Genius Brands International Kicks Off U.S. Fall Retail Launch of Its Tween Hit, SpacePOP, With the Debut of the Brand Apparel Program at Select Kohl's Stores Nationwide and Online

Source:  Genius Brands International, Inc.



SpacePOP YouTube Influencer Campaign Reaching Millions to Promote Juniors Sportswear Line From Jaya Apparel Available at Kohl's October 15, 2016; Sony Music/Legacy Recordings Also Releases the Original SpacePOP Soundtrack Across All Major Retail Distribution in Store and Online, Including Target, Toys"R"Us and Amazon.com

 Genius Brands International, Inc. ("GBI") (OTCQB: GNUS) launches the first apparel program at select Kohl's stores nationwide and online for its music-driven brand SpacePOP, a hit among tweens with approximately eight million channel views on YouTube (youtube.com/spacepopgirls) since its premiere on June 20^th.


GBI will debut on October 15^th a fashionable collection of SpacePOP sportswear from Jaya Apparel for tween girls (size 7-16) at Kohl's, including tops, bottoms, skirts and dresses. To support the launch, GBI has integrated the apparel line into the SpacePOP entertainment content, which is available on YouTube and across digital platforms -- Kabillion Girls Rule!, Toon Goggles, PopJam, BatteryPOP, Kid Genius channel on Comcast -- and the new line will be promoted in a digital marketing campaign, which features YouTube influencers such as Sophia Grace and Angelic wearing the collection.

In addition to the new apparel line, Sony Music/Legacy Recordings debuts the SpacePOP original soundtrack, Not Your Average Princesses, at major retail stores across the U.S. and online, including Target, Toys"R"Us and Amazon.com. Additionally, the first SpacePOP book (Imprint, part of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group), Not Your Average Princesses, an original middle grade novel with graphic novel inserts written by author Erin Downing and illustrated by Jen Bartel., is now available at Barnes & Noble, Toys"R"Us, Costco and Amazon.com.

"We have worked hard to create a unique entertainment experience to draw tween and teen girls to SpacePOP, bringing fun, adventure, friendship and best-in-class music from incomparable talent, and as a result, we are building the brand rapidly online, with an audience of millions across all of the platforms, and soon at retail," said Stone Newman, President of Global Consumer Products, Worldwide Content Sales & Marketing, GBI. "We now look forward to engaging our audience beyond the screen, working with Kohl's and Jaya Apparel to introduce a cool, fresh aspirational line of sportswear that has also been integrated into the entertainment content and digital marketing campaign, reaching millions of fans."

In 2017, GBI will continue to expand the licensed products program for SpacePOP with an array of new branded merchandise, including Madame Alexander Doll Company (fashion dolls and figures), KIDdesigns (youth electronics, tech accessories and electronic toys), Mad Dog Concepts (loungewear, sleepwear), Franco Manufacturing (bedding & bath textiles, accessories, room décor), Berkshire Fashions (hosiery, head wear, and cold weather accessories), FAB Starpoint (bags, backpacks, accessories), Taste Beauty (beauty and bath products), Bare Tree Media (emoticons), Canal Toys (craft and activity kits), Yowie Group, Ltd. (confections), H.E.R. Accessories (accessories) and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (home entertainment).

SpacePOP was developed with best-in-class development and production team, including Emmy Award-nominated Steve Banks (head writer and story editor of SpongeBob SquarePants) as content writer; Han Lee (Pink Fizz, Bobby Jack) for original character designs; multiple Grammy Award-winning producer and music veteran Ron Fair (Fergie, Mary J. Blige, Black Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera and more) and singer songwriter spouse Stefanie Fair (founding member of RCA's girl group Wild Orchid with Fergie) for the original SpacePOP theme music; and veteran music producer and composer John Loeffler (Kidz Bop, Pokemon) for original songs.

