Apartment 11 Productions came out on top yesterday as the winner of the second annual Licensing Challenge at Kidscreen Summit with its upcoming 2D-animated series Olga.

Five prodcos duked it out in the competition, with host Steven Eckstract and a panel of five licensing industry experts evaluating which property had the most potential to crack into retail. They judged the properties based on three critical criteria: originality of the IP; the presenter’s show-to-shelf strategy; and how the brand can be applied to specific product categories.

Olga, which follows the adventures of a socially awkward aspiring zoologist who discovers an alien that helps her break down her barriers and develop new friendships at school, ticked all the boxes and more. The judges noted that while the property didn’t scream “toys and games potential” to them at first, they were ultimately won over by the series’ focus on creativity, relatability and self-expression. These elements make it a vehicle for exploration and schoolyard fun, which presenters Jonathan Finkelstein and Scott Bailey showcased to the audience through product mockups of Olga’s signature observation notebook and applying her pet alien Meh to plush, footwear and even a Tamagotchi.

This is another major win in quick succession for the upcoming 2028 series (52 x 11 minutes), which was co-commissioned last week by CBC and TFO.

The judges selected Pop Paper City as the competition’s runner-up for its namesake property, a series about friends who make creations in a paper-based world, which was presented by brand manager George Caton-Coult. The panel was impressed by the company’s ability to build an immersive IP universe using simple materials, and Caton-Coult demonstrated to the audience that Pop Paper City has potential to extend beyond obvious arts & crafts products into live events, collectibles, activity books and modular construction sets.

Despite not taking home a win, Wind Sun Sky Entertainment’s Future Chicken franchise got the biggest reaction of the night from the audience when the company showcased its potential range of environmentally friendly products, spanning plant incubation playsets and chalk that would allow moss to grow over time on a child’s drawings.

Meanwhile, Gazelle-Antelope Productions charmed audience members with its mockups of trains and station building playsets for its property Go Togo, showing how the series’ online community has created its own original toys as the company awaits a proper toy deal. And Heeboo highlighted how its digital-first property Claynosaurz is primed for a consumer products push with licensees after amassing billions of views online through YouTube shorts, and having already sold thousands of plush items and digital trading cards as an independent.