 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 2001; 24 years ago (2001) |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Gill Champion (president)[1] |
| Services | Development |
| Revenue |  $ 20.21 million (FY 2015)[2] |
| $ -200,415 (FY 2015)[2] | |
| $ -187,367 (FY 2015)[2] | |
| Total assets | $ 803,679 (FY 2015)[2] |
| Total equity | $ -4.99 million (FY 2015)[2] |
Number of employees | 13 (March 2014) |
| Parent | Camsing International Holding[1] |
| Divisions | Stan Lee Universe LP[3] |
| Subsidiaries | Stan Lee Global Entertainment, LLC |
| Website | powentertainment |
POW! Entertainment Inc. is an American media production company formed in 2001 by Gill Champion,[4] Arthur Lieberman and formerMarvel Comics editor and publisherStan Lee. POW! is made up of two companies: POW! Entertainment, Inc. (POW! Inc.), a holding corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary, POW! Entertainment, LLC (POW! LLC)[5] and is currently owned by Camsing International Holding.[1]
POW! productions include the 2006Sci-Fi Channel's TV-movieStan Lee's Lightspeed, that network'sreality television seriesWho Wants to Be a Superhero? and theStan Lee's Mighty 7 media franchise. Other productions include thedirect-to-DVDanimated featuresStan Lee's Mosaic andStan Lee Presents: The Condor.
In November 2001, Stan Lee formed POW! Entertainment, LLC, aDelaware-registeredlimited liability company, withGill Champion andArthur Lieberman.[5][6] POW! set up their offices atMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer's headquarters inSanta Monica, California as a first look deal was negotiated in April 2002 by Lieberman with MGM and Cheyenne Enterprises,Bruce Willis's and producerArnold Rifkin's production company.[7]
Lee created the risqué animated superhero seriesStripperella forSpike TV's The Strip animated block which premiered on June 26, 2003. POW! also had a dozen additional feature and television production agreements by July. Three of the films were in preproduction:Nightbird,The Femizons then with writersCary Solomon andChuck Konzelman andThe Double Man, then under development by Training Day directorAntoine Fuqua. A production agreement was signed by POW! and Idiom Films forForever Man, an avenging hero type with a twist. Meanwhile, the company signed withDIC Entertainment on a TV series production deal starting withStan Lee's Secret Super Six, about teens with alien superpowers who are taught by Lee about humanity. The in-developmentHefs Superbunnies animated superhero series was announced by Lee at Comic-Con 2003, which would feature avillain fightingHugh Hefner and his playmates.[7]
The separate corporation, POW! Entertainment, Inc., is aholding company created to have publicly traded stock. The corporation originated as Delaware-based Megatek Legacy Systems, Inc., formed August 17, 1998; it became Alta Pacific Minerals, Inc. in 1999, and Arturion Entertainment, Inc. in 2002.[5] By 2004, Arturion's stockholder was Media Dynamics, Inc., owned by Valerie Barth, controlling stockholder, and minority stockholder, UltraVision Inc., owned by Ron Sandman. Arturion was a publicshell corporation used to acquire POW! on May 5, 2004, with POW! members receiving Arturion shares to take it public onover-the-counter market "Pink Sheets" in areverse 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.[6]
In August 2004, Lee announced a superhero program that would featureRingo Starr, the formerBeatle, as the lead character.[8] Additionally, in August of that year, Lee announced the launch of Stan Lee's Sunday Comics.[9]
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 a joint development of six cartoon films.[10]In 2005, the company announced that another animated film that would feature the voice ofRingo Starr.[11][12] Also in early 2005, the company formed a strategic partnership to develop a new mobile channel with mobile-streaming pioneerVidiator, through Vidiator's mobile streaming technology. In 2006, this resulted in an agreement withSprint Nextel Corp. where the Stan Lee's POW! Mobile Channel is officially listed as Sprint's Channel 70.[13] The channel includesmobisodes withStripperella,The Accuser andThe Drifter.[citation needed]
In 2004, an agreement withAndrew Stevens Entertainment Group and Jeff Franklin ofFWE Inc. indicated that POW! and Lee planned to produce three action movies for theSci Fi Channel, which were to be aired in 2005 to 2006.[14] Only one movie,Lightspeed, was completed for Sci Fi and aired July 26, 2006.[15]
In December 2004, in a joint venture agreement withCelebrities In Action, a company formed by investment banker Stan Medley (who structured POW! Entertainment's reverse merger earlier in the year and Chris Nassif, President ofDiverse Media Group, Lee was to create approximately 25 characters based on celebrities. POW! and CIA were scheduled to commence production in early spring of 2005.[16]In February 2005, POW! Announced a second project withCelebrities In Action called The Fantasy Zone. The new franchise was to introduce a parallel universe where celebrities can go to live out their own fantasies and dreams.[17]
POW!'s president and CEO, Gill Champion said in 2005 that Lee was creating a new superhero film,Foreverman, forParamount Pictures in tandem with producerRobert Evans and Idiom Films, withPeter Briggs hired to collaborate with Lee on the screenplay.[18] In 2005, Lee andMichelle Rodriguez agreed to develop aTigress film, based on theConan the Barbarian comic bookvillainess.[19]
In 2007, POW! started a series ofdirect-to-DVD animated films under theStan Lee Presents banner.[citation needed] The two releases wereMosaic andThe Condor.[20]
POW! andWalt Disney Studios agreed to a first-look deal in June 2007.[20] The following year, the first three titles under that deal were announced:Nick Ratchet,Blaze andTigress, an original concept from the Conan villainess.[21]
On June 9, 2007, a suit was brought against Lee, POW!, subsidiary QED Entertainment, and the formerStan Lee Media staff at POW!.[22]On January 20, 2009, Judge Stephen Wilson, in Los Angeles Federal Court, ruled that Stan Lee Media had illegally transferred their assets, including the Drifter and the Accuser, to POW! in violation of a bankruptcy court order.[23]
In April 2008,Brighton Partners andRainmaker Animation announced a partnership with POW! to produce a CGI film series,Legion of 5.[24] That same month,Virgin Comics announced Lee would create a line of superhero comics for that company.[25]
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 ofMarvel Entertainment.[5][26] Also, Disney's Silver Creek Pictures entered into another agreement with POW! for first-look and consulting services.[5][27]
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.[5] In February of that year, POW! partnered withA Squared Entertainment (A2) andArchie Comics to create theStan Lee Comics print and digital line starting with theSuper Seven.[28] On August 5, thereality-television seriesStan Lee's Superhumans show premiered on the cable channelHistory.[29] Also that month, Super7, a toy manufacturer, sued POW! and partners over Stan Lee Comics'Super Seven.[30] Late in the year, POW! andBoom! Studios began publishing three new comic-book series:Soldier Zero,Starborn, andThe Traveler.[31][32] In October,Guardian Media Entertainment, a partnership of Lee, SLG Entertainment andNHL Enterprises, createdhockey-themed superheroes called "Guardians" for each of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League. The venture includes agraphic novel.[33][34]
Ricco Capital andPanda Media Partners, a joint venture of POW! andFidelis Entertainment, formed a partnership,Magic Storm Entertainment, in June 2011 to produce material forAsia.[35] In 2011, Lee was writing a live-actionmusical,The Yin and Yang Battle of Tao.[36] In October, Lee announced he would partner with1821 Comics on a multimedia imprint for children, Stan Lee's Kids Universe, a move that addressed the lack of comic books targeted for children. He also said he was collaborating with the company on its futuristic graphic novelRomeo & Juliet: The War, by writer Max Work and artist Skan Srisuwan.[37][38] In November, POW! signed an agreement withYouTube andVuguru, Michael Eisner's digital studio, to start a YouTube channel calledStan 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.[39]
In May 2012, Arthur Lieberman, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Counsel of POW!, died due to lung cancer.[40] Also in May, POW! filed suit against Valerie Barth of Media Dynamics and Ron Sandman, sole director of UltraVision Inc., for fraud and breach of contract, claiming it is owed $1.15 million for a three-million common stock subscription. Barth, Sandman and their corporationscountersued.[6]
In March 2013,Hub Network picked up its first work from POW!, "Stan Lee's Mighty 7", an animated pilot movie to be aired in early 2014.[41]
