Brenda Bisner is a Children’s Entertainment Digital Brand Strategist and business development executive in the children’s media space. She has the rare talent to spot trends and properties that have evergreen potential and fully leverage their value in the digital marketplace.

She has helped close licensing deals for major brands, such as Strawberry Shortcake, Johnny Test, Caillou, Richard Scarry, Inspector Gadget, Lucha Libre Wrestling, and many more. Working with companies such as Scholastic, Cookie Jar Entertainment, the Tom Lynch Company, and many others, Brenda has negotiated and produced over 30 apps, was instrumental in launching five kids’ website platforms, and developed, produced, and sold live action, animated, and reality series across multiple channels around the world.

Throughout her 14+ year career, Brenda has demonstrated a knack for tapping overlooked revenue streams in apps, gaming, and digital. She understands what it takes creatively and financially to produce a successful show, taking a brand and developing it into something that people want to watch, have, follow, and talk about.

Brenda learned the ropes of live action, scripted television production, and programming development for children and young adults while working with independent producer Tom Lynch. She produced the pilot series South of Nowhere for The N (now called Teen Nick) and developed the first reality show for Nickelodeon.

Working for the boutique agency Branscome International, Brenda jumped into the international distribution marketplace, handling sales and acquisitions of short films and features from around the world. At Branscome, she also developed strong relationships with international clients. It was an education in legal contracts, delivery, client relationships, and territory-by-territory needs—and she aced it. Branscome was also poised on the cutting edge of mobile and digital content before it was all the rage; this exciting time in media technology sparked Brenda’s passion for this fast approaching “new” market. Brenda has been working in digital media since it began.

Her love of the digital space and kids’ programming finally merged when she came to Porchlight Entertainment, where she was Vice President of Children’s Programming and Acquisitions for Digital Media, Home Entertainment, and International Distribution. She was instrumental in launching two of the world’s first children’s content websites: kidvideos.com (the first concept for a YouTube for kids, including self-editing software) and kidmango.com (a Digital destination for 2–12 year olds). Brenda scoured the globe to acquire thousands of hours of top kids’ programming. She also acquired top brands for the Home Entertainment division and International Distribution division, as well as set up numerous co-production deals with countries such as Canada, the UK, France, Germany, and India.

Brenda’s next mission was to dive into Licensing and Merchandising sales with Cookie Jar Entertainment/CPLG. There, she helped close licensing deals for major brands and realized previously untapped revenues in the digital space. She constructed an overall catalog deal for multi-millions in the home entertainment space, and she also worked on Jaroo.com, a website for kids of all ages featuring free on-demand classic cartoons and animated films.

Today, Brenda lives in New York City. As the founder of Baby Toes Media, a consultancy that works with brand owners to build their brands from the “Digital Ground Up” and strategizes, implements, and executes on a host of digital initiatives across many platforms worldwide. Discovering novel ways to bring great content to kids all around the globe is her goal, and she pursues it with passion.

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