LAB entering important evolution phase driven by IP

Shift away from focused traditional agency revenues to monetisation of IP assets

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Creative and advertising company, Limners and Bards, is entering an important new phase in its evolution, moving more away from reliance on traditional advertising revenue as the main income source, and more towards Intellectual Property (IP).

For several years, the company, which trades as The LAB, has been working to build a business that reaches beyond traditional agency revenues towards one grounded in the creation, ownership, and monetisation of IP, with the strategy now beginning to take tangible shape. Having invested in its IP outlay, the company is now beginning to reap the benefits

Happily Ever Awkward, produced under The LAB’s fast-content model, generated more than 380,000 views within two months of release. The film will reach wider audiences through releases on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV on June 30, 2026, and on Tubi on July 26, 2026. 

The LAB secured its first licensing agreement in the vertical micro-drama space through a partnership with Mansa, a revenue-sharing project to be launched this summer. “Together these milestones signal that the assets we have spent years building are beginning to generate opportunities well beyond their original production,” says Chairman Steven Gooden and CEO, Kimala Bennett.

Meaningful progress in business opportunities

In their half-year report for the period ended April 30, 2026, Gooden and Bennett comment, “what makes this progress meaningful is that these opportunities flow from content we own. Ownership creates optionality, allowing the company to participate in advertising, licensing, distribution, sponsorship, and future derivative projects with each piece of content able to earn across multiple platforms, territories, and revenue streams.”

They say this is a more durable economic model than traditional production work, and it sits at the centre of how we intend to build value over time, noting, “beyond these early successes, our broader content pipeline continues to advance. Discussions on the distribution of Love Offside and Spices of Christmas are progressing well, and we are optimistic that both will begin contributing financially during the current financial year.” 

They point to growing interest from partners seeking authentic Caribbean stories, affirming the management’s conviction that the opportunity ahead extends well beyond Jamaica, even as realizing it depends on securing the right agreements and continuing to invest. 

Through all of this, The LAB’s Agency, Media, and Production businesses remain a genuine source of strength, winning new opportunities, deepening client relationships, and providing the operational platform from which our content ambitions are growing. 

Substantial IP opportunity awaiting

Admitting substantial IP opportunities lie ahead, Gooden and Bennett lectured, “an intellectual property business rewards those willing to invest patiently and think in years rather than quarters, and that is precisely how we are building it. That groundwork is already paying off, with our audience growing, our distribution widening, and new revenue channels opening across the business, each a building block in a portfolio of assets designed to generate value for years to come. 

The management remains confident in the company’s direction and in the conviction that the decisions being made today are shaping a more diversified, more resilient, and more sustainable business in the years ahead. Also, the management believes the foundations for durable, long-term growth are being firmly laid. The progress made during the period has been encouraging on several fronts.