This Social Media, Family, Entertainment and Technology company is poised to benefit from the growth of streaming services...
Russell Hicks, former President of Nickelodeon Animation, was a driving force behind the success of Nickelodeon in the early 2000s. Joined Grom Social in 2021.
" I believe the company is poised to benefit from the increase in expected spending on content from major streaming services. "
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Grom Social Enterprises, Inc. is a social media, entertainment and technology company dedicated to fulfilling the media needs of today’s kids and their families. The company has evolved considerably over the last year, as it morphed from a family-owned social media provider for kids under 13, into a small, but global organization, that champions creativity, intellectual property development and premium family entertainment. It was founded in 2012 by 12-year-old Zach Marks after his parents discovered he was on social media without their permission. Zach’s vision was to create a social opportunity exclusively for kids. Today, he invites parents and guardians to play an active role in monitoring their kids’ activities.
The company is currently focused on cultivating new - and potentially lucrative - revenue opportunities across its four main subsidiaries to ultimately fortify growth and contribute to the bottom line, much like Top Draw Animation, the company’s current, primary revenue source. To guide growth, executives from the worlds of advertising and toys have joined the company, as well as Nickelodeon alumni, each of whom played a pivotal role in guiding Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite into a global powerhouse. Armed with a smart strategy, proven leadership and a roster of potentially valuable intellectual property, we invite you to take a look at Grom and allow us the privilege of sharing our vision with you.
Grom Subsidiaries Overview
A kids and family media & entertainment business that creates, develops, produces, distributes and manages a growing library of intellectual properties through feature films, linear & streaming series, digital & e-commerce platforms and publishing. Curiosity Ink Media is squarely focused on building entertainment franchises through the shepherding of content that expertly blends immersive storytelling with richly relatable characters, strong themes, engaging play patterns and premium production value. Ensuring this content resonates with highly targeted audience bases through distribution via the most relevant discovery points, Curiosity Ink Media works with a global assemblage of co-production and distribution partners. while pursuing all avenues to maximize revenue streams through broad exploitation in ancillary licensing and merchandising.
www.curiosityinkmedia.com
Property Portfolio
Santa.com (Digital & E-Commerce Platform)
In a very short time, Curiosity has created an impressive slate of original content, currently in various stages of development including:
- Santa.com - Soft launched in 2021, Santa.com is a virtual North Pole that, this year, will debut with a robust e-commerce storefront as well as experiential content for every member of the family. An update on the classic department store – pulling out all the stops in celebration of everyone’s favorite holiday – the site connects kids and their parents (shhh – Santa!) and generates each child’s wish list. The list then goes to the North Pole, where elves can purchase products with a few simple clicks. Additionally, content helping grown-ups get ready for the holiday season (replete with e-commerce links) will accompany great programming for the kids, including virtual visits with Santa, tips for the hottest toys, games and much more.
- Santa.com Movie Grom and Curiosity have also stuffed this stocking with a full-length theatrical feature film – called Santa.com and slated for release in 2025 – for global distribution, with attendant merchandising and consumer products opportunities. The Story: When a grinchy computer hacker takes control of Santa’s Workshop, he threatens to ruin Christmas. Can Yoyo, a lovable, but naive elf, help save the day?
- Thunderous - Tells the story of a teenager who struggles to find the connection between her family’s Indigenous culture and her life in the modern world. This original IP franchise debuted in late April and is available wherever books are sold. Grom and Curiosity have expressed objectives to upconvert this graphic novel, in success, to a TV series and possibly a theatrically released feature film.
- Cats vs. Pickles - The company will receive a 2% royalty share from this franchise, which has already attracted millions of fans on YouTube. The first installment of the book series debuted in 4Q and is expected to become an animated series for global distribution. This property is already selling merchandise and games at major retailers nationwide. The products on Amazon.com boast strong reviews and ratings.
