Note 1: Organization and Business

Organization and Nature of Business

Kartoon Studios, Inc. (formerly known as Genius Brands International, Inc.; the “Company”) is a global content and brand management company that creates, produces, licenses, and broadcasts timeless and educational, multimedia animated content for children. Led by experienced industry personnel, the Company distributes its content primarily on streaming platforms and television, and licenses properties for a broad range of consumer products based on the Company’s characters. The Company is a “work for hire” producer for many of the streaming outlets and animated content intellectual property (“IP”) holders. In the children’s media sector, the Company’s portfolio features “content with a purpose” for toddlers to tweens, providing enrichment as well as entertainment. With the exception of selected WOW Unlimited Media Inc. (“Wow”) titles, the Company’s programs, along with licensed programs, are being broadcast in the United States on the Company’s wholly-owned advertisement supported video on demand (“AVOD”) service, its free ad supported TV (“FAST”) channels and subscription video on demand (“SVOD”) outlets, Kartoon Channel! and Ameba TV, as well as linear streaming platforms. These streaming platforms include Comcast, Cox, DISH, Sling TV, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV, Apple iOS, Android TV, Android mobile, Pluto TV, Xumo, Tubi, YouTube, YouTube Kids and KartoonChannel.com, as well as Samsung and LG smart TVs. The Company's in-house owned and produced animated shows include Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Llama Llama starring Jennifer Garner, and Rainbow Rangers, KC Pop Quiz and Shaq’s Garage starring Shaquille O’Neal. The Company’s library titles include the award-winning Baby Genius, adventure comedy Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab®, and Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club, created with and starring iconic investor Warren Buffett, Team Zenko Go!, Reboot, Bee & PuppyCat: Lazy in Space and Castlevania.

The Company also licenses its programs to other services worldwide, in addition to the operation of its own channels, including, but not limited to, Netflix, Paramount+, Max, Samsung TV Plus, LG Smart TVs, Amazon, Nickelodeon, and satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasters around the world.

Through the Company’s investments in Germany’s Your Family Entertainment AG (“YFE”), a publicly traded company on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (RTV-Frankfurt), it has gained access to a leading producer and distributor of high-quality children’s and family programming. YFE owns and operates one of Europe’s largest channel-independent libraries of around 150 titles and 3,500 half-hour episodes.

Through the ownership of Wow, the Company established an affiliate relationship with Mainframe Studios, which is one of the largest animation producers in the world. In addition, Wow owns Frederator Networks Inc. (“Frederator”), the largest animation focused creator network on YouTube with over 2,500 channels. Frederator also owns Frederator Studios, focused on developing and producing shorts and series for and with partners. Over the past 20 years, Frederator Studios has partnered with Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation and Amazon.

The Company has rights to a select amount of valuable IP, including among them a controlling interest in Stan Lee Universe, LLC (“SLU”), through which it controls the name, likeness, signature, and all consumer product and IP rights to Stan Lee (the “Stan Lee Assets”). Known by his signature phrase “Excelsior!”, Stan Lee is one of the most prolific and legendary creators of all time. As Marvel's editor-in-chief, Stan "The Man" Lee helped build a universe of interlocking continuity, one where fans felt as if they could turn a street corner and run into a superhero from Spider-Man to the Fantastic Four, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and more. Stan went on to become Marvel’s editorial director and publisher in 1972 and was eventually named chairman emeritus. He was the co-creator of characters appearing in 3 of the top 10 box office movies of all time, which featured Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and of course the Avengers, accounting for billions of dollars of revenue for Marvel and the Walt Disney Company.

The Company also owns The Beacon Media Group, LLC (“Beacon Media”) and The Beacon Communications Group, Ltd. (“Beacon Communications”) (collectively, “Beacon”), a North American marketing and media agency specializing in creating impactful connections between consumers and brands across various industries. With a focus on in-depth research and analysis the agency equips brands with a deep understanding of media landscapes, trends, and platform patterns across generations along with developing highly effective media strategies that deliver results for clients. Beacon represents over 20 kids and family clients including Bandai Namco, Moose Toys, Bazooka Candy Brands, Goliath Games, Playmates Toys, Cepia LLC, Cra-Z-Art, and Zebra Pens.

