No matter how charming, how adorable, how special a children’s property is, it needs a champion, someone with the vision and the foresight to bring the right people together and turn potential into reality.
For Zoonicorn, that champion was Deb Pierson, now co-executive producer for the series. Deb’s background in both licensing & merchandising and animation production gives her a deep understanding of how children’s content and consumer products can work together. She loved what she saw in Zoonicorn from the first moment she laid eyes on it – both the uniqueness of the creativity and the marketing potential of the brand. “Everyone loves a unicorn,” she says. “The classic unicorn is one of the most beloved and evergreen of all kid’s characters. That’s a great advantage for us because we don’t need to start at the beginning to build brand affinity. It’s already established. But you still need to stand out from the crowd. The Zoonicorns check those boxes. Part unicorn, part zebra, they are classic characters with a fantastic twist.
Combine that with our magical dreamworld setting, which is not something you see in a lot of kid’s content, and the empowering message of optimism and resilience, and you’ve got a brand that simply doesn’t look like anything else.” Deb knew exactly where to go with this fledging property. “I had no doubt Toonz would get it. They are one of my favorite animation companies to work with. I love their collaborative spirit and their commitment to taking content creation to the next level. They are truly original thinkers. Once Toonz signed on for production and distribution, we worked with the team at Zoonicorn to reimagine the look and feel of the series. The result is amazing. You can see it right there on the screen.”
Today, with a third season of Zoonicorn now in development, Deb continues to liaison between Toonz Entertainment and Zoonicorn LLC, making sure the production is flowing smoothly and helping to build and manage the production team.
“I became a believer in Zoonicorn the first time Mark Lubratt showed it to me,” Deb says. “Now that we’ve come so far, our goal is to make sure Zoonicorn is an evergreen brand. And why not? It should be around for a very long time. Unicorns aren’t going anywhere. And neither is Zoonicorn.”