- Laugh on Lorp/LOL (working title) - An original, animated sitcom from the mind of celebrated comedian, Maz Jobrani, centering on an aspiring teenager who is abducted by aliens from the planet Lorp, who mistake him for Oprah Winfey. Their objective: to bring him back to their planet to learn tips from Oprah on aspirational living.
- Baldwin’s Big Adventure - Aimed at the lucrative preschool market, this animated series follows the adventures of a young switcher train who takes to the rails to be reunited with his father. The franchise debuted in June in book format from Curiosity's publishing partner, Dynamite Entertainment.
- Mr. Zip - United States Postal Service - Debuting in 2023, timed to the 60th anniversary of the USPS’s rollout of ZIP codes, the iconic animated postal delivery character, MR. ZIP marks his comeback in book form, with brand extensions envisioned in success. Books include fiction, novelty and activity formats for preschool through preteen. No longer one dimensional, MR. ZIP will now oversee more than just the delivery of flat letters and packages and expand his purview to include advanced mail systems, which introduce STEM skills such as coding and computational mathematics. His original role as a teacher educating Americans about ZIP codes also offers ancillary opportunities for developing games, educational toys and tools to help aid in teaching. For parents and educators looking for fun and innovative ways to engage children, MR. ZIP’s mail bag of tips, tricks and tools are ready to empower kids to learn and resolve new challenges.
- The Pirate Princess - An infant princess washes ashore on a remote island that is run by no-nonsense pirates, who band together to raise her. The feature film script is in progress, it is slated for 2026
- The Legion of Forgettable Supervillains - The Legion of Forgettable Supervillains follows the story of young Ben Mondo and his friends, all of whom have an abysmal record of heroic feats. Tired of trying to live up to the legacy of his legendary grandfather, Mr. Infinite, and constantly being one-upped by Saga City’s top superhero, Sir Superior, Ben is ready to hang up his cape. But after accidentally stumbling upon a bank heist, Ben is caught holding the bag by a photographer who posts the blurry snap to social media. When the photo goes viral, Ben becomes an infamous, mystery villain and together with his fellow failed superhero buddies, create “The Forgettable Supervillains Society.” The career change instantly transforms their lives from boring to breakthrough, and their villainous acts often end up saving the day.
These are just some of the productions Grom and Curiosity intend to offer to both domestic and international programmers and publishers to round out their offerings with premium content. As these productions realize success, we believe the company will be able to generate additional revenue through consumer products, distribution licensing fees as well as merchandising opportunities.
Grom Social
Grom Social Enterprises’ “Mother Ship,” is Grom Social, a media platform focused on safe social media for kids under the age of 13, who are barred from most social media platforms without parental consent. The app allows kids to chat with friends, view original content and/or play games that are created by the company, and is monitored by live associates, 365 days a year. Last year, a new feature was introduced that allows teachers and their students through the app. Grom is currently in development on new features to be added later this year and has proven to be a valuable synergy platform. It heavily promoted the debut of Thunderous in bookstores and featured interviews with the author and a plea for kids to embrace reading as a lifelong habit.
Top Draw Animation
Acquired by GROM in 2016, Top Draw Animation (TDA) is an award-winning animation production studio that delivers top quality product to clients and studio partners around the world. Headquartered in Manila, Philippines, TDA has established a strong reputation as a premium animation production studio, and with its global network of clients and partners that have ongoing animation production needs, there continues to be a continuous pipeline of both existing and new productions coming through the door. TDA continues to invest in best-in-class facilities, talent and operations, driving for increased efficiencies and bolstered operational capacities, while supporting the delivery of on-time, on-budget and on-quality animation product.
TDA regularly works with some of the largest studios, networks and producers around the world, including; Disney, Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Warner Bros, DHX, Mainframe, Cyber Group Studios, Wildbrain, Gaumont, Bidaya, Doberman Pictures, SAMKA Productions, 6 Point Harness, Flying Bark and Anima, among others.
www.topdrawanimation.com
Here’s how it works: Top Draw contracts with third parties to produce animated films and television shows, which are then sent to Top Draw for production treatment at its studio. With over 400 animation experts hard at work at its state-of-the-art facility, Top Draw produces more than 200 half-hour segments of animated content annually, making it one of the largest producers of animation for television globally.