SpacePOP is comprised of over 100 serialized adventures featuring original music woven into a narrative that follows five teenage princesses who disguise themselves as musicians and form a band while they secretly plot to vanquish an evil Empress who is seeking to enslave the galaxy. SpacePop offers a colorful blend of music, fashion, beauty, friendship and intergalactic adventures resulting in an engaging lifestyle brand.

GBI has been supporting the launch of SpacePOP with a number of marketing initiatives, including a YouTube Influencer campaign; national promotional partnerships with Six Flags, Dippin' Dots and Camplified; promotional campaigns with Musical.ly and PopJam; and a dedicated SpacePOP site, SpacePOPGirls.com.

About Genius Brands InternationalHeadquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS) is a publicly traded global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia content. Led by award-winning creators and producers, the company distributes its content worldwide in all formats, as well as a broad range of consumer products based on its characters. In the children's media sector, GBI's portfolio features "content with a purpose" for toddlers to tweens, which provides enrichment as well as entertainment, including tween music-driven brand SpacePOP; preschool property debuting on Netflix Llama Llama; award-winning Baby Genius, re-launched with new entertainment and over 40 new products; adventure comedy Thomas Edison's Secret Lab®, available on Netflix, public broadcast stations and GBI's Kid Genius channel on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand; Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club, created with and starring iconic investor Warren Buffett. The company is also co-producing an all-new adult animated series, Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders, with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter. Additionally under GBI's wholly owned subsidiary, A Squared Entertainment, the company represents third-party properties, including From Frank, a humor greeting card and product line, and Celessence Technologies, the world's leading micro encapsulation company, across a broad range of categories in territories around the world. For additional information please visit www.gnusbrands.com.

Genius Brands International Teams With Disney's Lion King Director Rob Minkoff and Frozen Co-Writer Shane Morris on Preschool Adventure Series, "Rainbow Rangers"

Source:  Genius Brands International, Inc.

Global Retail Program Based on the CGI Animated Series in Development

 Global brand management company Genius Brands International, Inc. ("GBI") (OTCQB: GNUS) is partnering with Rob Minkoff, Director of Disney's Lion King, and Shane Morris, co-writer of Frozen, on the development and production of a new animated preschool series, "Rainbow Rangers." The announcement was made today by Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO, GBI.

Featuring CGI animation, the creative team is in development on 52 x 11' episodes of "Rainbow Rangers." Minkoff will produce the series with Morris serving as producer and head writer along with his partner Tim Mansfield. Key series designs were created by Brittany Myers and Ruben Aquino, who was a supervising animator on many of the major Disney characters from Little Mermaid through to Frozen. Emmy Award-winning producer Andy Heyward will executive produce. GBI anticipates premiering a "Rainbow Rangers" special in fall 2017 with a full series launch in spring 2018. Additionally, the company is concurrently in development on a global licensing, merchandising and retail program to coincide with the series launch.

"Rainbow Rangers" follows the adventures of seven unique magical girls from the other side of the rainbow who serve as Earth's guardian to protect it from a wicked villain through teamwork, bravery, creativity and compassion.

"We are absolutely ecstatic to be working in collaboration with Rob, Shane, Tim and Ruben on developing this joyous, empowering adventure for little girls," said GBI's Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward. "The creative genius being poured into this original and powerful property is already attracting incredible interest from all sectors of the industry."

"Rainbow Rangers' is an exciting premise with fantastic characters and an incredible world," added Morris. "It's also inspirational. It's about the amazing power and strength of these seven magical girls. I truly enjoy writing stories that demonstrate girls can do anything, and when girls work together, well, anything is possible."

"With two young children at home, I've been exposed to a lot of TV animation lately and felt it was time to jump in with both feet," explained Minkoff. "Paw Patrol' and 'Octonauts' are two of my son's favorites. But my youngest is a girl, and I want her to have something that focuses on mission-based stories. So the appeal of a team of young girls protecting the planet is a bullseye and couldn't be more timely. 'Rainbow Rangers' is truly an incredible opportunity, and I'm very pleased to be working with GBI's creative team."

