Westport locals bring kid’s characters to life
Anyone with kids under the age of 10 is probably familiar with characters like Peppa Pig, Blippi and Little Baby Bum — little ones just can’t seem to get enough of them.
The obsession children have for such titles is what led Stephen Shaw and Jonathan Linden, both Westport residents, to create Round Room Live in 2016, a live entertainment company that specializes in transforming both new and iconic intellectual property (IP) into live events.
It started when Shaw took an 18-word viral earworm monopolizing family room’s everywhere and turned it into the Pollstar-nominated, 75-minute musical extravaganza: “Baby Shark Live!” inspired by Pinkfong’s catchy tune.
“We saw the power of that song and what it meant in pop culture and what it meant on YouTube and its views — it has more views than there are people in the world,” Shaw said. “We thought we could create an incredible live show using the power of that brand to create a magical experience for kids. And it was a huge success.”
Since then, the company has built a broad library of touring shows around the world. Among the shows on Round Room Live’s roster are “Peppa Pig Live,” “Baby Shark Live!,” “Blippi The Musical” and “PJ Masks Live.”
“I have three kids under the age of 7, so that’s my test audience; you can see the power of some of these brands,” Shaw said. “When looking for new properties, we look at a variety of different metrics. How is it viewed and streamed online? What are we seeing in terms of viewership? What are the consumer products and how much shelf space have they been provided in the stores?”
Shaw has almost two decades in the live entertainment industry; he started by selling T-shirts and managing merchandise stands at rock shows. In 2007, Shaw met Linden while working at Concert Productions International in Toronto and the two became friends and later partners in Round Room Live.
“Stephen and I worked together for many years and knew we had complementary skill sets that were well suited to running a business together,” Linden said. “A good degree of trust, history and friendship allows the partnership to work.”
With Round Room, they asked themselves if they could create a magical show where kids will be dancing in the aisles, buying merchandise and singing the songs at the tops of their lungs.
“If that’s the case, then it’s a show for us,” Shaw said. “The goal was to create live experiences that were everything but concerts. Experiences tailored to the distinct characters of each property, which we believe are the highest-quality productions for audiences around the world.”
When Round Room Live acquires an IP license for a character, such as Peppa Pig, it sets in motion plans for touring the show, which includes everything from raising the money, to writing, directing and producing, to getting the sets and the costumes.
“And then we also do the promotion and we tour it around the world,” Shaw said. “We’ll tour around 250 different U.S. markets, we’ll tour across Canada and we’ll take it to Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and in some cases the Middle East and Asia.”
Round Room Live also deals in immersive entertainment experiences, producing shows like “Jurassic World: The Exhibition,” "Exhibitionism: The Rolling Stones," “Mandela: The Official Exhibition” and “The Infinite: Living Among the Stars.”
While Shaw focuses on the creative and business side of the live events, Linden manages more of the corporate side, focusing on business development, legal and business affairs and new business ventures. He explained that Entertainment One invested in Round Room in 2018 and Hasbro acquired Entertainment One in 2019. “I manage much of the day-to-day relationship with the parent company," Linden said.
Shaw and Linden share an ambitious vision for the future of Round Room Live.
“We believe that children and family entertainment is going to continue to be an important way for IP owners to grow their brands and more importantly for fans to experience the brands they love live and in person,” Linden said. “Immersive experiences and exhibitions is an area of live entertainment that is growing rapidly ... We also plan to become the world’s leading producer of multi-format live entertainment and continue to bring these experiences to the market.”