Genius Brands International Expands Licensing and Retail Program for Tween Girl's Brand SpacePOP With Appointment of North American Licensing Partners for Fall 2016 Retail Launch

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Madame Alexander Doll Company Named Brand Toy Partner; SpacePOP Achieves Over 3 Million Views on YouTube Since June 20th Content Launch

BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/21/16 -- Following the June 20th launch of SpacePOP with YouTube, Genius Brands International, Inc. ("GBI") (OTCQB: GNUS), a global brand management company, continues to expand the licensing, merchandising and retail program for its new tween girl's brand, SpacePOP, with the appointment of a slate of new North American licensees.

As the newly appointed toy partner for SpacePOP, the Madame Alexander Doll Company will create a line of fashion dolls and figures based on the brand's main characters. Additionally, GBI has named new key licensees, including KIDdesigns (youth electronics, tech accessories and electronic toys), Mad Dog Concepts (loungewear, sleepwear), Franco Manufacturing (bedding & bath textiles, accessories, room décor), Berkshire Fashions (hosiery, head wear, and cold weather accessories), and FAB Starpoint (bags, backpacks, accessories).

These latest partners join existing SpacePOP licensees, including Taste Beauty (beauty and bath products), Bare Tree Media (emoticons), Canal Toys (craft and activity kits), Yowie Group, Ltd. (confections), Jaya Apparel (apparel), H.E.R. Accessories (accessories), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (home entertainment), and Imprint (publishing), part of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, who are launching the book series. SpacePOP merchandise will begin rolling out at retail in the U.S. in fall 2016.

"The appeal of SpacePOP continues to fuel great demand from the licensing community across all categories, lining up best-in-class key partners for our launch," said GBI's President of Global Consumer Products & Marketing, Stone Newman. "In addition to the captivating characters and engaging storylines, this property fuses the passionate interest of tween girls - fashion, music, fantasy - and offers licensing, merchandising and retail partners the unique opportunity to develop an indelible association with their product or brand at the onset of what promises to be a hugely successful, fresh new brand for girls."

"We are thrilled to partner with GBI to expand the SpacePOP digital narrative into fashion dolls and figures "said Jamie Cygielman, General Manager/EVP, Madame Alexander Doll Company. "SpacePOP is a fresh and exciting experience for the tween audience, and as a company with a rich heritage in quality and pop culture, Madame Alexander is the ideal partner to bring the colorful SpacePOP characters to life."

GBI has forged new paths in the children's media space by utilizing YouTube as its distribution path for SpacePOP, which launched exclusively on the YouTube SpacePOP Channel on June 20th and has already amassed over 3 million views.

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 brand.

Following the premiere of the first six videos on YouTube, two new SpacePOP videos are being released each week on YouTube, as well as across other digital platforms, including Toon Goggles, PopJam, BatteryPOP and the Kid Genius channel on Comcast's Xfinity on Demand platform. SpacePOP music is available from Sony Music Entertainment on iTunes and Spotify.

In conjunction with the launch of SpacePOP, GBI has launched a number of marketing initiatives, including a YouTube Influencer campaign; national promotional partnerships with Six Flags, Dippin' Dots and Camplified; promotional campaigns with Musical.ly and PopJam; and a dedicated SpacePOP site, SpacePOPGirls.com.

SpacePOP was developed with best-in-class development and production team, 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) and 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, Pokemon) for original songs.

About Genius Brands International
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. "GBI" (OTCQB: GNUS) is a publicly traded global brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia content. Led by award-winning creators and producers, the company 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, GBI'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 GBI'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 animated series, Stan Lee'sCosmic Crusaders, with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter. Additionally under GBI's 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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GBI MEDIA CONTACT:
Michelle Orsi/Carol Holdsworth
Three.Sixty Marketing & Communications
310-418-6430
Email contact


FOR INVESTOR RELATIONS:
Michael Porter
PLR Investor Relations
212.564.7000
Email contact

Source: Genius Brands International, Inc.

Released July 21, 2016