POW! Entertainment

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POW! Entertainment, LLC
Type Public company
Traded as OTCQB: POWN
Industry Entertainment
Founded 2001
Founder(s) Stan Lee
Gill Champion
Arthur Lieberman
Headquarters Beverly Hills, CA, USA
Key people Stan Lee, Chair & CCO
Gill Champion, President, CEO
Services development
Revenue Increase $ 2.7 million (FY 2011)[1]
Operating income Increase $-0.6 million (FY 2011)[1]
Net income Increase $ 0.24 million (FY 2011)[1]
Total assets Increase $ 13.8 million (FY 2011)[1]
Total equity Increase $ -3.5 million (FY 2011)[1]
Employees 12 (October 2011)[1]
Parent POW! Entertainment, Inc.
Divisions Panda Media Partners
Stan Lee Comics
Subsidiaries QED Productions, LLC
SLG Entertainment
Website POW! Entertainment.com

POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment is an American media production company formed in 2001 by Gill Champion, Arthur Lieberman and former Marvel Comics editor and publisher Stan Lee. POW! is made up of primarily two companies, POW! Entertainment, Inc. (POW! Inc.), a holding corporation so as to have publicly traded stock, and the operating company, POW! Entertainment, LLC (POW! LLC), the primary operating company.[2]

POW! productions include the 2006 Sci Fi Channel's TV-movie Stan Lee's Lightspeed and that network's reality television series Who Wants to Be a Superhero?. Other productions include the direct-to-DVD animated features Stan Lee's Mosaic and Stan Lee Presents: The Condor.

History

In November 2001, Stan Lee with Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman formed POW! Entertainment, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

Reverse Merger

The separate corporation POW! Entertainment, Inc., is a holding company created so as to have publicly traded stock. This corporation originated as the Delaware corporation Megatek Legacy Systems, Inc., formed August 17, 1998; this became Alta Pacific Minerals, Inc. in 1999, and Arturion Entertainment, Inc. in 2002.[2] By 2004, Arturion' stockholder were Media Dynamics, Inc., owned by Valerie Barth, controlling stockholder, and minority stockholder, UltraVision Inc., owned by Ron Sandman.[3] In a transaction structured by investment banker Stan Medley, Arturion was a public shell corporation that was used to acquire POW! on May 5, 2004, with POW! members receiving Arturion shares to take it public on the over-the-counter market "Pink Sheets". Arturion changed its name to POW! Entertainment, Inc.[2] Media Dynamics invested 1/2 million dollars for 769,250 shares with a subscription for additional shares for $650k, as well as Stan Medley's group who also invested 1/2 million dollars.[3]

Production

Lee created the risqué animated superhero series Stripperella for Spike TV. In 2004 he announced a superhero program that would feature Ringo Starr, the former Beatle, as the lead character.[4] Additionally, in August of that year, Lee announced the launch of Stan Lee's Sunday Comics.[5]

In May 2004, IDT Entertainment purchased a minority share in POW Entertainment in an agreement for exclusive distribution rights to POW's animated DVD properties and joint development of 6 cartoon films.[6] In 2005, the company announced that another animated film that would feature the voice of Ringo Starr.[7][8] Also in early 2005, the company formed a strategic partnership to develop a new mobile channel with mobile-streaming pioneer Vidiator, through Vidiator's mobile streaming technology. In 2006, this resulted in an agreement with Sprint Nextel Corp. where the Stan Lee's POW! Mobile Channel is officially listed as Sprint's Channel 70.[9] The channel includes mobisodes with Stripperella, The Accuser and The Drifter.[citation needed]

In 2004, an agreement with Andrew Stevens Entertainment Group and Jeff Franklin of FWE Inc., POW! and Lee planned to produce three action movies for the Sci Fi Channel to be aired in 2005-2006.[10] Only the movie, Lightspeed, was completed for SciFi and aired July 26, 2006.[11] POW! president and CEO Champion said in 2005 that Lee was creating a new superhero, Foreverman, for a Paramount Pictures movie, in tandem with producer Robert Evans and Idiom Films, with Peter Briggs hired to collaborate with Lee on the screenplay.[12]

In 2007, POW! started a series of direct-to-DVD animated films under the Stan Lee Presents banner. Each film focuses on a new superhero, created by Stan Lee for the series. The first two releases were Mosaic and The Condor.[citation needed] POW! and Walt Disney Studios agree to a first-look deal in June 2007.[13][14] The following year, the first three titles under that deal were announced: Nick Ratchet, Blaze and Tigress.[15]

On June 9, 2007, suit was brought against Lee, POW!, subsidiary QED Entertainment, and former Stan Lee Media staff at POW![16] On January 20, 2009, Judge Stephen Wilson, in Los Angeles Federal Court, ruled that POW! had illegally transferred assets of Stan Lee Media, including the Drifter and the Accuser, to POW! in violation of a bankruptcy court order.[17]

