Genius Brands International Responds to Misleading Short Seller Criticisms - Seite 2

Further, last Friday, we announced the addition of two of our industry’s most accomplished executives overseeing the new channel: Margaret Loesch as Executive Chairman of Kartoon Channel! (former President of Marvel Entertainment, FOX Kids, and Henson Television), and David Neuman as Chief Content Officer of Kartoon Channel! (former President of Walt Disney Television). Margaret was founding CEO of FOX Kids, and built it from zero to the most successful and profitable kids program service, and what was eventually sold to the Walt Disney Company for $5.5 billion dollars. None of us claim to be experts at ‘short selling’. But we also think it’s a stretch for short sellers to claim to know more about this industry than those of us who have been industry leaders and spent decades making money for investors while building some of the sector’s most successful brands and companies.

• Genius Brands is a long-term growth story – We have a number of hit brands and shows today – but we are even more excited about what is coming, and the synergies with the newly announced Kartoon Channel!. We have over 450 licensed products contracted (with advances and guarantees) to come into the marketplace in the coming months. Our pipeline of new animated products, soon to be announced, is robust and pre-sold with significant brand equity. Our partners, licensees, and retail customers include Alibaba, Amazon, Mattel, Netflix, Target and Walmart, among others. Rainbow Rangers toys from Mattel, based on our hit series on Nick Jr., will hit Walmart stores in August beginning with a multipack of Rainbow Rangers figures. Over 350 other licensed consumer product SKUs are due as well, including publishing, room décor, bedding, footwear, apparel, health and beauty, bicycles, toothpaste, touring shows, among others, some of which are now already on Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Target.com.

Above all else, we are focused on long-term value. After working with Warren Buffett for 25 years and producing the children’s animated series with Warren to teach financial literacy (Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club), I've learned to focus on the importance of the basics: asset creation and value-building for our shareholders.