Genius Brands International Appoints NCircle Entertainment as Home Entertainment Partner in North America for New Animated Series, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab

BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/27/15 -- Genius Brands International, Inc. "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS), a global content and brand management company dedicated to providing entertaining and enriching 'content with a purpose' for toddlers to tweens, has licensed to NCircle Entertainment the North American home entertainment rights, including DVD and specific digital rights, for its animated science inspired adventure series, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab. The announcement was made today by GBI's Senior Vice President, Global Distribution Sales, Andrew Berman and NCircle's Vice President, Sales, Content and Acquisitions, Mary Flynn.

NCircle will widely distribute Thomas Edison's Secret Lab digitally (VOD, SVOD, EST, DTO) and on DVD at major retail outlets nationwide and online starting in December 2015. The series will also debut on Netflix in July and on PBS stations and the Kid Genius Cartoon Channel on Comcast in September.

"The kids' home entertainment sector remains an important and lucrative business for us, and we are excited to participate in it through a leading video distributor such as NCircle," said Berman. "The complimentary missions of NCircle's 'Entertainment that Educates' and Genius Brands' 'Content with a Purpose' underscores the strong compatibility between the two companies."

"GBI's fun and engaging series launches on Netflix, PBS and Comcast this year, and we are very excited to be involved in furthering the introduction of Thomas Edison's Secret Lab through a broad DVD and digital distribution strategy," added NCircle's Flynn. "We're always on the lookout for entertaining content that also enriches and inspires the young minds of our customers' children, and this unique new series definitely checks all the boxes on parents' wish list."

About Thomas Edison's Secret Lab
Thomas Edison's Secret Lab is a new original series filled with fun, comedy, exploration and adventure to demonstrate to 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, whacky, wild and engaging topics, showing kids just how much fun science can be.

About Genius Brands International
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS) is a publicly traded global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia content for toddlers to tweens. Led by award-winning creators and producers CEO Andy Heyward and President Amy Moynihan Heyward, GBI creates "content with a purpose," meaning content that is as entertaining as it is enriching. GBI's growing library of content includes the award-winning Baby Genius, Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club, Thomas Edison's Secret Lab, Llama Llama, from the NY Times bestselling children's book franchise, and Stan Lee's Mighty 7, the first project from Stan Lee Comics, a joint venture with legend Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment.

A Squared Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of Genius Brands International, is a brand management and licensing company that represents third-party properties across a broad range of categories in territories around the world. The company currently represents Psycho Bunny, a luxury apparel line; From Frank, a humor greeting card and product line; and Celessence Technologies, the world's leading microencapsulation company.

For additional information please visit www.gnusbrands.com.

About NCircle Entertainment
NCircle specializes in the sales, marketing, and distribution of children and family entertainment, and is a trusted brand for high-quality, age-appropriate content. As the largest independent studio for children's non-theatrical DVDs, NCircle's portfolio includes many of the most loved and best-selling children's brands. Key brands currently in NCircle's vast library include Disney Jr.'s Octonauts, PBS's The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! and Sid the Science Kid, Nick Jr.'s Mike the Knight and Pocoyo, as well as the Academy Award nominated shorts The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom. For more, please visit www.NCircleEntertainment.com.

NCircle Entertainment is a subsidiary of Alliance Entertainment.

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.

GBI MEDIA CONTACT:
Three.Sixty Marketing + Communications
Michelle Orsi/Carol Holdsworth
310-418-6430
Email Contact

GBI INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:
PLR Investor Relations
Michael Porter
212.564.4700
Email Contact

Source: Genius Brands International, Inc.

Released April 27, 2015