Metal Harbor | Licensing & Commercial Partnerships for Independent IP

Turn intellectual property, audience demand, and commercial relationships into durable revenue.

Metal Harbor helps independent entertainment companies and creator-owned properties build licensing and commercial partnership programs from the ground up.We provide senior-level strategy and execution, saving clients from assembling an internal licensing department, hiring a large agency team, or handing their brand to a volume-driven representative.

Build the program. Find the partners. Structure the opportunity. Create the operating system.

Discuss an Engagement

Valuable intellectual property needs more than exposure

Many independent entertainment companies have already completed the hardest part: creating something people care about.They may have recognizable characters, a compelling catalog, an active community, proprietary content, or a loyal customer base. What they often lack is a structured process for converting that value into licensing and partnership opportunities.Metal Harbor helps close that gap.We work with clients to determine where their intellectual property can credibly expand, which partners are worth pursuing, how opportunities should be structured, and what infrastructure is needed to manage the program responsibly.The objective is not to chase every available deal.The objective is to build commercial relationships that create revenue, respect the property, and strengthen the long-term value of the brand.

What We Do

Licensing Program Development

Build the foundation of a professional licensing operation.Metal Harbor helps clients evaluate their intellectual property, prioritize commercial categories, define partner criteria, prepare licensing materials, and establish the workflows required to support external deals.Services may include:• Intellectual-property and brand-extension assessment
• Category strategy and market prioritization
• Licensing-program roadmaps
• Commercial positioning and sell-sheet direction
• Partner criteria and target-market development
• Deal-approval and product-approval workflows
• Pipeline and reporting infrastructure
• Royalty-management requirements
• Launch and renewal planning

Partner Origination & Business Development

Move from theoretical opportunity to real commercial conversations.Metal Harbor researches prospective partners, develops target lists, conducts outbound outreach, qualifies opportunities, and helps advance approved discussions toward commercial agreements.Services may include:• Target-account research
• Prospect and category prioritization
• Outbound partner development
• Opportunity qualification
• Partnership presentations
• Commercial proposal development
• Negotiation support
• Pipeline and relationship management
• Renewal and account-expansion planning

Rights & Revenue Strategy

Design commercial structures that are practical, defensible, and aligned with the value of the property.Metal Harbor brings experience with royalty-bearing agreements, revenue-sharing programs, advances, approval rights, reporting obligations, and long-term strategic relationships.Services may include:• Royalty and revenue-share structures
• Advances and minimum guarantees
• Term and territory strategy
• Channel and exclusivity considerations
• Approval and quality-control frameworks
• Reporting and audit provisions
• Rights packaging
• Commercial scenario analysis
• Renewal, expansion, and exit planning

Licensing Operations

A licensing program needs more than signed agreements.Metal Harbor helps clients create the internal systems needed to evaluate opportunities, manage approvals, coordinate launches, review reporting, and maintain accountability across multiple partners.Services may include:• CRM and pipeline design
• Opportunity briefs
• Target-approval registers
• Contract and negotiation workflows
• Product and marketing approval tracking
• Launch coordination
• Monthly performance reporting
• Cross-functional alignment with creative, marketing, finance, operations, and legal teams

Who We Serve

Metal Harbor works with independent businesses that possess valuable intellectual property, content, brands, or engaged audiences- but do not yet have a mature internal licensing and partnerships function.This may include:• Independent music companies and artist-led businesses
• Comic publishers and creator-owned character properties
• Gaming and tabletop companies
• Digital media and entertainment brands
• YouTube, podcast, and creator-led businesses
• Entertainment technology companies
• Independent publishers and content platforms
• Emerging intellectual-property owners entering consumer products
• Businesses seeking to formalize an existing partnership programMetal Harbor is especially well suited for founder-led organizations that value direct senior involvement, disciplined brand protection, and selective commercial expansion.

How We Work

1. Assess

We begin by understanding the property, audience, existing revenue channels, available rights, organizational capabilities, and commercial objectives.

2. Prioritize

We evaluate potential categories and partners based on strategic fit, revenue potential, execution requirements, audience alignment, and brand risk.

3. Build

We create the materials, target lists, commercial frameworks, approval processes, and reporting systems required to support a credible program.

4. Originate

We identify and approach potential partners, qualify interest, and advance approved opportunities into substantive discussions.

5. Structure

We help shape royalty economics, advances, minimum guarantees, rights scope, term, territory, approvals, reporting, and other commercial provisions.

6. Operate

We support the client through negotiation, launch coordination, partner management, performance reporting, renewals, and program expansion.

Engagement Options

90-Day Licensing Launch

A focused engagement for companies creating a licensing or partnership program for the first time.Typical deliverables may include:• Intellectual-property and category assessment
• Prioritized market-entry strategy
• Approved target-account universe
• Licensing-material recommendations
• Pipeline and approval infrastructure
• Initial outbound partner development
• Monthly executive reporting
• Recommendations for the next phase of growth

Outsourced Licensing & Partnerships Function

An ongoing engagement for companies that need senior licensing leadership and execution without immediately building an internal department.Metal Harbor can support:• Program strategy
• Partner origination
• Opportunity qualification
• Commercial development
• Negotiation support
• Pipeline management
• Cross-functional coordination
• Performance reporting
• Renewal and expansion planning

Strategic Project Engagement

Focused support for a defined commercial challenge or opportunity.Projects may include:• New-category evaluation
• Partnership-market mapping
• Licensing-program design
• Commercial deal analysis
• Revenue-share development
• Rights and channel strategy
• Partnership-pipeline creation
• Operating-process development

Why Metal Harbor

Operator-led, not presentation-led

Metal Harbor is built around practical execution. We do not stop at recommendations. We help clients establish the systems, materials, targets, and commercial activity needed to move a program forward.

Senior attention from beginning to end

Every engagement is led personally by the firm’s founder. Clients are not sold by a senior executive and then transferred to a junior account team.

Commercial and operational fluency

Metal Harbor combines licensing, sales, business development, marketing, analytics, contract fluency, and program operations.

Independent-IP perspective

We understand that founder-led and creator-owned properties require a different approach than large corporate portfolios. Growth must be balanced against brand integrity, audience trust, internal capacity, and long-term control.

Built for emerging programs

Metal Harbor is designed for companies that are too sophisticated to manage licensing informally but are not ready to hire an entire internal department or retain a large traditional agency.

About the Principal

Clayton Johnson

Founder & Principal

Clayton Johnson is a licensing and commercial partnerships executive with experience across music rights, digital content, creator partnerships, marketing, and B2B sales.He has built and scaled a licensed creator and rightsholder ecosystem involving more than 700 partners, developed partnership programs that became material contributors to company revenue, and managed strategic relationships with major global publishers, entertainment rightsholders, creators, and independent businesses.His experience includes royalty and revenue-share structures, advances and minimum guarantees, rights negotiations, partner origination, commercial strategy, pipeline development, cross-functional leadership, and program operations.Earlier in his career, Clayton managed a B2B sales territory of more than 3,000 accounts and regularly generated more than $1 million in annual sales.Clayton brings extensive experience developing commercial terms, negotiating licensing arrangements, administering complex agreements, and working closely with internal and outside counsel.

Build the Commercial Function Your IP Deserves

Metal Harbor works with a limited number of clients to ensure direct senior involvement in every engagement.For inquiries regarding licensing-program development, partner origination, commercial strategy, or outsourced licensing leadership: