POW! Entertainment

POW! Entertainment, Inc.
Public company
Traded as OTCQB: POWN
Industry Entertainment
Founded 2001
Founder
Headquarters Beverly Hills, California, United States
Key people
  • Stan Lee (Chairman and CCO)
  • Gill Champion
  • (President and CEO)
Services development
Revenue Increase $ 2.38 million (FY 2013)[1]
Increase $ -198,630 (FY 2013)[1]
Increase $ -392,689 (FY 2013)[1]
Total assets Decrease $ 880,224 (FY 2013)[1]
Total equity Decrease $ -4,6 million (FY 2013)[1]
Number of employees
 12 (October 2011)
Website powentertainment.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 two companies: POW! Entertainment, Inc. (POW! Inc.), a publicly traded holding corporation; and its wholly owned subsidiary, POW! Entertainment, LLC (POW! LLC).[2]

POW! productions include the 2006 Sci Fi Channel's TV-movie Stan Lee's Lightspeed, that network's reality television series Who Wants to Be a Superhero? and the Stan Lee's Mighty 7 media franchise. 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.[2][3] POW set up their offices at the Santa Monica, California MGM HQ offices as a first look deal was negotiated in April 2002 by Lieberman with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Cheyenne Enterprises, Bruce Willis's and producer Arnold Rifkin's production company.[4]

Lee created the risqué animated superhero series Stripperella for Spike TV's The Strip animated block which premiered on June 26, 2003. POW! has also had a dozen additional feature and television production agreements by July. Three of the films were in preproduction: Nightbird, The Femizons then with writers Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman and The Double Man, then under development by Training Day director Antoine Fuqua. A production agreement was signed by POW! and Idiom Films for Forever Man, an avenging hero type with a twist. While in that month, the company signed with DIC Entertainment on a TV series production deal starting with Stan Lee's Secret Super Six, about alien super powered teens taught by Lee about humanity. The in development Hefs Superbunnies animated superhero series was announced by Lee at Comic-Con 2003 which would feature a villain fighting Hugh Hefner and playmates.[4]

Public corporation

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. 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" in a reverse merger. Arturion changed its name to POW! Entertainment, Inc. Media Dynamics invested $500,000 for 769,250 shares with a subscription for additional shares for $650,000.[3]

In August, 2004 he announced a superhero program that would feature Ringo Starr, the former Beatle, as the lead character.[5] Additionally, in August of that year, Lee announced the launch of Stan Lee's Sunday Comics.[6]

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.[7] In 2005, the company announced that another animated film that would feature the voice of Ringo Starr.[8][9] 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.[10] The channel includes mobisodes with Stripperella, The Accuser and The Drifter.

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.[11] Only one movie, Lightspeed, was completed for SciFi and aired July 26, 2006.[12]

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.[13] In 2005, Lee and Michelle Rodriguez agreed to develop a Tigress film, based on the Conan the Barbarian comic book villainess.[14]

In 2007, POW! started a series of direct-to-DVD animated films under the Stan Lee Presents banner. The two releases were Mosaic and The Condor.[15]

POW! and Walt Disney Studios agree to a first-look deal in June 2007.[15] The following year, the first three titles under that deal were announced: Nick Ratchet, Blaze and Tigress, an original concept from the Conan villianess.[16]

On June 9, 2007, a suit was brought against Lee, POW!, subsidiary QED Entertainment, and former Stan Lee Media staff at POW![17] 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.[18]

Brighton Partners and Rainmaker Animation announced in April 2008 a partnership with POW! to produce a CGI film series, "Legion of 5".[19] That same month, Virgin Comics announced Lee would create a line of superhero comics for that company.[20]

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][21] Also, Disney's Silver Creek Pictures entered into another agreement with POW! for first-look and consulting services.[2][22]

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 starting with the "Super Seven".[23] On August 5, the reality-television series Stan Lee's Superhumans show premiered on the cable channel History.[24] Also that month, Super7, a toy manufacturer, sued POW! and partners over Stan Lee Comics' Super Seven.[25] Late in the year, POW! and Boom! Studios began publishing three new comic-book series: Soldier Zero, Starborn, and The Traveler.[26][27] In October, 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.[28][29]