"We are very eager to debut the concept to potential media, licensing, and promotional partners at this year's MIP Junior," said Stone Newman, who was recently promoted to GBI's President of Global Consumer Products, Worldwide Content Sales & Marketing. "Our schedule is already fully booked, and we have no doubt 'Rainbow Rangers' will be a huge hit for us at the market."

About Genius Brands InternationalHeadquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS) is a publicly traded global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia content. Led by award-winning creators and producers, the company distributes its content worldwide in all formats, as well as a broad range of consumer products based on its characters. In the children's media sector, GBI's portfolio features "content with a purpose" for toddlers to tweens, which provides enrichment as well as entertainment, including tween music-driven brand SpacePOP; preschool property Llama Llama debuting on Netflix and starring the voice talent of Jennifer Garner; award-winning Baby Genius, re-launched with new entertainment and over 40 new products; adventure comedy Thomas Edison's Secret Lab®, available on Netflix, public broadcast stations and GBI's Kid Genius channel on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand; Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club, created with and starring iconic investor Warren Buffett. The company is also co-producing an all-new adult animated series, Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders, with Lee's Pow! Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter. Additionall, under GBI's wholly owned subsidiary, A Squared Entertainment, the company represents third-party properties, including From Frank, a humor greeting card and product line, and Celessence Technologies, the world's leading micro encapsulation company, across a broad range of categories in territories around the world. For additional information please visit www.gnusbrands.com.

Genius Brands International's Kid Genius Network, Available on Comcast, Launches First Branded Channel, Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues, in Partnership With HeR Interactive

Source:  Genius Brands International, Inc.

New Channel Premieres October 1st, Reaching 22 Million U.S. Households 

 Genius Brands International "GBI" (GNUS), a global content and brand management company, continues to build its Kid Genius Network, an on demand service available on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand platform reaching 22 million U.S. households, by partnering with HeR Interactive to launch its first branded channel, Nancy Drew®: Codes & Clues®, based on the new mobile game.

Premiering on the channel on October 1^st is the new animated series, Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues, featuring the smart, independent, gutsy and resourceful teen detective whose stories have been published in 22 languages with more than 100 million copies in print worldwide. In this new series, targeting girls ages 6 - 11, viewers will meet a tween version of Nancy and her best friends, Bess and George who must work together, along with their new robot puppy, to uncover clues to solve the mystery of the missing tech fair project. The series introduces younger fans to the foundational concepts of coding in a fun, engaging and accessible manner, as the de-TECH-tive team don undercover disguises, and employ coding principles to solve their clues together with critical thinking skills involving pattern recognition, problem solving and spatial visualization.

This content is based on the recently launched Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues story-driven, hidden-object mobile game from the award-winning mystery adventure game publisher and developer, HeR Interactive, developed for kids without any coding experience or skills.

In addition to launching on Kid Genius Network, Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues will be a new sponsor of GBI's hit tween YouTube series, SpacePOP, which has already amassed over 7 million channel views since its June launch.

"In keeping in line with our mission of providing 'content with a purpose,' Nancy Drew: Codes & Clues is the perfect complement to our ever-growing Kid Genius Network, and we look forward to collaborating with HeR Interactive to create this compelling destination for young girls," stated Deb Pierson, General Manager, Kid Genius Channel. "Introducing the foundational concepts of coding and problem solving to kids at a young age has become very important, and with our new channel, we are delivering that concept in an engaging and entertaining way."

"The Kid Genius Network is the ideal entertainment platform to launch the Nancy Drew Codes & Clues channel," said Penny Milliken, CEO of HeR Interactive. "In addition to the series, the branded channel will highlight our new app that has been sparking an interest in coding with early learners all over the world. Girls need to see and experience positive STEM role models in a way that matches their viewing, learning, and play patterns. What better way to introduce them to this coding super hero than through a streaming VOD platform reaching millions of fans?"

