Expanding Genius Brands promotes Kerry Phelan to chief brand officer

LA-based Genius Brands has promoted Kerry Phelan to the newly created position of chief brand officer as it looks to expand its franchises globally following a string of acquisitions and investments.

Kerry Phelan

In the new role, Phelan, who joined the company in July 2021 as executive VP and general manager of global franchise management, will be charged with building out a “360° ecosystem with multiple consumer touchpoints while driving significant incremental revenue for the company.”

Her responsibilities will include overseeing the company’s global brand strategy, consumer products and retail development for kids’ properties including Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, Shaq’s Garage, Stan Lee Universe and Rainbow Rangers.

The expansion of Phelan’s role comes following a phase of rapid acquisitive growth for Genius Brands.

In October, the company announced it was set to acquire Canada-based Wow Unlimited Media, including Frederator Network, Frederator Studios and Mainframe Studio, for around US$53m in cash and stock.

In December, the company took a minority stake in German company Your Family Entertainment.

Earlier this week, the company appointed Todd Steinman as chief revenue and marketing officer at Kartoon Channel! Kidaverse, its SVoD platform anchored by technology from recently acquired streaming service Ameba TV.

“Genius Brands is experiencing its most significant growth to date with our slate of acquisitions further bolstering our content catalogue and giving us a greater worldwide footprint, and we are in a solid position to take our company to the next level and achieve our goals of delivering quality children’s franchise to the marketplace and revenue to our shareholders,” said Andy Heyward, chairman and CEO of Genius Brands.

Before joining Genius Brands, 30-year industry veteran Phelan was president of global franchise management at Lionsgate Entertainment. She has also held executive positions at Lucasfilm, DreamWorks Animation and Pixar.