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EXHIBIT 99.1
Lynda Dorf / Robin Weitz / Jennifer Frederick
B|W|R Public Relations
(310) 248-6105 / 248-6107 / 248-6160
[email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------
Jennifer Kahn
(818) 461-3817
[email protected]
STAN LEE MEDIA AND VENTURE SOFT IN JOINT VENTURE TO BRING STAN LEE FRANCHISES TO
JAPAN AND KOREA
SLM JAPAN WILL HAVE OPTION TO EXTEND DISTRIBUTION TO ALL ASIA
LOS ANGELES - AUGUST 15, 2000 - Stan Lee Media, Inc., (NASDAQ:SLEE), the
multimedia production, marketing, and licensing company founded by pop-culture
icon Stan Lee, announced today it has reached an agreement with Venture Soft
Co., Ltd., Asia's leading creator and aggregator of anime and manga, to form a
joint venture that will bring the U.S. company's globally branded superhero and
fantasy story franchises to Asia.
The Asian joint venture--to be called SLM Japan--comes on the heels of a similar
agreement between Stan Lee Media and Fox Kids Latin America. Like the Latin
American deal, it reflects Stan Lee Media's long-term strategy of partnering
with strong regional communication companies to introduce its branded content
via the Internet and then leveraging it into global partnerships.
Initially, SLM Japan will produce, distribute, license, and market Japanese and
Korean versions of all of Stan Lee Media's Webisodes--as the company's animated
Internet series are known--including its flagship series "7th Portal" and "The
Backstreet Project," a new series featuring super-hero alter-egos of the
international pop sensations, the Backstreet Boys. SLM Japan will also have the
option to extend distribution of these and other Stan Lee Media entertainment
franchises to all of Asia.
Under terms of the agreement, which followed Venture Soft's commitment to invest
at least $5 million in Stan Lee Media, Stan Lee Media and Venture Soft will own
equal shares in the joint venture. Venture Soft will also assist SLM Japan in
moving towards an IPO in Japan.
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"This joint venture further enhances SLM's strategy for developing and producing
branded content with global appeal, introducing it to audiences on the Internet,
and then exploiting it offline through the traditional media value chain," said
Stan Lee Media CEO and president Ken Williams. "We are looking forward to
bringing the Stan Lee brand to Japanese- and Korean-speaking fans, and to
continuing to explore these vast untapped international licensing potentials."
"SLM Japan will be the first to combine the creative talents of Stan Lee and the
technical innovations of Stan Lee Media with the top anime creators in the
world," said Venture Soft CEO Tendo Oto. "This represents an unprecedented
opportunity for two of the most influential forces in animation to work together
creating brands and characters that will appeal to fans worldwide."
SLM Japan will capitalize on the global appeal of Stan Lee's uniquely accessible
superhero and fantasy stories, which over the years have demonstrated an
unparalleled ability to transcend international cultural boundaries. The
co-creator of such classic characters as Spider-Man, The X-Men, and The
Incredible Hulk, Lee will become the first Western artist to receive Honorary
Membership in the Japan-China Digital Manga Association when the association
meets in Beijing later this month.
Stan Lee Media, Inc. (http://www.stanlee.net) is a publicly traded
Internet-based, multimedia branded content creation, production, marketing and
licensing company founded by pop-culture icon Stan Lee, co-creator of such
classic characters as Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and The X-Men. More than
two billion copies of books featuring characters Lee co-created have been
published in 100 countries and 27 languages. The company has partnered with a
range of globally branded talent and content creators, including one of the most
popular singing groups in the world, the Backstreet Boys, to establish the
largest independent creator and aggregator of globally branded entertainment
franchises on the Internet. The company is establishing its website as a leading
destination site on the World Wide Web for animation, interactive games,
community, commerce and other "sticky-content." The company's two hit animated
series, "7th Portal" and "The Accuser", are currently featured on its
distribution partner, shockwave.com. Currently, the Mark Canton Company is
co-developing with Stan Lee Media a major live action motion picture base upon
the "7th Portal" franchise.
Venture Soft is Asia's leading creator and amalgamator of anime and manga
entertainment, with strong ties to virtually all of Japan's top artists working
in the genre today and an unparalleled network of creative and business
alliances throughout the world, including through its distribution joint venture
partnership with Pacific Century Cyberworks Japan for distributing its anime and
manga content throughout Asia.
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This release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of Section 21E of the Exchange Act and Section 27A of the
Securities Act. The stockholders of Stan Lee Media are cautioned not to put
undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in this
release resulting from the following reasons (among others): the timing of sales
and deliveries under existing contracts, general economic conditions, costs of
sales and the ability of the company to maintain pricing levels necessary to
maintain gross profit margins, the level of selling, general and administrative
costs, the performance by the company under existing purchase contracts and the
ability to obtain new contracts, the success of the company's strategy, and the
effects of competition. In addition, the company's shareholders are urged to
carefully review the risk factors discussed in the documents the company files
from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
