Genius Brands International Partners With Southwest Airlines(R) to Offer Premium Children's Entertainment on WiFi-Equipped Flights Nationwide

BEVERLY HILLS, CA--(Marketwired - June 20, 2017) - Genius Brands International, Inc. "Genius Brands" (NASDAQ: GNUS), a leading media company that creates, produces and licenses children's multimedia entertainment content and products for global broadcast, digital and retail distribution, today announced the addition of three of its animated series to Southwest Airline's inflight entertainment portal. Beginning this July, SpacePOP, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab and Baby Genius will be available for the first time inflight on customers' personal devices during travel.

"We're thrilled to partner with Southwest to bring three of our most popular kids series to their customers," said Stone Newman, President of Global Consumer Products, Worldwide Content Sales & Marketing at Genius Brands. "Finding new distribution channels to engage consumers regardless of where they may be is just as critical as developing quality content, and this partnership represents an exciting new channel for us."

Genius Brands is known for creating content with a purpose, and SpacePOP, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab and Baby Genius are all designed to provide positive messages for young viewers, infant through tween. For Southwest, the deal presents an opportunity to expand upon its kid-friendly entertainment choices and set itself apart from other airlines as families across the country go wheels up for summer travel.

"We always aim to provide an exceptional Customer Experience for our passengers of all ages, and expanding our kids' entertainment offerings reflects that commitment," said Tara Bamburg, Associate Manager of Inflight Entertainment, Southwest Airlines. "We look forward to bringing Genius Brands' family-friendly programming to WiFi-equipped flights across the country."

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.

Premiering in June 2016 on YouTube Genius Brands, SpacePOP has garnered, to date, over 15 million channel views, 50,000+ subscribers and approximately 300,000 hours of viewed programming. Following the digital content launch, Genius Brands debuted a merchandise program in the U.S. with approximately 20 manufacturing partners who collectively developed over 100 products across multiple categories 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 75 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.

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 Thomas Edison's Secret Lab

Genius Brands' original children's animated adventure series, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab, is filled with fun, comedy, exploration and adventure to show kids how fun science can be, encouraging them to explore the limits of their imaginations. The series follows Angie, a 12-year-old prodigy and her young science club who accidentally discover Thomas Edison's Secret Lab -- a 'tricked out' dream lab equipped with gizmos and gadgets, including two of Edison's very last inventions: a hologram that brings Mr. Edison himself "to life," and a virtual reality machine that lets them go anywhere. It even has a wacky (and slightly nervous) robot called Von Bolt, who becomes part of every adventure. In each of the episodes, Edison encourages and inspires the kids through a variety of scientific and technological explorations and lots of other fun, wacky, wild and engaging topics, School House Rock style music videos and more, showing kids just how much fun science can be.

Genius Brands will be launching the animated series (52 x 11) on YouTube this summer and a direct-to-retail program with a specialty retailer is set to debut in more than 1,000 stores nationwide this fall with product in categories, including, science activity kits and compounds.

The series is also currently available on American Public Television stations nationwide; on Genius Brands' Kid Genius Cartoon Channel on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand platform; and on DVD from NCircle Entertainment at major retailers.

About Baby Genius

For more than twelve years, Baby Genius has earned worldwide recognition for creating award-winning products for toddlers. Its catalogue of 500 songs, 125 music videos, and music-based toys feature classic nursery rhymes, learning songs, classical music, holiday favorites and more.

In 2015, Genius Brands launched new music videos and a broad new line of products on Amazon, developed in consultation with early childhood development expert Stanford University Professor Emeritus Don Roberts. Baby Genius is the only toddler brand to align with and encourage a child's natural development.

Baby Genius continues to be the #1 video on demand property on Comcast's Baby Boost Channel and is also available on Genius Brands Kid Genius Cartoon Channel on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand platform, reaching 48 million U.S. households, as well as via Apple TV, Samsung and Roku.

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 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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