Genius Brands International Issues Shareholder Letter

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., April 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Brands International, Inc. “Genius Brands” (NASDAQ: GNUS), the global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia entertainment content for children, released a letter to shareholders from Chairman & CEO Andy Heyward. The complete letter follows.

Dear Friends and Shareholders:

I hope that you and your families are all safe and sound during these challenging times.

While we weather not only our health issues of COVID-19, but also the economic impact that this has had upon us all and our global community, I want  to share with you some exciting and positive news occurring within Genius Brands.

While virtually the entire Hollywood entertainment and production community has shut down to a halt, that is not the case at Genius Brands, where we find ourselves thriving and busier than ever with major developments, which will be enriching our asset base, our revenues, and ultimately the company’s profitability.  We don’t have theme parks; we don’t have cruise lines; we don’t have Broadway plays; and we don’t make live-action films and TV series on sound stages full of people.

We have one simple business, and it is timeless, evergreen, and international.

We produce animated cartoons.

There is no production shutdown.  Our animators are at their workstations drawing. So are our character designers and background painters.  Our writers are at their desks turning in scripts. Our voice actors are recording their lines over phone patches.  Recently, in fact, we recorded both Warren Buffett and Jennifer Garner from their homes, who lent their voices respectively to newly-produced Secret Millionaires Club and Llama Llama Public Service Announcements teaching kids lessons on handwashing hygiene.

In these days, more people are watching animated cartoons more than ever.

Netflix, where coincidentally our hit series Llama Llama is available, is seeing its highest viewing levels ever.  Likewise, this is the case for our own Genius Brands Network, now available in over 100 million U.S. TV households on cable, satellite and OTT platforms, on both advertising and ad-free subscription models.

Against that backdrop,

I am proud and honored today to announce that our upcoming animated series, STAN LEE’S SUPERHERO KINDERGARTEN, will be broadcast in the U.S. on the premiere platform of Amazon Prime.  This will join the previously announced partnership of Genius Brands with Alibaba to not just co-produce Superhero Kindergarten with us, but to also be the broadcaster and commercial platform for consumer products in China.