Organization and Nature of Business

Genius Brands International, Inc. (“we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Company”) is a global content and brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia content. Led by industry veterans, the Company distributes its content in all formats as well as a broad range of consumer products based on its characters. In the children's media sector, the Company’s portfolio features "content with a purpose" for toddlers to tweens, which provides enrichment as well as entertainment, including tween music-driven brand  SpacePop ; preschool property debuting on Netflix Llama Llama; award-winning Baby Genius, re-launched with new entertainment and over 40 new products; adventure comedy Thomas Edison's Secret Lab® , available on Netflix, public broadcast stations and the Company’s Kid Genius channel on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand; Warren Buffett's  Secret Millionaires Club, created with and starring iconic investor Warren Buffett. The Company is also co-producing an all-new adult-themed animated series, Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders, with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter. 

In addition, the Company acts as licensing agent for certain brands, leveraging its existing licensing infrastructure to expand these brands into new product categories, new retailers, and new territories. These include Llama Llama; From Frank, a humor greeting card and product line; and Celessence Technologies, the world's leading microencapsulation company.

The Company commenced operations in January 2006, assuming all the rights and obligations of its then Chief Executive Officer, under an Asset Purchase Agreement between the Company and Genius Products, Inc., in which the Company obtained all rights, copyrights, and trademarks to the brands “Baby Genius,” “Little Genius,” “Kid Genius,” “123 Favorite Music” and “Wee Worship,” and all then existing productions under those titles. In October 2011, the Company (i) changed its domicile to Nevada from California, and (ii) changed its name to Genius Brands International, Inc. from Pacific Entertainment Corporation (the “Reincorporation”). In connection with the Reincorporation, the Company changed its trading symbol from “PENT” to “GNUS”.

On November 15, 2013, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the “Merger Agreement”) with A Squared Entertainment LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“A Squared”), A Squared Holdings LLC, a California limited liability company and sole member of A Squared (the “Parent Member”) and A2E Acquisition LLC, its newly formed, wholly-owned Delaware subsidiary (“Acquisition Sub”). Upon closing of the transactions contemplated under the Merger Agreement (the “Merger”), which occurred concurrently with entering into the Merger Agreement, the Acquisition Sub merged with and into A Squared, and A Squared, as the surviving entity, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. As a result of the Merger, the Company acquired the business and operations of A Squared.

On November 4, 2016, the Company filed a certificate to change its Articles of Incorporation to effect a reverse split on a 1-for-3 basis (the “2016 Reverse Split”). The 2016 Reverse Split became effective on November 9, 2016. All common stock share and per share information in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (“Form 10-Q”), including the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, have been adjusted to reflect retrospective application of the 2016 Reverse Split, unless otherwise indicated.

Liquidity

Historically, the Company has incurred net losses. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $34,793,193 and total stockholders’ equity of $11,559,735. At September 30, 2016, the Company had current assets of $4,167,708, including cash of $3,642,667 and current liabilities of $3,554,617, including certain trade payables of $925,000 to which the Company disputes the claim, resulting in working capital of $613,091. For the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, the Company reported a net loss of $1,530,900 and $797,820, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, the Company reported a net loss of $4,363,567 and $2,421,938, respectively, and reported net cash used by operating activities $1,885,328 and $2,611,607, respectively.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Company received gross proceeds of $2,000,000 pursuant to its distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment as well as $275,000 for the settlement of a distribution agreement. Additionally, on August 8, 2016, Llama Productions LLC (“Llama Productions”), a California limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, closed a $5,275,000 multiple draw-down, secured, non-recourse, non-revolving credit facility with Bank Leumi USA for the production of its animated series Llama Llama (See Note 10, herein). While the Company believes that its current cash balances and receivables combined with its production facility and deal pipeline will be sufficient to fund operations for the next twelve months, there can be no assurance that cash flows from operations will continue to improve in the near future. If the Company is unable to attain profitable operations and attain positive operating cash flows, it may need to (i) seek additional funding, (ii) scale back its development or production plans, or (iii) reduce certain operations.