Brighton Partners and Rainmaker Animation announced in April 2008 a partnership with POW! to produce a CGI film series, "Legion of 5".[18] That same month, Virgin Comics announced Lee would create a line of superhero comics for that company.[19]

On December 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company's Catalyst Investments acquired a 10% stake in POW! for $2.5 million, coinciding with its full acquisition of Marvel Entertainment.[2][20] Also, Disney's Silver Creek Pictures entered into another agreement with POW! for first-look and consulting services.[2][21]

In 2010, POW started reporting to OTC Markets Group and was moved to the Over-The-Counter QB (OTCQB) tier market from the pink sheets.[2] In February of that year, POW! partnered with A Squared Entertainment (A2) and Archie Comics to create the Stan Lee Comics print and digital line.[22] On August 5, 2010, the reality-television series Stan Lee's Superhumans show premiered on the cable channel History.[23] Also that month, Super7, a toy manufacturer, sued POW! and partners over Stan Lee Comics' Super Seven.[24] Late in the year, POW! and Boom! Studios began publishing three new comic-book series: Soldier Zero, Starborn, and The Traveler.[25][26] In October 2010, Guardian Media Entertainment, a partnership of Lee, SLG Entertainment and NHL Enterprises, created hockey-themed superheroes called "Guardians" for each of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League. The venture includes a graphic novel.[27][28]

Ricco Capital and Panda Media Partners, a joint venture of POW! and Fidelis Entertainment, formed a partnership, Magic Storm Entertainment, in June 2011 to produce material for Asia.[29] In 2011, Lee was writing a live-action musical, The Yin and Yang Battle of Tao.[30] In October, Lee announced he would partner with 1821 Comics on a multimedia imprint for children, Stan Lee’s Kids Universe, a move he said addressed the lack of comic books targeted for children; and that he was collaborating with the company on its futuristic graphic novel Romeo & Juliet: The War, by writer Max Work and artist Skan Srisuwan.[31][32] In November, POW signed an agreement with YouTube and Vuguru, Michael Eisner’s digital studio, to start a YouTube channel called Stan Lee's World of Heroes. That same month, the company signed a deal with EQAL to create and launch theRealStanLee.com, an official site for Lee.[33]

In May 2012, Arthur Lieberman, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Counsel of POW!, passed away due to lung cancer.[34]

Also in May, POW! filed suit for fraud and breach of contract against Valerie Barth of Media Dynamics and Ron Sandman, sole director of UltraVision Inc. POW pre-emptively sued the duo do to the public statements about feeling "robbed" in the transaction not knowing about the issues surrounding Stan Lee Media (SLM). POW claims that they are owed $1.15 million for a 3 million POW! common stock subscription. Barth, Sandman and their corporations countersued for conspiracy, fraud and violations of security laws in relationship to the Arturion reverse merger by inflating assets and failing to reveal SLM-Lee agreements. Also, they claim the POW Trio failed to get an additional $1 million in financing as promised do to the SLM problems amongst other claims.[3]

In March 2013, Hub Network picked up its first work from POW, "Stan Lee's Mighty 7", animated pilot movie to be aired in early 2014.[35]

Production

Title Year(s) Type Production
partner(s)		 Distributor Notes
Stripperella 2003–2004 Animated series Spike TV
Stan Lee’s Superhero Christmas October 2004
4th Qtr. 2005		 Book
Direct-to-video		 Harper Collins[10]
Time Jumper 2009 Animated mobile series Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment iTunes
Lightspeed 2006 Television film FWE Picture Company Sci Fi Channel (TV)
Nu Image Films
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? 2006–2007 Reality television series
2 seasons		 Nash Entertainment Sci Fi Channel
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (UK) 2006–2007 Reality television series
1 season		 BBC Two/CBBC
Mosaic 2007 Direct-to-video Manga Entertainment (presents)
Film Roman
Voice Box Productions		 Anchor Bay Entertainment Released under "Stan Lee Presents" label
The Condor 2007 Direct-to-video Anchor Bay Entertainment Released under "Stan Lee Presents" label
Stan Lee's Superhumans 2010–2012 Reality television series
2 season		 The History Channel
Chakra - The Invincible Digital comics series Liquid Comics Graphic India[36]
11/30/2013 Animated film Graphic India Cartoon Network India Also on ToonTV[37]
Stan Lee's Verticus 9/2012 iOS game Controlled Chaos Media Moonshark[38]
Stan Lee's Mighty 7 2012 Stan Lee Comics title A2 Entertainment
Archie Comic Publications, Inc.		 Archie Comic Publications, Inc.
2014 Animated television film Hub Network[35]

