The Licensing Exchange

The licensing industry is evolving faster than ever. From artificial intelligence and global brand expansion to experiential retail and emerging intellectual property, today's licensing professionals are navigating an entirely new landscape. In Episode 10 of The Licensing Exchange , hosts David Schnider and Greg Pan welcome Maura Regan , President of Licensing International , for a wide-ranging co...

Veronica Hart brings more than two decades of leadership experience in entertainment, licensing, brand strategy, and franchise development to her role at RWS Global, where she leads the company's worldwide growth strategy across live entertainment, immersive experiences, sports, and destination design. In this episode, David and Greg dive deep into her unique career journey—from Sunbow Entertainme...

In this episode of The Licensing Exchange, hosts David Schnider and Greg Pan sit down with Rosalind Nowicki, Global Head of Consumer Products at Miraculous, for a wide-ranging conversation about building, refreshing, and protecting iconic brands across decades of industry change. Rosalind traces her path from junior apparel buyer to a career across some of the most recognizable studios and brands...

David Schnider and Greg Pan sit down with Jennifer Staley, Vice President of Licensing at BioWorld — a company that started as a small music accessories headwear business 25 years ago and has grown into a global branded merchandise manufacturer and distribution platform operating across 20 product categories in 13 countries. Jen traces BioWorld's evolution from its early days licensing bands like...

Jeremy Padawer, President of Jazwares, shares his journey from Mattel to founding Wicked Cool Toys to leading one of the industry's biggest players. Jeremy discusses his million-dollar Pokémon collection, why he just spent $275K on graded manga, the Logan Paul Pikachu Illustrator card story, getting retailers to take risks on new properties, why kidults are now the #1 toy segment, and his predicti...

In this episode of The Licensing Exchange , hosts David Schnider and Greg Pan sit down with Ari Zebersky and Dylan Karofsky , co-founders of Negosh, a technology platform built to modernize how licensing deals are discovered, negotiated, and closed. Drawing on deep roots in the toy and licensing industries, Ari and Dylan share why licensing has long operated like dial-up internet—and how Negosh ai...

In this episode of The Licensing Exchange , hosts David Schnider and Greg Pan sit down with licensing and consumer-products veterans Derrick Baca and Liz DeSilva to unpack what separates forgettable “logo slap” merchandise from products fans genuinely collect. Derrick shares his path from retail buying into leading licensing strategy, while Liz explains how deep fandom knowledge and creative risk-...

In this episode of The Licensing Exchange , hosts David Schnider and Greg Pan speak with Stu Seltzer , President of Seltzer Licensing Group, NYU professor, co-author of Brand Licensing for Dummies , and 2024 Licensing Hall of Fame inductee. Stu shares how he began his licensing career at Yves Saint Laurent, managing 15 global licensees across 60 territories, before moving to Warner Bros./DC Comics...

In this episode of The Licensing Exchange, hosts David Schnider and Greg Pan sit down with Steven Ekstract , a licensing industry visionary and founder of Global Licensing Advisors . Steven helped shape modern brand licensing as the founding publisher of License Global Magazine , brand director of Informa Markets’ Global Licensing Group, and co-author of Brand Licensing For Dummies . Now leading E...

In the premiere episode of The Licensing Exchange , hosts David Schnider and Greg Pan sit down with Cindy Levitt — former Senior Vice President of Licensing at Hot Topic and 2023 Licensing International Hall of Fame inductee — to talk about the evolution of licensing, creativity, and risk-taking in retail. Cindy shares how she helped grow Hot Topic from a garage startup into a cultural phenomenon,...