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.[30] In 2011, Lee was writing a live-action musical, The Yin and Yang Battle of Tao.[31] 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.[32][33] 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.[34]

In May 2012, Arthur Lieberman, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Counsel of POW!, died due to lung cancer.[35] 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., claiming it is owed $1.15 million for a three-million POW! common stock subscription. Barth, Sandman and their corporations countersued.[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.[36]

On April 5, 2013, a POW! joint venture with MKC Entertainment, SL Power Concerts, launched its military friendly Stan Lee's POW!er Concert series with country band Gloriana at the Pacific View Events Center, Camp Pendleton with future concerts at other military bases and proceeds going to military affiliated charities.[37][38] On June 12, POW and JADS International released Stan Lee Signature Cologne.[39] Legion of 5 was revealed in June to be a live action film at Sandman Studios affiliated live action label Paralight Films at the casting stage with an expected release of late 2015 or early 2016.[40] Arad Productions and POW! are in early development on a new superhero movie set up at Columbia Pictures as of November 2013,[41] which is revealed in August 2014 to be "Apollo Rising", gods living amongst us, as it was melded with the Red Queen author Victoria Aveyard script "Eternals".[42] POW! formed Stan Lee Global Entertainment as a joint venture in 2014 with a Hong Kong-based investor.[43]

Disney's first deal with POW is "The Zodiac Legacy" book series with the first book to be released through Disney Publishing Worldwide in January 2015.[44] However, the first look deal agreed to in 2006 and extended in 2009 was allowed to expire as of December 31, 2014.[45]

Digital Domain announced a joint venture company 25% owned by POW! was announced in January 2015 for development, production and international distribution of project from either owner with the creation of a virtual Stan Lee as part of the deal.[46] Stan Lee's Lucky Man was picked up in March by Sky1 for a 10 episode 1 hour show as a POW! coproduction with Carnival Films for his first UK drama series.[47]

POW! announced two Chinese projects in October 2015, Realm superheroine movie starring Li Bingbing with Stan Lee Global Entertainment and Fundamental Films while “Arch Alien” sci-fi movie written by Lee, Ralph Hemecker (also directing) and Bill Macdonald.[48]

Production

Title Year(s) Type Production
partner(s)		 Distributor Notes
Stripperella 2003–2004 Animated series Spike TV
Stan Lee’s Superhero Christmas October 2004 Book Harper Collins[11]
4th Qtr. 2005 Direct-to-video
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 Nash Entertainment Sci Fi Channel 2 seasons
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (UK) 2006–2007 Reality television series BBC Two/CBBC 1 season
Mosaic 2007 Direct-to-video
Anchor Bay Entertainment Released under "Stan Lee Presents" label
The Condor
Ultimo 2008 Manga Shueisha
Viz Media[49]
Time Jumper 2009 Animated mobile series Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment iTunes
"Heroman" 2009 - 2012 Manga Square Enix's Shonen Gangan[50]
2010 anime TV series Bones
Wowmax Media		 TX Network
Stan Lee's line 2010 comic books Boom! Studios titles: Soldier Zero
  • Starborn
  • The Traveler
Stan Lee's Superhumans 2010 –2013 Reality television series The History Channel 3 seasons 31 episodes
Chakra: The Invincible Digital comics series Liquid Comics Graphic India[51]
November 30, 2013 Animated film Graphic India Cartoon Network India Also on ToonTV[52]
Stan Lee's Verticus September 2012 iOS game Controlled Chaos Media Moonshark[53]
Stan Lee Superhero Pack November 2014 software add on Plotagon Plotagon film software expansion with five characters, 4 new superheroes and a bonus Stan Lee[54][55]
The Zodiac Legacy January 27, 2015 book series Disney Publishing Worldwide[44] 2 illustrated novels so far:
  • Convergence
  • The Dragon's Return
March 30, 2016 Graphic novels Papercutz Tiger Island
Stan Lee’s Hero Command March 19, 2015 expandable mobile game F84 Games[56][57]
"The Unknowns" 2015 comic book Arcana Studios[58]
Lucky Man 2016 UK drama series: 10 episode 1 hour show Carnival Films Sky1 (UK)
NBCUniversal International Distribution[47]

