Entertainment-focused brand management company Foundation Media Partners, which is behind Build-A-Bear’s entertainment expansion, today announced that they are representing Varsity Spirit (a division of Varsity Brands) across multiple entertainment categories.
Varsity Spirit is a global leader in cheerleading, dance team & band apparel, camps & competitions and yearbook. This partnership will see Foundation Media broaden the reach of the Varsity Spirit brand through film, TV, music, live events, publishing, podcasts, documentaries and hybrid content. Foundation will lead development, packaging and production across new Varsity Spirit entertainment verticals.
The first projects underway through the partnership include an animated feature, dramatic live-action film and a documentary.
“Working with Varsity Spirit is a dream come true. Varsity Spirit President Bill Seely and EVP Nicole Lauchaire have created a path forward for the company through entertainment ventures that lends itself perfectly to extending and enhancing the Varsity Spirit customer experience,” said Patrick Hughes, Founder & CEO of Foundation Media Partners. We have a shared vision that includes feature films, TV series, docuseries and much more in the Varsity Spirit universe as well as some big surprises in music.”
Bill Seely commented, “At Varsity Spirit, our mission revolves around promoting spirit and instilling important values such as teamwork, dedication, and inclusivity in a way that resonates with today’s youth. We are excited to partner with Foundation as we embark on a journey to demonstrate how the power of spirit can transform communities. This collaboration presents an opportunity for Varsity Spirit to showcase cheerleading, dance, band, and yearbook activities by introducing an innovative brand extension that not only offers new entertainment options for our customers but also opens new avenues to educate audiences about the profound impact of spirit.”
Foundation Media and Varsity Spirit initially began working on entertainment properties together in 2023 when they teamed with Guru Studios (PAW Patrol) for a new animated project titled Spirits of Ridgeway High.
Now reimagined as an animated feature, Spirits of Ridgeway High is a story about optimist cheerleader Melissa Mayfield who while on a mission to lead her last-place cheer team to victory, discovers both cheer and music have secret magical powers. The movie will star Morgan Simianer, who became a breakout personality on the Netflix docuseries Cheer, in the role of Melissa.
The feature film, created in the vein of Rudy, is a sports drama written by Peter Iliff (Point Break, Varsity Blues, Patriot Games) aimed at young women. Set under the lights of a major university, the film lives at the intersection of football and cheer, ushering audiences into the spirit world from a new perspective.
The feature documentary centers on Memphis-based PURE Academy. The film spotlights coach Melvin Cole as he teaches underprivileged youth not only the game of football, but also the game of life. Narrated by Bill Courtney, the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary Undefeated, this doc tells another story of defying the odds and will feature several brand partners who will become a part of the school’s success story.
Additionally, Foundation Media is repackaging and will re-release Varsity Spirit’s documentary American Cheerleader, which was developed and produced by Milojo, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelo’s production company. The film follows the journey of two high school teams vying for the coveted UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship title.
Foundation’s clients and executive team have produced a number of commercially successful and award-winning films for major studios and independent financiers. Recent titles include The Bad Guys (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures), based on the best-selling book franchise by Aaron Blabey; Thelma the Unicorn, based on another best-selling book franchise by Blabey, from director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) for Netflix; and the Build-A-Bear Entertainment projects Deliver By Christmas (Hallmark), Honey Girls (Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions) and the brand’s first animated Christmas movie, Glisten and the Merry Mission.
varsity.com | foundationmgmt.com