In addition, the Company owns the Canadian company Ameba Inc. (“Ameba”), which distributes SVOD service for kids and has become a focal point of revenue for TOON Media Networks’ subscription offering.

Recent Transactions

The Company announced the initial closing of its registered direct offering of up to $7,000,000 (the “Offering”) on April 23, 2024. In the initial closing, the Company sold 3,900,000 shares of its common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), and pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 100,000 shares of Common Stock (the “Pre-funded Warrants”) to an institutional investor (the "Investor"), at $1.00 per share of Common Stock and $0.99 per Pre-funded Warrant, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $4,000,000, prior to deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses, pursuant to a securities purchase agreement, dated April 18, 2024 (the “SPA”). Pursuant to the terms of the SPA, the Investor had the sole option to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 shares of Common Stock and/or Pre-funded Warrants as part of the Offering, at $1.00 per share of Common Stock and $0.99 per Pre-Funded Warrant, which has since expired. Additionally, the Company has 4,784,909 warrants with a reprice option that was triggered by the registered direct offering which reduced the exercise price from $2.50 per share to $1.00 per share.

On June 21, 2024, the Company announced the launch of “Winnie-the-Pooh” on the Kartoon Channel through a $30.0 million joint venture with Catalyst Venture Partners (the “JV”). The JV stipulates after Catalyst Venture Partners recoup their investment, the ownership and profit split between the partners is 60% to Kartoon Studios and 40% to Catalyst Venture Partners. “Winnie-the-Pooh” is based on the designs and stories of one of the most successful brands of all time, A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh,” a property that has generated over $80 billion in sales over the last four decades and is estimated to currently generate $3-$6 billion per year. Catalyst Venture Partners will provide the full amount of the production finance with the plan to include an animated holiday movie, five holiday specials and 4 seasons of episodic series.

Liquidity, Going Concern, and Capital Resources

As of September 30, 2024, the Company had cash of $4.6 million, which increased by $0.5 million as compared to December 31, 2023. The increase was primarily due to cash provided by investing activities of $7.9 million, offset by cash used in financing activities of $6.4 million and cash used for operating activities of $1.1 million. The cash provided by investing activities was primarily due to sales of marketable securities of $8.0 million. The cash used in financing activities was primarily due to repayments of the production facilities, finance lease obligations, and bank indebtedness, net of proceeds from each, resulting in net cash used of $10.0 million, offset by net proceeds from the Offering of $3.3 million and margin loan of $0.3 million.

As of September 30, 2024, the Company held available-for-sale marketable securities with a fair value of $4.1 million, a decrease of $7.9 million as compared to December 31, 2023 due to sales and maturities during the nine months ended September 30, 2024. The available-for-sale securities consist principally of corporate and government debt securities and are also available as a source of liquidity.

As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company’s margin loan balance was $1.1 million and $0.8 million, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company borrowed an additional $9.1 million from its investment margin account and repaid $8.8 million primarily with cash received from sales and maturities of marketable securities. The borrowed amounts were primarily used for operational costs. The interest rates for the borrowings fluctuate based on the Fed Funds Upper Target plus 0.60%. The weighted average interest rates were 0.46% and 0.98%, respectively, on average margin loan balances of $1.0 million and $27.4 million as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023, the Company incurred interest expense on the margin loan of $11,070 and $0.2 million, respectively. The Company incurred interest expense on the margin loan of $42,131 and $1.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023, respectively. The investment margin account borrowings do not mature but are collateralized by the marketable securities held by the same custodian and the custodian can issue a margin call at any time, effecting a payable on demand loan. Due to the call option, the margin loan is recorded as a current liability on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The Company is subject to financial and customary affirmative and negative non-financial covenants on the revolving demand facility and equipment lease agreements that have an aggregate total outstanding balance of $1.2 million U.S. dollars (“USD”) or $1.6 million of Canadian dollars (“CAD”).

