Genius Brands International Appoints Michael Handelman as Chief Financial Officer

BEVERLY HILLS, CA--(Marketwired - June 26, 2015) - Genius Brands International, Inc. “GBI” (OTCQB: GNUS), a global content and brand management company that provides entertaining and enriching ‘content and products with a purpose’ for toddlers to tweens, has named veteran financial management executive Michael Handelman as its Chief Financial Officer, based in GBI’s Beverly Hills, California headquarters. The announcement was made today by GBI Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward.

With more than 30 years of financial management experience in the public sector, including over 20 years in the capacity of CFO, Handelman is highly experienced in finance, accounting, budgeting and control principles. He also has in-depth experience with financial modeling, deal structures, mergers and acquisitions, and overseeing the uplisting of companies from OTC to NASDAQ. In his new role as CFO for GBI, Handelman will oversee all of the Company’s financial business and accounting staff and will monitor internal control and accounting systems as well as the Company's SEC filings, including the issuance of its quarterly and annual financial reports, as well as interactions with GBI’s independent accounting firm and its independent audit committee. Handelman will work closely with Vice President of Finance Matthew Kornberg to coordinate financial planning and budget management functions and ensure that the company’s accounting procedures and reporting conform to generally accepted accounting principles. Handelman replaces Rebecca Hershinger, effective immediately.

“Genius Brands is on a rapid growth path, and we are gratified to have someone with Michael’s breadth of CFO experience and broad range of financial skills to help manage the company’s day-to-day operations and guide its future growth,” said Heyward. “The year ahead will be one of the Company’s most important yet, from both an operational and a financial standpoint, and Michael’s leadership in both areas will be instrumental in our continued fiscal growth.”

The CFO appointment follows a steady stream of announcements detailing the Company’s rapid growth, including the fall 2015 launch of the new Kid Genius VOD channel; the continued growth of the re-launched Baby Genius brand; the September introduction of the new Thomas Edison's Secret Lab series; the expansion of the popular Llama Llama brand into a new animated series and expanded consumer products program; the expansion of Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club with new products being introduced at retail this fall; the continued expansion of Psycho Bunny into new product categories and territories; the expansion of the From Frank brand with a dozen new products being introduced this year; and more. The Company has doubled its portfolio of properties in the past year and is poised for growth with dozens of new consumer products to debut at retail this year.

Handelman is a respected financial executive who served as Vice President and CFO for The Los Angeles Kings NHL hockey team franchise (from 1993 to 1996), responsible for all of the team’s financial operations; served as VP and CFO for the publicly traded children’s toy company Janex International, Inc. (from 1996 to 1999), where he handled financial systems and procedures, general accounting and cost and inventory accounting, and played a key role in handling the sale of the company and its relocation of corporate headquarters; and served as the CFO of the information technology and business process services provider Global Business Services from 1993 to 1994.

Most recently, from 2011 to 2015, Handelman served as the CFO of Lion Biotechnologies before the company relocated their headquarters to New York. In addition to his daily responsibilities, within the last nine months of his involvement, Handelman led Lion Biotechnologies through a $23 million private placement fundraising, a successful up-listing from OTC exchange to NASDAQ, followed by two closings of a public offering totaling close to $110 million.

Handelman is a graduate of Brooklyn College with a BS in Accounting and is a member of the California State Society of Certified Public Accountants and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

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 and develops comprehensive consumer products programs based on these original intellectual properties. Led by award-winning creators and producers CEO Andy Heyward and President Amy Moynihan Heyward, GBI creates “content and products with a purpose,” meaning content and products that are as entertaining as well as enriching for kids. 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.

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 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.