Following a slate of recent Company news regarding the launch of
the
Kartoon Channel!, the creation
of
Stan Lee Universe – anchored by a
global deal with
Archie Comics – and the
appointment of
Michael Uslan as Head of
Development for Stan Lee Universe, Genius Brands
International, Inc. “Genius Brands” (NASDAQ:GNUS) today
announces more important business updates.
“Recently, we have made tremendous strides in
our growth and those developments are just a part of the Genius
Brands’ story,” said Genius Brands Chairman & CEO Andy Heyward.
“During this time our Kartoon Channel! team has been working on the
iOS app, which will debut before month end, and securing new
content. Our Global Consumer Products sales team and our
International Distribution sales team have been busy negotiating
and closing deals. Today, we’re sharing the announcement of
distribution deals stretching across four different continents, and
consumer products licensing deals with products ranging from
branded face masks to bicycles. These new agreements give us an
even stronger platform to deliver long-term value at Genius Brands.
We are working diligently to build a value machine in children’s
entertainment – gathering the best talents in the industry and
striving to provide top-quality content. This is the best way to
deliver long-term shareholder return.”
New Broadcast and Platform Content
Deals
Genius Brands has signed a raft of broadcast and
digital platform deals around the world for its animated tentpole
children’s series, Rainbow Rangers, currently
airing in the U.S. on Nick Jr., including:
- Australia’s Nine Network (seasons 1
& 2)
- New Zealand’s TVNZ (season 1)
- MENA’s Discovery Kids (seasons 1
& 2)
-
Israel’s NOGA (seasons
1 & 2)
- TV2 in Hungary (season 1)
- Poland’s Mini Mini (seasons 1 &
2)
- Portugal’s Canal Panda (seasons 1
& 2)
- Pikaboo in the Balkans (seasons 1 &
2)
- Pan-regional partner, Nickelodeon Latin
American and NOGGIN (season
2)
Shanghai Senyu has also
licensed the rights for Mainland China to season two of
the Rainbow Rangers with an investment commitment.
Shanghai Senyu currently represents season one of the series and
manages the development of the consumer products program for the
brand across the region.
For Llama Llama, starring
Jennifer Garner, Genius Brands has signed new international
content deals, including TVP in
Poland, KAN in Israel, and
Croatia’s HRT.
New Retail Initiatives
In the consumer products’ marketplace, Genius
Brands is gearing up for the August retail launch
at Walmart for the Rainbow
Rangers’ toy line from Mattel,
along with hundreds of other product SKUs coming to retail over the
next 12 months.
The Company is also developing its international
retail program and has appointed two new licensing agents to
manage Rainbow Rangers in key
territories, including Tycoon (Mexico)
and ETS Licensing (Italy).
In addition to Mattel, current manufacturing
partners producing product for mass retail and online
for Rainbow Rangers include:
- Distribution Solutions (DVDs)
- Bentex (apparel)
- MacMillan Publishing (books)
- Dynacraft (bicycles – a completely sold
out first run with more arriving this fall)
- Centric Brands (sleepwear)
- Handcraft (underwear)
- Disguise (costumes and accessories)
For the Llama
Llama brand, Genius Brands has partnered
with MaskClub.com on a new initiative to
feature Llama Llama branded cloth face masks.
Genius Brands will be donating a percentage of the proceeds to
the Save the Children organization. Additionally, for
every mask purchased, MaskClub is donating a medical grade mask
to First Responders Children’s Foundation for
distribution to paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police
officers, firefighters and medical personnel treating COVID- 19
patients.
Additional partners appointed to
create Llama Llama branded products for
a wide range of mass, specialty and online retail distribution
nationwide, include:
- Kids Preferred (plush)
- Bendon Publishing (activity books)
- NCircle Entertainment (DVDs)
- Scholastic (game and activity books available
exclusively at Scholastic Book Fairs)
- PhatMojo (toys)
- Cuddle Barn (holiday plush)
- Core Home (range of hydration and feeding
products)
- Everyday Kids, (children's bedding and
home décor)
- SPIRIT! (book with plush set)
- Decopac (bake design and decorating
kits)
- Prime Party (party goods)
- Creative Converting (party
accessories)
- Halloween.com/Fun.com (Halloween
costumes)
- Kurt Adler (holiday ornaments)
In the international marketplace, Genius Brands
has appointed Centa IP as licensing
agent to drive the Llama Llama business
across Pac-Asia.
New Kartoon Channel! Update
An iOS COPPA compliant Kartoon
Channel! app will be available by end of July to further
enhance user experience. Additional marquis content will also be
announced in the coming weeks.
About Rainbow RangersFeaturing
engaging storylines rooted in themes of empowerment, diversity,
friendship, and sustainability, Rainbow Rangers, with two
seasons produced, is a rescue-based series that follows the
adventures of seven girls who are Earth’s first responders,
protecting people, animals, resources, and the natural beauty of
our world. The series boasts a unique and
highly-accomplished team of creators from the animated motion
picture and television worlds, including Rob Minkoff
(Disney’s The Lion King director), Shane Morris (Disney’s
Frozen co-writer), Tim Mansfield, and New York Times Bestselling
author and Emmy Award-nominated writer Elise Allen (Dinosaur
Train, Lion Guard, Barbie specials), who serves as head writer and
co-creator. Multiple Emmy Award-winning
director Michael Maliani directs the series, and Genius
Brands' Chairman and CEO and multiple Emmy Award-winning producer,
Andy Heyward, serves as executive producer.
