceptional item which is really due to the fact that obviously we are accounted under IRFS and the IRFS rules basically have seen that there is nearly £5 million of good will which we as directors have chosen to impair. So, the realities, a one-off exception really relating to the transaction which took place on 22nd December.
The company itself, as I’ve pointed out, in my statement, the revenues are going forward, it’s a profitable business and we are progressing at quite a good rate.
Q2: How much of BRICLIVE’s revenue are within the accounts from last year?
A2: Our licence fees last year from BRICKLIVE were£ 1.7 million and, as I’ve stated in my statement, there’s obviously a significant increase above that already in 2018 and I expect obviously, by the time we get to the year-end, to have significant growth.
Q3: Just moving on, you also announced a new Korean agreement, can you tell us a little bit about the announcement you made this morning?
A3: I find this to be the most important part of what we’re doing, we announced a few months ago that we’d set up a new division, a new company called BRICKLIVE Touring and this is the first of several contracts that will happen over the next period. Korea is a very innovative place and as I said in my quote, in my release, it’s really the incubator for much of what we do.
BRICKLIVE Touring, this is a show that’s basically a themed show that lasts say 2 months in one location and what’s really exciting here is it’s under a Mega Dome which has projected images and stuff. So, it’s really something spectacular, all in the lines of it’s nothing, it doesn’t have the live people like a Cirque de Soleil has but we’re moving in that direction.
The interesting thing is it’s going to be launched in Macau at Christmas, there are several other pieces in the announcement that we are actually launching a BRICKLIVE show in Busan which last for 9 months and then running alongside that we’ll also have, if you like, a pre-cursor to the BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise. Animal Paradise is a themed show which is based around endangered species which obviously is a very hot topic right now and very popular with visitors so there’s sort of a beginning show running alongside the show in Busan.
The real Mega Dome BRICLIVE Animal Paradise starts in Macau then it’ll return back to Korea but as you’ll notice from our release, the licensee has options in Japan and Taiwan and Hong Kong and each additional location brings in additional licence fees.
This is the first time that we’ve put numbers in a release, just over $2 million is the current revenues from this project, margins will be in the region of 70% so it’s a significant piece of business.
Q4: What can you tell us about the new partner, Oracle Projects?
A4: It’s a Korean company that has got a licence for this dome, the Mega Dome is actually Canadian created, and they are basically using the BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise as their main content for the dome that they’ve purchased.
Q5: As you’ve mentioned, there are different shows, I think you’ve talked us through them really but what’s the connection to the Busan International Film Festival?
A5: Let’s start in Busan, Busan is the second largest city in Korea, it’s in South Korea and it’s incredibly fast-growing. The Busan International Film Festival is Asia’s version of the Cannes Film Festival, as many of your listeners will know, K-pop and all this stuff is very famous in Asia, all the celebrity stars go down to the film festival. So, a bit like Cannes, it has that iconic feel to it and the reality of it is it’s Asia’s film festival, not just Korea, it’s where Asia goes to the film festival. Film festival has the most amazing iconic buildings and we are creating an interactive show loosely entitled BRICKLIVE BIFF which will run from the beginning of August to 10th February and that is a normal BRICKLIVE show really but the assets contained within that are Nom Anor specific, they’re sort of medieval knights and wizards and stuff like that.
Running alongside that in a purpose-built dome is a show which is called BRICKLIVE Jungle, that is a sort of pre-cursor to the Animal Paradise show so that runs until the middle of November and then the show gets upgraded to be Animal Paradise which has 60 animals in and that gets launched in Macau to fit with their peak season which is around Christmas.
The thing that I’m very very excited about personally is the fact that we’ve linked the show to endangered species, so we’ll be creating an educational programme with it and special merchandise with it. I think, like in the UK, I think the world’s second largest charity is the WWF, there’s a lot interest in rhinos, elephants, all the endangered species so I think the BRICKLIVE brings the education of what is the very important issue right down to children-level. We’re looking at not just expanding the BRICKLIVE Touring but specifically BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise which we are launching really in Korea as the beginning of a global brand.
Q6: Can you explain to us the concept of the mega dome?
A6: Mega Dome is a big dome that fits all these things but unlike it just being a 2-dimensional BRICKLIVE, it brings it into 3-dimensions because projectors show outside the dome and inside the dome images that we obviously chose to put on and they’ll be of those endangered species, live images of real rhinos as opposed to a brick-based rhino.
I think, altogether, it takes the whole of the BRICKLIVE concept to a whole new level hence the significant increases in licence fees and stuff compared to a normal show.
Q7: Are there plans for further touring locations for the Mega Dome?
A7: The Mega Dome, they have the rights to do this in Japan and in Taiwan and in Hong Kong and I know they’re significantly advanced in those discussions and our own partner in Japan is very excited by the project. A key point to point out to your listeners is that every time they choose another territory outside of Macau and Korea, it’s additional licence revenue so that would mean that the figure we’ve quoted would be significantly increased and also, interesting, is that they have sought to have a 3-year extension on the 3-year deal they’ve got.
So, very exciting, very positive and I think, as I said, Korea is a great place to build things and create things from and I would not be surprised if we do not see more BRICKLIVE Animal Paradise’s in the region in the very near future.
Live Company Group operates as a live events and entertainment company. The Company offers sports marketing, media, and management services. Live Company Group also provides television and radio broadcasting services. Live Company Group serves customers worldwide. BRICKLIVE events have received widespread acclaim as a leading network of partner-driven shows designed to showcase the benefits of LEGO® as an educational tool worldwide.