The Kid Genius Network is a free, advertising supported On Demand service, featuring GBI's innovative, original animation series, including SpacePOP, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab, Stan Lee's Mighty 7 and Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club alongside award-winning Baby Genius content and such classic children's series as ABC Monsters. For more information, visit www.kidgeniustv.com
 
About Genius Brands International:
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS) is a publicly traded global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia content. Led by award-winning creators and producers, the company distributes its content worldwide in all formats, as well as a broad range of consumer products based on its characters. In the children's media sector, GBI's portfolio features "content with a purpose" for toddlers to tweens, which provides enrichment as well as entertainment, including tween music-driven brand SpacePOP; preschool property debuting on Netflix Llama Llama; award-winning Baby Genius, re-launched with new entertainment and over 40 new products; adventure comedy Thomas Edison's Secret Lab®, available on Netflix, public broadcast stations and GBI's Kid Genius channel on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand; Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club, created with and starring iconic investor Warren Buffett. The company is also co-producing an all-new adult animated series, Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders, with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter. Additionally, under GBI's wholly owned subsidiary, A Squared Entertainment, the company represents third-party properties, including From Frank, a humor greeting card and product line, and Celessence Technologies, the world's leading micro encapsulation company, across a broad range of categories in territories around the world. For additional information please visit www.gnusbrands.com.

About HeR Interactive:
Based in Bellevue, Washington, HeR Interactive was a pioneer in 1998 when it began developing and publishing Nancy Drew interactive games for females. Since then, the company has released over 32 games, won 30 Parents' Choice awards and has sold more than 9 million copies of its games. Nancy Drew players now include moms who have introduced their daughters to the girl detective, making her one of history's longest-running iconic figures spanning generations. More information about the company and Nancy Drew games can be found at www.herinteractive.com.

About Nancy Drew:
Nancy Drew debuted in 1930 and is still going strong. She is a smart, independent, gutsy and resourceful teen detective who can crack even the toughest case. Published in 22 languages and with more than 100 million copies in print worldwide, Nancy Drew has engaged readers and served as a role model globally for generations. NANCY DREW is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Licensed by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Genius Brands International Closes $5.2 Million Credit Facility With Bank Leumi

 Source:  Genius Brands International, Inc.


Genius Brands International "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS) announces today the close of a $5.2million credit facility with Bank Leumi secured by its Netflix agreement to produce 30 x 11' episodes of Llama Llama, a new animated preschool series starring the voice talent of Jennifer Garner, based on the New York Times #1 bestselling children's book franchise.

"This is a milestone agreement for GBI on many levels," commented Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO, GBI. "Since we sold neither stock nor equity, there is no dilution for this money. It insures we will have access to the value of the Netflix contract (which is payable on and in the months after delivery), and we will have no need for raising funds to produce the series. It also speaks to 3rd party validation of GBI's creditworthiness, by an active and well respected lender in the entertainment credit community."

GBI filed an 8K with the SEC on Friday, August 12, 2016 announcing the facility.

About Genius Brands International
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS) is a publicly traded global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia content. Led by award-winning creators and producers, the company distributes its content worldwide in all formats, as well as a broad range of consumer products based on its characters. In the children's media sector, GBI's portfolio features "content with a purpose" for toddlers to tweens, which provides enrichment as well as entertainment, including tween music-driven brand SpacePOP; preschool property debuting on Netflix Llama Llama; award-winning Baby Genius, re-launched with new entertainment and over 40 new products; adventure comedy Thomas Edison's Secret Lab®, available on Netflix, public broadcast stations and GBI's Kid Genius channel on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand; Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club, created with and starring iconic investor Warren Buffett. The company is also co-producing an all-new adult animated series, Cosmic Crusaders, with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter. Additionally under GBI's wholly owned subsidiary, A Squared Entertainment, the company represents third-party properties, including From Frank, a humor greeting card and product line, and Celessence Technologies, the world's leading micro encapsulation company, across a broad range of categories in territories around the world. For additional information please visit www.gnusbrands.com.