Genius Brands International Appoints Jamie Buono-Sikorski to Vice President of Marketing

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Oct. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Brands International, Inc. “Genius Brands” (NASDAQ: GNUS) continues to build an industry leading executive team to service its growing worldwide business with the appointment of Jamie Buono-Sikorski to Vice President of Marketing.

As the newly appointed Vice President of Marketing at Genius Brands International (GNUS), Jamie Buono-Sikorski will be responsible for driving brand awareness across the Company’s IP catalog, including the original children’s property Rainbow Rangers, with a series airing on Nick Jr., the beloved preschool brand Llama Llama, which includes an animated series on Netflix starring Jennifer Garner, and Genius Brands' latest children’s property, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, featuring an all-new animated series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In her new position, Buono-Sikorski will be responsible for driving brand awareness across all the Company’s properties. Genius Brands’ IP catalog includes the preschool brands, Rainbow Rangers, season two currently airing on Nick Jr. with a consumer products retail launch this fall and holiday, and Llama Llama, starring Jennifer Garner, with season two debuting on Netflix in November and upcoming product line debut at retail. She will also spearhead marketing efforts for Genius Brands’ latest children’s property, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, featuring an all-new animated series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which will be supported by a comprehensive consumer products program, currently in development. Additional brands in the Company portfolio for which Buono-Sikorski will develop marketing strategies include Baby Genius, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, as well as the Genius Brands Network, which is available in over 80 million U.S. television households.

“Jamie brings an impressive track record across a number of highly successful consumer product and entertainment properties. In particular, she played an important role in the Paw Patrol launch at Spin Master where she helped grow the brand to become a commercial hit in the children’s retail marketplace,” stated Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO of Genius Brands. “While at Bandai, Jamie also managed the brand marketing for the billion-dollar revenue generating Power Rangers…one of the most successful children’s brands of all time. We are thrilled to add Jamie to our accomplished team of executives leading the growth of our business and look forward to her contributions in the coming years as we continue to roll out our brands into the global marketplace.”

“What drew me to my new role at Genius Brands was the opportunity to play an integral part in building brand awareness for the company’s IP portfolio, including, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, Rainbow Rangers and Llama Llama, as well as working with Andy and the Genius Brands team to bring these brands to market,” stated Buono-Sikorski. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest brands out there, like Paw Patrol and Power Rangers, and I see similar commercial potential in Genius Brands’ IP.”

Prior to joining Genius Brands, Buono-Sikorski served as Vice President of Brand Marketing at Brandable, Inc., where she led the brand strategy and product development activities within the toy, home, and personal care categories, during which time the company experienced triple digit year-over-year growth. She also served as Director of Brand Marketing and Global Development at Bandai America, overseeing product marketing and development for Power Rangers toys, which exceeded $100 million in annual sales. Previously, Buono-Sikorski served as Senior Brand Manager at MGA Entertainment where she developed the brand identity for Little Tikes Baby from inception. She also served as a Global Brand Manager at Spin Master contributing to the growth of Paw Patrol, with Spin Master becoming a top ranked growth company in the preschool category. Earlier in her career, Buono-Sikorski held various roles at Toys’R’Us and Jones Apparel Group.

About Genius Brands International
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, Genius 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” brand portfolio, which is led by award-winning creators and producers, includes preschool properties Rainbow Rangers for Nick Jr. and Llama Llama for Netflix; award-winning toddler brand, Baby Genius; adventure comedy STEM series, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab; and financial literacy and entrepreneurship series, Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club. The Company’s content catalog also includes the animated series, Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders, created with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment. Seeing the need to provide kids and parents with a safe viewing environment that offers premium enriching and engaging programming, Genius Brands launched the Genius Brands Network – comprised of Kid Genius Cartoon Channel and Baby Genius TV, as well as the Kid Genius Plus subscription channel on Amazon Prime. The Network channels are available in approximately 80 million U.S. households via a variety of distribution platforms, such as OTT, set-top box, internet, and mobile. Through licensing agreements with category leading partners, characters from the Company’s properties also appear on a wide range of consumer products for retail. For additional information, please visit www.gnusbrands.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this notice 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 those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its patent business contained therein. 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.

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Released October 30, 2019