Following Genius Brands’ acquisitions of Canada’s
WOW!
Unlimited Media, Inc. (WOW!) and
Ameba
TV, and major investment in Germany’s
Your Family
Entertainment (YFE) to build a global footprint, as well
as the worldwide rollout of
Kartoon
Channel!/
Kartoon Channel! Kidaverse,
Genius Brands International, Inc. (“Genius
Brands” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: GNUS), announces the promotion
of
Kerry Phelan to the newly created position of
Chief Brand Officer.
Phelan joined Genius Brands in July 2021 as
Executive Vice President & General Manager of Global Franchise
Management after serving for 30 years in consumer products &
retail executive roles at studios, including Lucasfilm
Ltd., DreamWorks Animation and
Pixar, building global campaigns for multi-billion
dollar brands, including the Star Wars and
Cars franchises, as well as Shrek, Kung Fu
Panda, and Madagascar,
among many others.
As the company has expanded significantly over
the past year with multiple acquisitions, her role is expanding to
include global brand building across all Genius Brands’ businesses.
As Chief Brand Officer, Phelan will build out a 360° ecosystem with
multiple consumer touchpoints while driving significant incremental
revenue for the company. She will be responsible for overall
global brand strategy, consumer products, brand partnerships &
collaborations, brand experiences, retail development and more for
Genius Brands’ roster of kid’s properties, including Stan
Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, Shaq’s
Garage, Stan Lee Universe,
Rainbow Rangers, among others in development.
"It’s a tremendous privilege for us to have an
executive of Kerry’s caliber, with her successful track record of
launching some of the most successful brands in entertainment
history, from Star Wars to Cars,
leading the charge as we continue to launch new IP into the market
and rollout existing brands on a global scale,” stated
Heyward. “Genius Brands is experiencing its most
significant growth to date with our slate of acquisitions further
bolstering our content catalogue and giving us a greater worldwide
footprint, and we are in a solid position to take our company to
the next level and achieve our goals of delivering quality
children’s franchise to the marketplace and revenue to our
shareholders.”
“In less than a year of joining Genius Brands, I
am excited to be a part of a company that is leading the charge in
the kid’s space to deliver innovative, purpose-driven brands to the
marketplace while building a global platform to reach kids
anywhere, anytime with quality content. It is truly amazing to be a
part of the team at Genius Brands and to play a role in the growth
of the company. I look forward to the years ahead as we continue to
build our brands and platform on a global scale,” said
Phelan.
After she successfully launched the Star Wars
brand at LEGO Systems Inc., Phelan was recruited directly to
Lucasfilm Ltd. where she led the global consumer products &
promotional licensing business for the multi-billion-dollar
Star Wars franchise in over 60 countries worldwide. She then joined
Pixar Animation Studios, reporting directly to Steve Jobs, where
she launched, in concert with Disney Consumer Products, the
original Cars consumer product program, which became a top tier,
blockbuster franchise. Following Pixar, Phelan spent seven years at
DreamWorks Animation as head of consumer products and licensing,
driving the development of franchise management plans for the
studio’s film and television properties, including Shrek,
Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon & others.
At DreamWorks, she managed the retail consumer products business
and doubled the consumer products revenue in just three years. Most
recently, she served as President of Global Franchise Management at
Lionsgate Entertainment, where under her leadership, the studio
created brand extensions spanning location-based and live
entertainment venues, consumer products, brand partnerships and an
array of promotional ventures for such blockbuster franchises as
The Hunger Games and John Wick.
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 ‘content with a purpose’ portfolio includes Stan
Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, on
Kartoon Channel!; Shaq’s Garage, starring Shaquille O’Neal on
Kartoon Channel!; Rainbow Rangers on Kartoon Channel! and
Netflix; Llama Llama, starring Jennifer Garner, on 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 Kartoon Channel! and
Kartoon Classroom! are available in over 100 million U.S.
television households via a broad range of distribution platforms,
including Comcast, Cox, DISH, Sling TV, Amazon
Prime, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Apple iOS, Android TV,
Android Mobil, Google Play, Xumo, Roku, Tubi, YouTube,
KartoonChannel.com, Samsung Smart TVs and LG TVs. 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; the potential issuance of a
significant number of shares, 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
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9d33d70a-bf7c-4632-b65d-93430e793988
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