About Llama LlamaBased on the
award-winning and bestselling book series by celebrated author and
illustrator Anna Dewdney, the preschool series is about first
childhood experiences and adventures, as well as the special
connections between the lead character, Llama, his Mama and his
grandparents. Llama Llama tells heart-warming tales of
life in a safe, friendly town seen through the eyes of Llama as he
interacts with the amazing world around him. Seasons one and
two of the series are available on Netflix with Jennifer Garner in
the lead role as Mama Llama.
With over 30 million units in print worldwide,
Dewdney’s Llama Llama books from Penguin Young Readers
have all been New York Times bestsellers with several
titles claiming the #1 spot, and her work has been translated
into eight languages. Dewdney’s soothing tales are
synonymous with calming early-childhood anxiety and she was praised
by the Chicago Tribune as a “geographer extraordinaire of
the emotional terrain of preschoolers and their mothers.” Books in
her Llama Llama series include Llama Llama Red
Pajama, Llama Llama Holiday Drama, Llama Llama Misses
Mama, and Llama Llama Time to Share.
About Superhero
KindergartenFrom the genius mind of the late Stan Lee
comes the action-adventure comedy series Stan Lee’s Superhero
Kindergarten (52 x 11’), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The
series brings the very best superhero storytelling to a new
generation of preschoolers with action, comedy and heart. Embedded
in each episode is a valuable life-lesson about health, exercise,
nutrition and anti-bullying! Stan Lee’s Superhero
Kindergarten is co-produced by Alibaba Group, Stan Lee’s POW!
Entertainment, and Schwarzenegger’s Oak Productions. In
addition to his likeness, Schwarzenegger lends his voice as the
lead character in the series. Co-creator of Deadpool, Fabian
Nicieza, who has sold over 100 million comics worldwide, is
scripting the series. Schwarzenegger joins Genius
Brands’ Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward, as well as Paul Wachter, CEO
of Main Street Advisors, and President of POW! Entertainment Gill
Champion as Executive Producers.
About Kartoon Channel!Kartoon
Channel! is available in over 100 million U.S. television
households and over 200 million mobile devices, across multiple
AVOD, OTT and cable platforms, including Amazon Prime, Amazon Fire,
Apple TV, Apple IOS, Android, Roku, DISH, Sling TV, Comcast’s
Xfinity on Demand, Cox, Tubi, Xumo, SelectTV, Redbox, Plex, and
YouTube.
Kartoon Channel!’s executive team includes
former President of Fox Kids Networks, Margaret Loesch (Executive
Chairman), Former Walt Disney Television President David Neuman
(Chief Creative Officer), and Caroline Tyre (General Manager).
About Stan Lee UniverseGenius
Brands and Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment have formed a joined
venture to create Stan Lee Universe. Stan Lee
Universe will assume worldwide rights, in perpetuity, to the
name, physical likeness, physical signature, live-action and
animated motion picture, television, online, digital, publishing,
comic book, merchandising and licensing rights to Stan Lee and his
IP creations past*, present, and going forward. Genius Brands
is the managing and controlling partner of the Stan Lee
Universe. Headed by the recently appointed producer of
Batman, Michael Uslan, Stan Lee Universe will be built
from the repository of all of the characters and IP created by Stan
Lee, post-Marvel Entertainment, not otherwise elsewhere. It
is drawn from over 100 original Stan Lee creations, from which
Genius Brands will develop and license approximately seven
properties per year.
About Genius Brands
InternationalGenius Brands International, Inc. (Nasdaq:
GNUS) is a leading global kids media company developing, producing,
marketing and licensing branded children’s entertainment properties
and consumer products for media and retail distribution. The
Company’s award-winning ‘content with a purpose’ portfolio includes
the upcoming Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger and in partnership with Alibaba; Rainbow
Rangers for Nick Jr.; Llama Llama, starring Jennifer
Garner, for Netflix; award-winning toddler brand Baby Genius;
adventure comedy STEM series Thomas Edison's Secret Lab; and
entrepreneurship series Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires
Club. Through licensing agreements with leading partners,
characters from Genius Brands’ IP also appear on a wide range of
consumer products for the worldwide retail marketplace. The
Company’s new Kartoon Channel! is available in over 100 million
U.S. television households via a broad range of distribution
platforms, including Comcast, Cox, DISH, Amazon Prime, Sling TV,
Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and more. For additional information,
please visit www.gnusbrands.com.
Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements
in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as
"may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect,"
"anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast,"
"project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements
regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are
forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these
forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should
not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are
based on information available to us on the date of this release.
These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates
and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties,
including without limitation, our ability to generate revenue or
achieve profitability; our ability to obtain additional financing
on acceptable terms, if at all; our ability to repay our
outstanding debt; the potential issuance of a significant number of
shares to our convertible note holders which will dilute our equity
holders; fluctuations in the results of our operations from period
to period; general economic and financial conditions; our ability
to anticipate changes in popular culture, media and movies, fashion
and technology; competitive pressure from other distributors of
content and within the retail market; our reliance on and
relationships with third-party production and animation studios;
our ability to market and advertise our products; our reliance on
third-parties to promote our products; our ability to keep pace
with technological advances; our ability to protect our
intellectual property and those other risk factors set forth in the
“Risk Factors” section of the Company’s most recent Annual Report
on Form 10-K and in the Company's subsequent filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Thus, actual
results could be materially different. The Company expressly
disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.
MEDIA CONTACT:pr@gnusbrands.com
INVESTOR RELATIONS
CONTACT:ir@gnusbrands.com
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