EXCLUSIVE: JoJo Siwa is to develop animated digital-first content with kids entertainment business Bhoosan’s Junior.
Actress, performer and multi-media personality Siwa and the India-headquartered Bhoosan’s struck a strategic partnership, which they say unites her youth-facing brand with Bhoosan’s digital-first kids and family content creation business.
The partnership was brokered by Thomas Global Media, which will serve as licensing agent for all animated content resulting from the pact.
After rising to fame on Lifetime’s Dance Moms, Siwa has built a global entertainment franchise spanning music, television, live touring, publishing and consumer products off of her name, and claims to reach an audience of nearly 75 million followers worldwide. She has generated billions of streams and views online from her content, and created a successful consumer products and licensing and merchandising operation.
Among her notables are selling out more than 100 arenas on her first tour, becoming the youngest artist to headline and sell out London’s O2 Arena, and being the first contestant on Dancing With the Stars to dance with a same-sex partner, and went on to executive produce and star in Emmy-nominated projects including Siwa’s Dance Pop Revolution and The J Team. She was also a judge on So You Think You Can Dance Season 17 and competed in Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test Season 2. Siwa starred in 2024 horror pic AMFAD All My Friends Are Dead and had her own Facebook Watch docuseries, JoJo Goes.
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Her latest move into animation represents “a natural next step in the evolution of her IP,” according to the star and Bhoosan’s. In 2023, she had struck a deal with Pure Imagination Studios to develop an animated series based on XOMG Pop!, the all-girl group she and her mother, Jessalyn Siwa, created. The status on that show isn’t clear right now. We’ve reached out to her reps for more.
“Animation has always been a huge passion of mine and one of my favorite parts of my career growing up, so partnering with Bhooshan’s Junior is incredibly exciting,” said Siwa. I’m involved in every step of the animation process, from creative development through execution, and we’ve already come up with some amazing ideas and designs that I can’t wait to bring to life in a whole new world of JoJo animation.”
Sarath Bhooshan, founder and CEO of Bhooshan’s Junior, said: “At Bhooshan’s Junior, our vision has always been to create globally relevant kids’ IPs that resonate with audiences around the world. Partnering with a globally recognised creator like JoJo Siwa allows us to combine strong, character-driven storytelling with cultural authenticity and global ambition. This collaboration marks an important step in building meaningful, long-term kids’ franchises for audiences worldwide.”
Bhoosan launched his company in 2019 as a ‘tech-tainment’ business out of Kerala, India, and has gone on to launch animated shows such as Louie & Douie, Me A Woo The Curious Kitten and Jhoom Tara Ra Ra as YouTube brands.