On April 5, 2013, a joint venture that POW! owns with MKC Entertainment, SL Power Concerts, launched its military friendly Stan Lee's POW!er Concert series with country bandGloriana at the Pacific View Events Center, Camp Pendleton, along with future concerts at other military bases, and proceeds going to military affiliated charities.[42][43] On June 12, POW! and JADS International released the Stan Lee Signature Cologne.[44]Legion of 5 was revealed in June to be a live action film at Sandman Studios-affiliated live action label Paralight Films in the casting stage.[45]Arad Productions and POW! are in early development on a new superhero movie set up atColumbia Pictures as of November 2013,[46] which is revealed in August 2014 asApollo Rising, as it was melded withRed Queen author Victoria Aveyard's scriptEternals.[47]
POW! formed Stan Lee Global Entertainment as a joint venture in 2014 with the Hong Kong–based investment firm,[48] Ricco Media Investments Limited. Ricco Media was purchased by Focus Media Network Limited on August 20, 2015.[49] POW! also announced two Chinese projects in October 2015:Realm, a superheroine movie and the first film from Stan Lee Global Entertainment, andArch Alien, a sci-fi movie.[50]
Disney's second and final project under the first look deal with POW! wasThe Zodiac Legacy book series, with the first book to be released throughDisney Publishing Worldwide in January 2015.[51] However, the first look deal agreed to in 2006 and extended in 2009 was allowed to expire as of December 31, 2014.[52]
In January 2015,Digital Domain announced a joint venture company 25% owned by POW! for development, production and international distribution of projects from either owner. Also part of the deal was the creation of a virtual Stan Lee.[53]
Stan Lee'sLucky Man was picked up in March 2015 bySky1 to be adapted into a one-hour, 10-episode show, as a POW! co-production withCarnival Films and his first UK drama series.[54] A second season was ordered in March 2016, as it was Sky1's highest-rated original drama program ever.[55]
In May 2017, POW! was acquired by Camsing International Holding. Camsing USA vice president Shane Duffy was named CEO while Gill Champion retained the president role.[1] In July 2018, Linking Star Picture was formed as a joint venture of Beijing Film, Beijing Novo United Films, and Hong Kong–based Camsing International. Linking Star would develop five projects from POW! and Chinese superhero movies, with Bob Sabouni, a former vice president of Marvel, consulting for Linking Star.[56]
In May 2018, Lee filed a $1 billion lawsuit with the Los Angeles Superior Court against POW! Entertainment for "stealing" the rights to his name and likeness, among other complaints. The lawsuit named CEO Shane Duffy, as well as the other co-founder of the company, Gill Champion, stating that both parties "conspired and agreed to broker a sham deal to sell POW! to a company in China and fraudulently steal Stan Lee's identity, name, image, and likeness as part of a nefarious scheme to benefit financially at Lee's expense." In addition, the lawsuit claimed that the defendants had obtained Lee's signature illegally in order to obtain "the exclusive right to use Lee's name, identity, image and likeness on a worldwide basis in perpetuity", against the wishes of Lee, among several other complaints detailed in the suit.[57] In July 2018, Lee dropped the lawsuit against POW!,[58] four months before he died on November 12, 2018.[59] Camsing stated that they would continue to develop Lee's IP in POW! despite his death.[60]
In July 2019, Camsing announced that Ching "Vivian" Lo, company founder and chairwoman, has been held by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. POW! management indicated in a July 10 statement that the company is considered an autonomous subsidiary of Camsing, thus is not affected. J.C. Lee, Stan's daughter, announced on August 3 that the Stan Lee Estate would move to distance itself from Camsing International and that the estate held the position that POW! and Camsing do not have "rights to Stan Lee's name, likeness or legacy" given the illegal activities alleged during the purchase of POW! from Stan Lee.[61]
On July 6, 2020,Genius Brands set up a JV with POW to hold the exclusive worldwide rights to use Lee's name, physical likeness and signature from POW! as well as licensing rights to his name and over 100 of POW!'s original IPs. The assets were to be placed under a new joint-venture with POW!, called Stan Lee Universe, managed by Genius.[3]Michael E. Uslan was hired to advise Genius on Lee Universe Film and TV projects. Genius then arranged a publishing deal with Archie Comics for the Stan Lee Universe comic book imprint, starting with theKindergarten Cop adaptation title.[62]
In Aug 2023, Gill Champion resigned from POW! Entertainment.
