Darran Garnham appointment

~ US Licensing a key focus for 2011 ~

LONDON – February 08 2011 – Leading social online games developer Mind Candy, publisher of global kids phenomenon moshimonsters.com, today announces that it has appointed ex-Kidz Entertainment Exec, Darran Garnham to head up the company's global licensing division – bringing Moshi Monsters consumer products to over 34 million fans worldwide.

Garnham takes on the role of Head of Global Licensing and will be responsible for the offline expansion of the Moshi Monsters brand, including the development and implementation of Mind Candy’s global licensing strategy, building an in-house team and setting up ground support within key markets worldwide. A priority hire Garnham is looking to make is a US Licensing Director, who will be responsible for setting up and managing a US-based licensing team driving growth of the brand within this important territory throughout 2011 and beyond.

Commenting on his appointment, Darran said: “I’m thrilled to be on board at Mind Candy. Moshi Monster s is a brand that transcends international borders and distribution platforms, allowing us a world of opportunity. We have big ambitions to grow it into the largest transmedia kids entertainment property worldwide and are rolling out at an increasingly rapid pace.”

A licensing specialist with over 14 years experience, Garnham joins Mind Candy from Kidz Entertainment where he was SVP Sales & Marketing Eastern Europe and responsible for the establishment and management of a network of offices throughout 22 countries in Eastern Europe & CIS. During his time with Kidz, Darran managed a powerful portfolio of licensing rights for Internationally-renowned brands including, Lego, BBC Worldwide, 20 ^th Century Fox, Sony, Paramount and DreamWorks. Prior to this Darran was Director of International Sales for 4Kids where he worked internationally across a number of preeminent entertainment and lifestyle brands, Pokemon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Cabbage Patch Kids.   

Darran’s first hire is Dave Tovey, who has come on board as Licensing Manager to manage and support growth of the Moshi licensing program within the UK and internationally. Dave joins from Classic Media, where he spent 3.5 years working across food, interactive and digital categories for an array of well-known family brands including Postman Pat, Where’s Wally? Casper and new pre-school brands Guess with Jess and Tinga Tinga Tales.   

Michael Acton Smith, CEO, Mind Candy, commented: “We're delighted to have both Darran and Dave on board, both of whom bring with them extensive licensing knowledge and experience that will help to develop and shape the global growth of Mind Candy's licensing division.”

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Notes to editors:

ABOUT MIND CANDY        

Mind Candy is one of the world’s fastest growing social online gaming companies and the global developer, operator and publisher of Moshi Monsters. The company was founded in 2004 by Michael Acton Smith, a UK-based entrepreneur who previously founded Firebox.com. For further information visit www.mindcandy.com

ABOUT MOSHI MONSTERS™

Moshi Monsters is a free-to-play, fun-filled world of adoptable pet monsters, combining adorable virtual pets with social online gameplay and engaging educational puzzles for children aged 6-12. Over 34 million monsters have been created to date and over two million new players are joining each month making Moshi Monsters one of the world’s fastest growing children’s sites in the world! To date, more than 120 million educational puzzles have been played and over one million virtual items are sold each day! For more information visit www.moshimonsters.com