North Americans are heading into a long weekend on both sides of the border, with Monday being Family Day in most of Canada and also Presidents’ Day in the US. In Europe…well, enjoy Carnevale! The point is, you’ll have one extra day to cast your vote for who had the best week in the kids biz—we’ll tally everything up and award a Gold Star on Tuesday! Here are this week’s nominees:

Epic Story Media and Gibson Group: In a tough TV market, these two studios got a charming and inclusive musical series to the finish line—with commissions in place from TVNZ, RNZ, TVOKids and Knowledge Network. Part literacy mission and part drag spectacular (with tunes from the chaos agent who gave us “The Time Warp”), Mr. Hugo’s Little Library kept things pretty quiet until it wrapped production this week ahead of a summer premiere. That’s still several months away, but it’s definitely not stopping us from lining up outside with our library cards ready (and our most outrageous outfits on).

HarperCollins, Cantilever Media and Viva Pictures Distribution: With a little help from its friends in the US (Viva) and the UK (Cantilever), mighty publisher HarperCollins is ramping up its presence in the theatrical market—with a co-pro deal that will give three of its kids books the the book-to-screen treatment. It’s a well-timed opportunity to get some high-potential IPs in front of new audiences, and HarperCollins stands to benefit from Viva’s and Cantilever’s distribution networks and animation know-how. The first movie is about a girl and her cat who are secretly supervillains—we can’t wait to see what comes next.

Moose Toys: The Aussie toyco is becoming a go-to partner for YouTubers, with Salish Matter joining MrBeast and Mark Rober as the next influencer to get her own toy line. Moose’s product strategy for Salish is still being kept hush-hush for now, but the company has confirmed it will draw from the kid-friendly influencer’s catalogue of videos for inspiration. And thanks to this deal, Kidscreen can give a cheeky Gold Star to itself for identifying another major up-and-comer on YouTube primed to break out into consumer products and entertainment. 

Sky: The future of streaming is here, and it’s a bundle—a mega-bundle, to be exact. UK broadcaster Sky has put together a one-price package that includes major streamers Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max and Hayu, along with its own programming—which is a pretty savvy way to set yourself up as the only place folks need to go to for content. Sky’s calling this a “world-first” offering, but safe money is that it won’t be the last. Consumer fatigue with multiple subscriptions and rising costs will only make deals like these increasingly appealing. And if this move draws big audiences? Sky’s the limit.

Wizards of the Coast: Even with stunted performances from its consumer products and entertainment businesses, Hasbro still managed to achieve double-digit growth in 2025, thanks to the hottest commodity on the collectible streets today: trading cards. TCG pioneer Wizards of the Coast and its flagship game Magic: The Gathering now account for 36% (more than US$1.7 billion) of the toyco’s annual revenue, and last year’s Final Fantasy and Avatar: The Last Airbender booster sets are the second and third best-selling expansions in the game’s 33-year history. With Hasbro announcing new sets featuring the Ninja Turtles, Marvel superheroes and The Hobbit coming this year, the TCG boom shows no signs of slowing down.

Who had the best week in the bunch? Vote here to let us know what you think:

Want to pitch us a Gold Star nomination? Send an email to submissions@kidscreen.com by noon on Thursdays. And check back every Friday for our next batch of nominees. Hope to see you on the list!