Upcoming

Title Year(s) Type Production
partner(s)		 Distributor Notes
Legion of 5 early 2016 animate film Paralight Films casting[40]
"Apollo Rising" TBA movie Arad Productions Columbia Pictures early development[42]
“Realm” TBA movie Fundamental Films
Stan Lee Global Entertainment		 Fundamental Films Chinese Super heroine, cast (star: Li Bingbing) & scripted (Alex Litvak)[43]
"Arch Alien” TBA movie Hualien Media
Mission Control Entertainment [48]

Units

Investors

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "POW! ENTERTAINMENT Inc 2013 Annual Report, Form 10-K, Filing Date December 31, 2013". secdatabase.com. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "POW! Entertainment LLC FORM 10-K". SEC.gov. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Gardner, Eriq (May 3, 2012). "Stan Lee Fights for Control of His POW! Entertainment (Exclusive)". Hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  4. 1 2 Rick DeMott, Rick DeMott (July 18, 2003). "POW! Stan Lee Reloaded". AWN Profile. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Ringo Starr to become superhero". BBC. August 6, 2004.
  6. ↑ "Stan Lee Launches New Online Comic Venture". CBC. August 6, 2004. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010.
  7. ↑ Graser, Marc (May 7, 2004). "IDT joins Lee in POW! to distrib toon DVDs". Daily Variety. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Newsarama.com (March 7, 2007): "Talking Stan Lee's Mosiac With Scott Lobdell", by Daniel Robert Epstein
  9. ↑ "Ringo Starr, superhero". Archived from the original on 2005-01-26. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  10. ↑ POW! Entertainment, Inc Announces Alliance with Sprint Nextel Corp. and Vidiator in Sixty Billion Dollar Wireless Market 26 December 2006
  11. 1 2 Ball, Ryan (December 3, 2004). "Scribe Runs to Stan Lee’s Lightspeed". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "Stan Lee's LightSpeed Premiering July 26". SuperHeroHype.com. July 12, 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  13. ↑ Foreman, Liza (March 1, 2005). "Lee, Evans' POW! fields 'Foreverman'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Keck, William (November 15, 2005). "She shot Shannon; what's Ana Lucia's next target?". USA Today. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  15. 1 2 "Disney, Stan Lee sign production deal". Hollywood Reporter. Reuters. June 6, 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  16. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana; Graser, Marc (April 1, 2008). "Stan Lee, Disney set projects". Variety. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  17. ↑ "June 9: Stan Lee Media, Inc. Files Expected Lawsuit Against Stan Lee". Daily Blog. The Comic Reporter. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  18. ↑ Law360 summary, January 27, 2009
  19. ↑ "Stan Lee Launching Legion of 5". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  20. ↑ Boucher, Geoff (April 19, 2008). "Stan Lee to oversee Virgin Comics' superheroes". Los Angeles Times.
  21. ↑ Kit, Borys. "Disney acquires stake in Stan Lee's POW!". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  22. ↑ "Disney Expands Ties With Stan Lee". ICV2.com. 2010-01-03. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  23. ↑ Truitt, Brian (2010-02-22). "Meet Stan Lee's newest super-team, 'Super Seven'". USA TODAY. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  24. ↑ "Lee, Meltzer team with History Channel". digitalspy.com. May 5, 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  25. ↑ Armitage, Hugh (August 10, 2010). "Toy company sues Stan Lee, Archie Comics". Digitalspy.com. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  26. ↑ Langshaw, Mark (March 2, 2010). "Stan Lee partners with BOOM! Studios". digitalspy.com. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  27. ↑ "Boom! announces three Stan Lee titles". digitalspy.com. July 22, 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  28. ↑ "The Guardian Project". Guardian Media Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  29. ↑ 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.
  30. ↑ 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.
  31. ↑ 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 10 April 2014.
  32. ↑ Kepler, Adam W. (October 16, 2011). "Monsters v. Kittens". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  33. ↑ 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 2013-06-24. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  34. ↑ Kit, Borys (November 17, 2011). "Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment Signs Deals With YouTube and EQAL". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  35. ↑ 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.