During March 2024, the Company amended the revolving demand facility, equipment lease line, and treasury risk management facility. As a result of the amendment, the revolving demand facility allows for draws of up to $0.7 million (CAD 1.0 million) to be made by way of CAD prime rate loans, CAD overdrafts, USD base rate loans or letters of credit up to a maximum of $200,000 in either CAD or USD and having a term of up to 1 year. The CAD prime borrowings and overdrafts bear interest at a rate equal to bank prime plus 2.00% per annum. The USD base rate borrowings bear interest at a rate equal to bank base rate plus 2.00% per annum. In addition, the equipment lease line was terminated, however, the Company has and will continue to make the regular principal and interest payments under the specific financing terms of the existing equipment lease agreements. The amendment removed the treasury risk management facility that allowed for advances of up to $0.4 million (CAD 0.5 million). As of the date of the amendment and December 31, 2023, there were no outstanding amounts drawn under the treasury risk management facility. The amendment also introduced revised financial covenants that are effective as of March 15, 2024. As of September 30, 2024, the Company was not in compliance with a financial covenant to maintain a minimum liquidity threshold. Due to financial covenant violations in the second quarter of 2024, the Company’s remaining equipment lease agreements with the lender of $0.6 million (CAD 0.8 million) as of September 30, 2024, are subject to early repayment. During the three months ended September 30, 2024, the lender and the Company agreed to a repayment plan for the equipment leases under the equipment lease line to be completed prior to the end of the fourth quarter of 2024. On August 30, 2024, the Company paid $0.1 million (CAD 0.1 million) to the lender as part of its early repayment plan for the existing equipment lease line agreements. Subsequent to September 30, 2024, the Company paid $0.3 million (CAD 0.4 million) to the lender as part of its repayment plan for the equipment lease line. The amendment and covenant violation did not have any impact on the Company’s production facilities that are separate from the revolving demand facility and are used for financing specific productions.

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”), Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40), the Company has evaluated whether there are conditions and events that raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for at least one year after the date the condensed consolidated financial statements are issued.

Historically, the Company has incurred net losses. For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023, the Company reported net losses of $2.1 million and $15.5 million, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023, the Company reported net losses of $15.1 million and $51.8 million, respectively. The Company reported net cash used in operating activities of $1.1 million and net cash used in operating activities of $20.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023, respectively. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $733.5 million primarily due to approximately $450 million of expenses related to non-operational warrant and stock option expense recorded in 2020 and 2021, and total stockholders’ equity of $42.8 million. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had total current assets of $37.2 million, including cash of $4.6 million and marketable securities of $4.1 million, and total current liabilities of $33.7 million. The Company had working capital of $3.5 million as of September 30, 2024, compared to working capital of $11.5 million as of December 31, 2023. Based on our current expected level of operating expenditures and the cash and cash equivalents on hand at September 30, 2024, management concludes that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months subsequent to the issuance of the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements. Historically, the Company has financed its operations primarily through revenue generated from operations, loans and sales of its securities, and the Company expects to continue to seek and obtain additional capital in a similar manner. The Company has filed a registration statement on Form S-3 on December 22, 2023, as amended, registering the sale of up to $75 million of the Company’s securities pursuant to a shelf registration statement, and a registration statement on Form S-1 on September 27, 2024, as amended, in connection with a best efforts public offering of up to $8 million of the Company’s securities. However, the Company does not have any committed sources of financing at this time, and it is uncertain whether any additional funding will be available when it needs it on terms that will be acceptable to it, or at all. The Company’s ability to sell securities registered on its registration statement on From S-3 is limited until such time that the market value of its voting securities held by non-affiliates is $75 million or more. In addition, the number of shares of common stock and securities convertible or exercisable for common stock that the Company can sell, under certain circumstances, will be limited by NYSE American rules and regulations. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to raise funds by selling additional shares of common stock or other securities convertible into common stock, the ownership interest of its existing shareholders will be diluted. The issuance of debt can result in restrictive covenants that limit operations. If funding is not available or not available at terms acceptable to the Company, the Company will seek to reduce overhead costs and reduce its weekly cash obligations in the short term as needed. In addition, the Company can look to divest or bring in equity partners for our various divisions and bring in near term capital.