Following major expansion for its content and consumer products offerings, Genius Brands International Inc. scored a 318% year-over-year revenue increase for the second quarter of 2021.
Q2 revenue reached approximately $2.3 million this year compared to approximately $561,000 during the same period last year. For the first six months of 2021, the company experienced a 280% revenue spike driven by the launch of Kartoon Channel! and new partnership deals for owned properties, including Rainbow Rangers, which streams on Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Nickelodeon/Nick Latin America.
Genius Brands’ Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward published a Q2 blog post in which he issued updates on the company’s six tentpole efforts: Kartoon Channel!, Rainbow Rangers, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, Shaq’s Garage, ChizComm and ChizComm Beacon Media, Stan Lee Universe and Stan Lee Centennial.
“We are not seeking to become the next Walt Disney Co, the next Netflix, nor the next Amazon,” Heyward says. However, like Disney, we build animated content. Like Netflix, we stream content, and we license consumer products based on characters and brands on Amazon. What we are seeking, is to become the best producer, streamer, and licensor, of animated content for children anywhere.”
Highlights in Q2 include growth in ChizComm/ChizComm Beacon Media, which Heyward says earned $5 million in commissions during its first full quarter of reporting as a business unit of Genius Brands International.
“Despite the supply chain disruption across the entire toy industry, ChizComm still made money this quarter, and is forecasting gains for the year,” Heyward says. “They have skillfully managed their business to minimize the fallout from the supply chain problems of the global pandemic affecting the entire toy industry. As Genius grows, ChizComm, skilfully led by founder Harold Chizick, will continue to be an essential piece of the Genius ecosystem.”
Following the recent news that Never Wrong Toys will introduce a new range of products inspired by Rainbow Rangers, Genius Brands inked a deal with Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski for Shaq’s Garage. The NFL star will join the series as co-executive producer and voice of the “Gronkmobile,” a red truck that draws inspiration from Gronk’s main gig on the gridiron. The show will premiere in Q2 2022.
Rainbow Rangers will make its debut on Paramount+ this Wednesday.