| Title | Year(s) | Type | Production partner(s) | Distributor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripperella | 2003–2004 | Animated series | Spike TV | ||
| Stan Lee’s Superhero Christmas | October 2004 | Book | HarperCollins[14] | ||
| 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 |
| Mosaic | 2007 | Direct-to-video | Anchor Bay Entertainment | Released under "Stan Lee Presents" label | |
| The Condor | |||||
| Ultimo | 2008 | Manga | Shueisha Viz Media[63] | ||
| Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (UK) | 2009 | Reality television series | BBC Two/CBBC | 1 season | |
| Time Jumper | 2009 | Animated mobile series | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | iTunes | |
| "Heroman" | 2009–2012 | Manga | Square Enix's Shonen Gangan[64] | ||
| 2010 | Anime television series | Bones Wowmax Media | TX Network | ||
| Stan Lee's line | 2010 | Comic books | Boom! Studios | Titles:
| |
| 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[65] | ||
| November 30, 2013 | Animated film | Graphic India | Cartoon Network India | Also onToonTV[66] | |
| Stan Lee's Verticus | September 2012 | iOS game | Controlled Chaos Media | Moonshark[67] | |
| 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[68][69] | |
| The Zodiac Legacy | January 27, 2015 | Book series | Disney Publishing Worldwide[51] | 2 illustrated novels so far:
| |
| March 30, 2016 | Graphic novels | Papercutz | Tiger Island | ||
| Stan Lee's Hero Command | March 19, 2015 | expandable mobile game | F84 Games[70][71] | ||
| "The Unknowns" | 2015 | Comic book | Arcana Studios[72] | ||
| Lucky Man | 2016 —2018 | UK drama series | Carnival Films | Sky1 (UK) NBCUniversal International Distribution[54] | 3 seasons, 28 episodes |
| Stan Lee's Cosmic Crusaders | 2016 | Webseries | Genius Brands | The Hollywood Reporter | [73] |
| God Woke | 2016 | Comic : digital, print, cinematic graphic novel (CGN) | LNL Partners: Shatner Singularity imprint |
| |
| Work Force | July 17, 2017 | online comic | twice per week[75] | ||
| The Reflection | July 22, 2017 | Anime TV series | Studio DEEN | NHK | 12 episodes[76] |
| Stan Tones | 2017 | ring tones | Google Play apps store | 40 unique rings[77] | |
| Alliances: A Trick of Light | June 27, 2019 | audio drama |
| Audible | [78] |
| The B-Team | 2020 | Television show – Korean |
| TBA | Kang Eun-kyung's Plot Line providing scripts[79] |
| TBA | Television show – Chinese | ||||
| Superhero Kindergarten | April 23 - October 22, 2021[3] | Animated TV show | Youku Kartoon Channel![3] |
| |
| Title | Release | Type | Production partner(s) | Distributor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legion of 5 | TBA | Animated film | Paralight Films Rainmaker Entertainment | casting[45] | |
| Apollo Rising | TBA | Movie | Arad Productions | Columbia Pictures | early development[47] |
| Realm | TBA | Movie | Fundamental Films Stan Lee Global Entertainment | Fundamental Films | Chinese Super heroine, cast (star:Li Bingbing) & scripted (Alex Litvak)[48] |
| Arch Alien | TBA | Movie | Hualien Media Mission Control Entertainment[50] | ||
| Stan Lee Universe imprint | TBA | comics | Archie Comics | Superhero Kindergarten, first title[62] |
