Genius Brands Announces 318% Increase in Revenue for the Second Quarter and 280% Increase in Revenue for the First Six Months of 2021 Over the Same Periods Last Year

$138.8 million of Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Marketable Securities With Zero debt

Rob Gronkowski Joins Shaq’s Garage as Co-Executive Producer and Voice of ‘Gronkmobile’

CEO Provides Letter to Shareholders, with Business Update Detailing Growth Across Core Business Lines

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Aug. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Brands International, Inc. (“Genius Brands” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GNUS), a global brand management company that creates and licenses entertainment content for children, filed its Form 10-Q for the period ending June 30, 2021, and provided a business update in the form of a letter to shareholders from the Company’s Chairman & CEO, which is available on the blog section of the company website.

Key highlights:

318% increase in revenue for Q2 2021 and 280% increase in revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2021 over the same periods last year
932% increase in unique users on Kartoon Channel
$138.8 million of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities with zero debt
Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten grows to over 50 million views to date in 15 weeks since debut
Rapid growth in viewership of Rainbow Rangers across leading broadcast platforms worldwide, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Nickelodeon/Nick LatAm, and coming to Paramount+ (Wednesday Aug 18)
Production has begun on Shaq’s Garage, which is set to air in Q2 2022 with Rob Gronkowski as co-executive producer and the voice of the “Gronkmobile”
Advertisers on Kartoon Channel now include leading Fortune 500 consumer product companies, including Lego, Kellogg’s, Walmart, Nintendo, Addidas and others

Revenues for the second quarter of 2021 were approximately $2.3 million compared to approximately $561,000 for the same period last year, reflecting a year over year increase of 318%. Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2021 were approximately $3.4 million compared to approximately $895,000 for the same period last year, reflecting a year over year increase of 280%.

About Genius Brands International
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’ portfolio includes Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, on Kartoon Channel!; Shaq’s Garage, starring Shaquille O’Neal on Kartoon Channel!; Rainbow Rangers on Kartoon Channel! and Netflix; Llama Llama, starring Jennifer Garner, on Netflix; award-winning toddler brand Baby Genius; adventure comedy STEM series Thomas Edison's Secret Lab; and entrepreneurship series Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club. Through licensing agreements with leading partners, characters from Genius Brands’ IP also appear on a wide range of consumer products for the worldwide retail marketplace. The Company’s Kartoon Channel! and Kartoon Classroom! are available in over 100 million U.S. television households via a broad range of distribution platforms, including Comcast, Cox, DISH, Sling TV, Amazon Prime, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Apple iOS, Android TV, Android Mobil, Google Play, Xumo, Roku, Tubi, YouTube, KartoonChannel.com, Samsung Smart TVs and LG TVs. For additional information, please visit www.gnusbrands.com.

Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release 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, our ability to generate revenue or achieve profitability; our ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms, if at all; the potential issuance of a significant number of shares, which will dilute our equity holders; fluctuations in the results of our operations from period to period; general economic and financial conditions; our ability to anticipate changes in popular culture, media and movies, fashion and technology; competitive pressure from other distributors of content and within the retail market; our reliance on and relationships with third-party production and animation studios; our ability to market and advertise our products; our reliance on third-parties to promote our products; our ability to keep pace with technological advances; our ability to protect our intellectual property and those other risk factors set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). 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.

MEDIA CONTACT:
pr@gnusbrands.com

INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:
ir@gnusbrands.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/90d0039f-e1cc-4c95-9766-3570bb023778