  36. ↑ "The Hub Network Unveils 2013-'14 Program Slate with Six New Additions to Join Nine Returning Original Series". thefutoncritic.com. 20 March 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  37. 1 2 Gonzales, Nicole; Garske, Monica (April 6, 2013). "Comic Book Legend Stan Lee Kicks Off Military Concert Series in San Diego". nbcsandiego.com (NBCUniversal Media, LLC). Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  38. ↑ "POW! Entertainment and MKC Entertainment Jon Forces to Present STan Lee’s POW!er Concerts" (Press release). BEVERLY HILLS, CA: POW! Entertainment. April 2, 2013 – via Fanboy Comics.
  39. ↑ "Stan Lee, JADS International to Create Stan Lee Signature Cologne". Retail Merchandiser Magazine. June 12, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  40. 1 2 Brown Wright, Rebecca (June 3, 2014). "Local Film Production Company Partners with Stan Lee For Upcoming Movie". The Wasatch View. Retrieved April 3, 2015 – via Paralight Films.
  41. ↑ Kit, Borys (November 25, 2013). "Stan Lee, Avi Arad Team for Secret Movie Project". The Hollywood Reporter (Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  42. 1 2 Busch, Anita (August 7, 2014). "Near Myth: Stan Lee’s ‘Apollo Rising’ To Meld With ‘Eternal’ For Greek God Project". Deadline Hollywood (Penske Business Media, LLC). Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  43. 1 2 3 McNary, Dave (October 28, 2015). "Li Bingbing to Star in Superhero Movie ‘Realm’ for Stan Lee, Fundamental". Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  44. 1 2 Richwine, Lisa; Grover, Ronald (August 6, 2014). "Disney toy division's focus on franchises makes it a star". reuters.com (Thomson Reuters). Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  45. ↑ "FORM 10-Q Quarterly Report 6/30/2014". OTC Markets. POW! ENTERTAINMENT, INC. August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  46. ↑ "Digital Domain Forms Strategic Joint Venture U.S. Partnership with POW! Entertainment, LLC" (Press release). Hong Kong: Digital Domain Holdings Limited. Japan Corporate News. January 20, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015 – via Marketwatch.com.
  47. 1 2 Tartaglione, Nancy (March 31, 2015). "Stan Lee, ‘Downton Abbey’ Producer Team On Superhero Drama ‘Lucky Man’ For Sky1". Deadline (Penske Business Media, LLC). Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  48. 1 2 McNary, Dave (October 30, 2015). "Stan Lee Unveils ‘Arch Alien’ Movie Franchise Plan". Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  49. ↑ "Viz to Publish Stan Lee Manga Project". ICv2. April 20, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  50. ↑ Wigler, Josh (July 15, 2009). "Stan Lee's 'Heroman' Anime Gets Manga Treatment". MTV Splash Page. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  51. ↑ Bhushan, Nyay. (December 21, 2011) Stan Lee to Create Indian Comic Superhero 'Chakra - The Invincible'. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  52. ↑ Bhushan, Nyay. (October 16, 2013) Stan Lee's Indian Superhero 'Chakra' to Premiere on Country's Cartoon Network in November. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  53. ↑ de Matos, Xav (September 17, 2012). "Stan Lee brings his vision to iOS with new IP 'Verticus'". Joystiq.com. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  54. ↑ Graser, Marc (October 12, 2013). "Stan Lee Creates New Superheroes for Plotagon". Variety (Penske Business Media). Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  55. ↑ Graser, Marc (October 31, 2013). "Stan Lee Added to Plotagon as Castable Character". Variety (Penske Business Media). Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  56. ↑ Shaul, Brandy (March 2, 2015). "F84 Games, POW Entertainment Announce Stan Lee’s Hero Command". Social Times (Adweek). Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  57. ↑ Martens, Todd (February 26, 2015). "Stan Lee to star in his own video game". Hero Complex (Los Angeles Times). Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  58. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (April 28, 2015). "UK Orders ISPs To Block ‘Popcorn Time’ Sites; Stan Lee’s POW! Teams With Arcana On New Comic ‘The Unknowns’". Deadline (Penske Business Media). Retrieved April 29, 2015.

External links

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