Units

Investors

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "POW! ENTERTAINMENT Inc 2011 Annual Report, Form 10-K, Filing Date March 23, 2012". secdatabase.com. Retrieved June 4, 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "POW! Entertainment LLC FORM 10-K". SEC.gov. Securtities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 29 June 2011. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Gardner, Eriq (May 3, 2012). "Stan Lee Fights for Control of His POW! Entertainment (Exclusive)". Hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 3 July 2012. 
  4. ↑ "Ringo Starr to become superhero". BBC. August 6, 2004. 
  5. ↑ "Stan Lee Launches New Online Comic Venture". CBC. August 6, 2004. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010. 
  6. ↑ Graser, Marc (May 7, 2004). "IDT joins Lee in POW! to distrib toon DVDs". Daily Variety. Retrieved 28 June 2011.  More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  7. ↑ Newsarama.com (March 7, 2007): "Talking Stan Lee's Mosiac With Scott Lobdell", by Daniel Robert Epstein
  8. ↑ http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/01/25/showbuzz/index.html.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ POW! Entertainment,Inc Announces Alliance with Sprint Nextel Corp. and Vidiator in Sixty Billion Dollar Wireless Market 26 December 2006
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ball, Ryan (December 3, 2004). "Scribe Runs to Stan Lee’s Lightspeed". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
  11. ↑ "Stan Lee's LightSpeed Premiering July 26". SuperHeroHype.com. Jul 12, 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
  12. ↑ Foreman, Liza (March 1, 2005). "Lee, Evans' POW! fields 'Foreverman'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2010. 
  13. ↑ "Disney, Stan Lee sign production deal". Hollywood Reporter. Reuters. Jun 6, 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  14. ↑ "Disney Studios Signs Exclusive Deal With Stan Lee". Disney Studios press release via MagicalMountain.net (fan site). Archived from the original on July 31, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2007. 
  15. ↑ Fletcher, Alex (Apr 4, 2008). "Lee agrees to three films with Disney". digitalspy.com. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  16. ↑ "June 9: Stan Lee Media, Inc. Files Expected Lawsuit Against Stan Lee". Daily Blog. The Comic Reporter. Retrieved 2007-09-22. 
  17. ↑ Law360 summary, January 27, 2009
  18. ↑ "Stan Lee Launching Legion of 5". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2008-04-16. 
  19. ↑ Boucher, Geoff (April 19, 2008). "Stan Lee to oversee Virgin Comics' superheroes". Los Angeles Times. 
  20. ↑ Kit, Borys. "Disney acquires stake in Stan Lee's POW!". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 
  21. ↑ "Disney Expands Ties With Stan Lee". ICV2.com. 01/03/2010. Retrieved 29 June 2011. 
  22. ↑ Truitt, Brian (2010-2-22). "Meet Stan Lee's newest super-team, 'Super Seven'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 12 August 2011. 
  23. ↑ "Lee, Meltzer team with History Channel". digitalspy.com. May 5, 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  24. ↑ Armitage, Hugh (Aug 10, 2010). "Toy company sues Stan Lee, Archie Comics". Digitalspy.com. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  25. ↑ Langshaw, Mark (Mar 2, 2010). "Stan Lee partners with BOOM! Studios". digitalspy.com. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  26. ↑ "Boom! announces three Stan Lee titles". digitalspy.com. Jul 22, 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  27. ↑ "The Guardian Project". Guardian Media Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011. 
  28. ↑ Friedman, Wayne (June 16, 2011). "NHL's 'Guardian Project' Strikes Marketing Deal With NBCU". Media Daily News. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. 
  29. ↑ Powers, Lindsay (2011-06-28). "The company joins with Ricco Capital and Panda Media Partners to form Magic Storm Entertainment.". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  30. ↑ Hetrick, Adam (January 4, 2011). "Stan Lee Encouraged by Spider-Man; New Projects on the Horizon". Playbill. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
  31. ↑ Kepler, Adam W. (October 16, 2011). "Monsters v. Kittens". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2011. 
  32. ↑ Moore, Matt (October 14, 2011). "Stan Lee's got a new universe, and it's for kids". Associated Press/MSNBC. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2011. 
  33. ↑ Kit, Borys (November 17, 2011). "Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment Signs Deals With YouTube and EQAL". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 3 July 2012. 
  34. ↑ Eriq, Gardner (May 7, 2012). "Hollywood Docket: Jeweler vs. Perez Hilton; George Clinton Denied; Stan Lee's Lawyer Dies". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 July 2012. 
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 "The Hub Network Unveils 2013-'14 Program Slate with Six New Additions to Join Nine Returning Original Series". thefutoncritic.com. 03/20/13. Retrieved 20 March 2013. 
  36. ↑ Bhushan, Nyay. (December 21, 2011) Stan Lee to Create Indian Comic Superhero 'Chakra - The Invincible'. Hollywood Reporter. Accessed on November 7, 2013.
  37. ↑ Bhushan, Nyay. (October 16, 2013) Stan Lee's Indian Superhero 'Chakra' to Premiere on Country's Cartoon Network in November. Hollywood Reporter. Accessed on November 7, 2013.
  38. ↑ de Matos, Xav (September 17, 2012). "Stan Lee brings his vision to iOS with new IP 'Verticus'". Joystiq.com. Retrieved 20 March 2013. 

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