Genius Brands International Expands Worldwide Consumer Products Program for Rainbow Rangers With Appointment of Key New Licensees

The Bentex Group, Jay Franco and H.E.R. Accessories to Create Branded Product Lines for 2018 to Support the Animated Series Launch on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. Channel

BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/13/17 -- 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, continues to amass key partners for its upcoming animated preschool series Rainbow Rangers with the appointment of a trio of top-tier licensees, TheBentex Group (apparel), JayFranco (bedding and home décor) and H.E.R. Accessories (accessories), to create new branded products.

The announcement of the new licensing partners follows recent news that Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. licensed exclusive U.S. and Caribbean Basin broadcast rights for season one of Rainbow Rangers, which will premiere in 2018; and the appointment of Mattel Inc.'s Fisher-Price Toys as Global Master Toy Partner for the brand. Both announcements have spurred strong market expectations for the brand.

"The marketplace shares our excitement about Rainbow Rangers, especially with the early endorsements of broadcast partner Nickelodeon and our master toy licensee Mattel's Fisher-Price Toys," said Stone Newman, Genius Brands President of Global Consumer Products, Worldwide Content Sales & Marketing. "This bright and colorful series, developed by the best in the business, will delight preschoolers and empower little girls the world over, which is why our licensing program for the brand continues to attract partners like The Bentex Group, H.E.R. Accessories and Jay Franco. We've made our list of preferred licensees and will actively pursue agreements, developing a robust global merchandising, licensing and retail program encompassing all key categories to coincide with the series launch."

As Master Apparel partner, The Bentex Group will develop an extensive contemporary, fashion forward range of collections in all size rangers that capture the color, essence and spirit of this brand. Jewelry and accessories will play an integral part of the series, as they do in the lives of girls, and H.E.R. Accessories will create high quality, cutting-edge and on trend merchandise, including watches, jewelry, hair accessories and other age-appropriate fashion accessories. Finally, Jay Franco will allow every little girl to turn her room and bathroom into her own Kaliedoscopia (home of the Rainbow Rangers) with a complete offering of bedding, room décor and bath textiles and accessories.

"The industry is buzzing about Rainbow Rangers and between the deep roster of talent developing the series and Nickelodeon and Mattel being on board, we had to learn more. Once we saw Rainbow Rangers and met the creators, it was simply a matter of where do we sign as we knew and know that this will be the next big thing in girl's character apparel. We cannot wait to shout Ride Rangers Ride and now we can!" commented The Bentex Group's Susan Peia, Executive Vice President of Licensing.

"We're proud to be associated with Genius Brands exciting new preschool brand and are thrilled to translate the colorful, fun designs of the heroines of Rainbow Rangers to an array of age-appropriate fashion accessories," said H.E.R. Accessories President & CEO, Hymie Anteby.

"We're thrilled to have the opportunity to be involved with this new property at its inception, especially with Rainbow Rangers' level of pedigree and partnerships. We're very much looking forward to consumers' response to both the program and its licensed product offerings. The idea of creating so many looks and environments, giving girls the opportunity to turn their bedroom into Kaliedascopia or their favorite Rangers' room, is very exciting to us at Jay Franco," said Jay Franco's VP of Sales, Joe A. Franco.

Created as the first mission-based action adventure series targeting preschool girls, Rainbow Rangers is an empowering, exciting, behind-the-curtain peek at the lives of Earth's First Responders whose mission is to help protect the earth's environment and its animal inhabitants. The series seamlessly blends fantasy and action-adventure with relatable, accessible stories about friendship and saving the environment. The Rainbow Rangers -- seven girls, each a different color of the rainbow with her own wildly unique personality and special power -- band together to save the day whenever there's trouble for the animals or natural wonders of Earth. Every storyline is designed to show young viewers the importance of working together and that actions both big and small can make the world a better place.

Boasting a unique and highly-accomplished team of creators from the animated motion picture world, Rainbow Rangers' creative development and production team includes Rob Minkoff (Disney'sTheLion King director), Shane Morris (Disney's Frozen co-writer), Tim Mansfield and New York Times Bestselling author and Emmy-nominated writer Elise Allen (Dinosaur Train, Lion Guard, Barbie specials) who is serving as head writer and co-creator. Genius Brands' Chairman and CEO and multiple Emmy Award-winning producer of more than 5,000 episodes of children's programming, Andy Heyward, serves as executive producer and Shelly Hirsch as Co-Executive Producer. Legendary Disney Alum Ruben Aquino created key designs. Aquino is responsible for the design and animation of many of Disney's most iconic characters from award-winning films, including "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," "Mulan" and "Frozen."

About The Bentex Group
Bentex, Extreme Concepts, Dreamwave and H.I.S. International are category leaders in children's apparel. Production capabilities include trend-right fashion apparel as well as value-priced apparel in knits and wovens. Its extensive portfolio of character license properties is unmatched in the industry and makes the companies of The Bentex Group are a one-stop destination for all things character. Additionally, it has a well-developed private label business and growing brand business including Cherokee and Scholastic. For more information, visit https://www.bentex.com/

About Jay Franco & Sons, Inc.
Jay Franco and Sons, Inc. is the leading importer in the licensed Home Furnishing industry featuring Bedding, Bath and Beach accessories for over 60 years. The company prides themselves on providing their customers with superior expertise, expansive and innovative production capabilities, the latest textile fabrications and selling their products in mass merchants, department stores, and specialty retailers nationwide for the best price. Jay Franco and Sons, Inc. has affiliated offices in Taiwan, Shanghai, India and Pakistan.

About H.E.R. Accessories
H.E.R. Accessories was founded in 2000 with the focus of bringing high quality, cutting edge, fashion forward merchandise to the consumer. It has earned a reputation as an industry leader in today's fast-paced, fashion industry. H.E.R. Accessories designs, manufactures, and sells watches, cosmetics, jewelry, hair accessories and everything in between, featuring licensed brands and private label lines. With offices in NY and Hong Kong, H.E.R. Accessories is vertically geared to service customers with an attention to detail that is second to none. For more information, visit http://heracc.com/

About Genius Brands International
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNUS) is a leading global media company developing, producing, marketing and licensing branded children's entertainment properties and consumer products for 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'sCosmic 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:
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 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, under the heading "Risk Factors," and other 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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Source: Genius Brands International, Inc.

Released June 13, 2017