Genius Brands International, Inc. CEO Andy Heyward to Ring Closing Bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite

Move Commemorates Company's November 2016 Uplist onto the Nasdaq Stock Market

BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/18/17 -- Genius Brands International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNUS), a global media company that creates and licenses multimedia animated content for children, announced that its Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward will be ringing the closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite on Wednesday, January 18 (3:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST), following the Company's start of common stock trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market in November, 2016.

In commenting on reaching the Company's goal to uplist the GNUS stock, Heyward said that in less than four short years, the Genius team has succeeded in positioning Genius Brands International as a key content and global brand management company for children, ensuring its shareholders continue to benefit from their early and ardent support of the Company's expansion efforts.

"When I ring the closing bell on Wednesday, we will be heralding the next chapter in Genius Brands International's continued global growth," remarked Heyward. "We're celebrating the commitment, dedication and strategic management efforts of our exemplary executive team and look forward to unveiling even more fresh and inventive content, as well as expanding our channel coverage both in the U.S. and internationally."

A live stream of the Nasdaq Closing Bell will be available at: https://new.livestream.com/nasdaq/live or http://www.nasdaq.com/about/marketsitetowervideo.asx

About Genius Brands International
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, Genius Brands International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNUS) is a publicly traded global children's media company that creates and licenses animated multimedia entertainment 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, Genius Brands International'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; Rainbow Rangers, a preschool property produced by Rob Minkoff (Disney's Lion King); award-winning Baby Genius, re-launched with new entertainment and over 40 new products; adventure comedy Thomas Edison's Secret LabĀ®, available on Netflix, public broadcast stations and Genius Brands International'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's Cosmic Crusaders, with Stan Lee's Pow! Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter. Additionally, under Genius Brands International'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.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/1/17/11G127653/Images/GBI_Logo-9b7ea281b7a08185b25a6aae92078dc0.jpg

Genius Brands International Media Contact:
Michelle Orsi
Three.Sixty Marketing & Communications
(310) 418-6430
Email contact


Investor Relations Contact:
Michael Porter
PLR Investor Relations
212.564.7000
Email contact

Source: Genius Brands International, Inc.