Genius Brands International Expands Retail Program for Hit Entertainment Lifestyle Brand SpacePOP in 2017

BEVERLY HILLS, CA--(Marketwired - April 06, 2017) - Reaching an audience of over 50 million in the U.S. and launching a successful nationwide mass retail campaign in 2016, Genius Brands International, Inc. "Genius Brands" (NASDAQ: GNUS), continues the momentum for its popular music-driven YouTube series, SpacePOP, by broadening the retail program for the entertainment lifestyle brand. Expanded product collections from key licensing partners are set to debut this year and new licensing, retail and promotional partners have signed on board to reach the brand's enthusiastic and ever-growing fan base. Additionally, the Company has greenlit the development of season two of the animated SpacePOP series to premiere this year.

"When we began developing SpacePOP, we asked ourselves if we could launch an entirely new IP that drives the sale of merchandise from an all-digital launch, and given the response from retailers and fans around the country, the answer is yes! We are exactly where we should be, and our metrics are, in fact, comparable to where brands such as Monster High were at the same point in their life cycle," explained Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO, Genius Brands. "We have partnered with best-in-class manufacturers, retailers and promotional partners, and YouTube has allowed us to reach our audience in a way that might not have been possible with a traditional distribution strategy. We are extremely proud of our achievement with SpacePOP and are eager to reach an even wider audience as we continue to build the program, creating new products and content and expanding into the international marketplace this year."

Genius Brands premiered SpacePOP in June 2016 on YouTube, garnering over 15 million channel views and 45,000 subscribers to date. Following the digital content launch, a merchandise program quickly rolled out in the U.S. with approximately 20 manufacturing partners who collectively developed over 100 products across publishing, beauty, apparel, accessories, consumer electronics, toys and more for debut at mass retailers nationwide, including Toys"R"Us, Claire's and Kohl's. Genius Brands also expanded the reach of the SpacePOP series via digital platforms, including Toon Goggles, PopJam, BatteryPOP and the Kid Genius Cartoon Channel on Comcast, as well as on OTT platforms, such as Amazon, Apple, Roku, and Google, bringing the combined audience reach to nearly 50 million U.S. households. Additionally, nearly 50 million impressions were achieved through strategic partnerships with Six Flags Theme Parks, Dippin' Dots, Chuck E. Cheese, Girls' World and Storybird, as well as through a robust influencer campaign.

In 2017, Genius Brands plans to significantly broaden the retail reach of SpacePOP with products available at Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Hudson News and Spirit Halloween, as well as launching a new direct-to-retail program with Calendar Club's Go! retail stores nationwide; an expanded Claire's program at additional locations; and continued support by Toys"R"Us. Current licensing partners, including Madame Alexander, Canal Toys, Taste Beauty and KidDesigns, will expand their SpacePOP collections, and the Company has recently signed two new licensees, Paper Punk (3D arts, crafts) and Video Bomb (music content creator) with additional partnerships in the works for new categories, including bedding, compounds, activities, stationery and more. To support the new retail launches this year, Genius Brands is developing a comprehensive marketing campaign that will feature a national promotional partnership with Zumba Kids.

On the international front, Genius Brands will expand the SpacePOP footprint this year in Europe and Asia with media and/or retail launches planned in the U.K., China, Spain, Italy and Portugal.

About SpacePOP

SpacePOP is comprised of over 100 serialized adventures featuring original music woven into a narrative that follows five teenage princesses who disguise themselves as musicians and form a band while they secretly plot to vanquish an evil Empress who is seeking to enslave the galaxy. SpacePOP offers a colorful blend of music, fashion, beauty, friendship and intergalactic adventures resulting in an engaging lifestyle and entertainment brand.

The SpacePOP series was developed with best-in-class development and production teams, including Emmy Award-nominated Steve Banks (head writer and story editor of Sponge Bob Square Pants) as content writer; Han Lee (Pink Fizz, Bobby Jack) for original character designs; multiple Grammy Award-winning producer and music veteran Ron Fair (Fergie, Mary J. Blige, Black Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera and more) together with his singer songwriter spouse Stefanie Fair (founding member of RCA's girl group Wild Orchid with Fergie) for the original SpacePOP theme music; and veteran music producer and composer John Loeffler (Kidz Bop, Pokémon) for original songs.

About Genius Brands International

Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNUS) is a leading transmedia storytelling company developing, publishing, marketing and licensing branded children's entertainment properties and consumer products for traditional, digital and emerging media distribution and retail channels. Led by award-winning creators and producers, Genius Brands distributes its content worldwide in all formats, as well as a broad range of consumer products based on its characters. In the children's media sector, its portfolio features "content with a purpose" for toddlers to tweens, which provides enrichment as well as entertainment, including new preschool property Rainbow Rangers; 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 Genius Brands' 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 animated series, Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders, with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter. Additionally, under Genius Brands' wholly owned subsidiary, A Squared Entertainment, the company represents third-party properties, including From Frank, a humor greeting card and product line, and Celessence Technologies, the world's leading micro encapsulation company, across a broad range of categories in territories around the world. 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 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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