The success of Top Draw is due to its premium and carefully crafted production of animated features and series. The company earns its revenue from contracts with customers for pre-production and production services for developing animated movies and television, and its work is seen on screens all over the world.
Top Draw’s customers have included Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks and Warner Bros. Pictures. In our opinion, these blue-chip customers speak to the quality of the product that Top Draw produces.
Top Draw competes with other animation businesses from production companies in Korea, Taiwan, Canada, India, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Its competitors located within the Philippines, include Toon City Animation, Snipple Animation Studio and Synergy 88 Digital.
Grom Educational Services
The company purchased internet content filtering software, NetSpective Web Filter, in 2017, providing scalable network monitoring and security solutions services to schools, libraries and select government municipalities. NetSpective Web Filter delivers an easy-to-use, fully automated and highly reliable solution that has one of the lowest total costs of ownership in the industry, and is compliant with CIPA (Child Internet Protection Act) guidelines. CIPA requires schools and libraries with internet access to certify that they have internet safety compliance and technology protection measures, including internet filtering technology, for both on and off-network. Additionally, CIPA requires libraries and K-12 schools to educate students on how to be good digital citizens and the NetSpective Web Filter solution provides a built-in Digital Citizenship course (DCL) that assists schools in meeting some CIPA requirements. NetSpective Web Filter generates its revenue through the sale of hardware and subscription fees for the use of its software. The majority of its customers are K-12 educational institutions looking to keep students safe on campus and on school-issued internet devices. These customers pay in advance for filtering services ranging from 1 to 5 years agreements. NetSpective Web Filter has provided its services to thousands of schools and millions of students since 2003.
Meet The Team
Darren Marks
- Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
- As Grom’s CEO, Darren sets the tone for creating, planning, implementing and integrating the strategic direction of our organization.
- Has over 30 years of executive leadership experience with publicly traded companies.
- As an entrepreneur, Darren has founded or co-founded four companies that listed or merged their common shares to trade publicly (including two on NASDAQ).
- His body of work encompasses strategic organization; establishing policy; pioneering and commercializing new products and technologies; mergers and acquisitions; fostering partnership opportunities; and developing and maintaining institutional and investor relations.
Jason Williams
Chief Financial Officer
- Jason has more than twenty-five years of demonstrated success in building and leading corporate accounting, finance, and operations teams.
- His experience includes strategic planning; corporate governance; financial forecasting and budgeting; Securities & Exchange Commission reporting and compliance; treasury management; financing transactions; mergers and acquisitions; government contracting; and effectuating change in highly challenging turnaround situations.
- As Grom’s CFO, Jason oversees our accounting; financial reporting, planning, and analysis; treasury; risk assessment; investor relations; and tax compliance functions.
- He has helped raise more than $500 million in gross proceeds from debt and equity financings to fund operations and complete more than 20 merger and acquisition transactions over his career.
- Jason graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and earned his Certified Public Accountant’s license (currently inactive, not practicing) from the State of Florida.
Paul Ward
President, Grom Social and EVP, Grom Social Enterprises, Inc.
- He rose in the ranks at Nickelodeon to become EVP, Primetime, Strategy and Acquisitions, where he led the parent-targeted business for cable's Number One network.
- One of the original architects of TV Land, which remains the highest-rated cable network in the Paramount (formerly ViacomCBS) family.
- He led the charge on crafting the MTV Networks Upfront presentations and helped the company achieve its $2B+ ad revenue agendas.
- He was enlisted by BritBox to help grow the subscription service among Anglophiles and expats living in the United States.
- Verizon Media tapped Ward to executive produce its NewFront presentation on behalf of Huffington Post, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports.
- Away from the office, he spearheads Seton Hall University's CHAMP mentor program, which pairs current students with successful alumni to prepare students for professional success.
Russell Hicks
CCO of Curiosity Ink Media and President of Top Draw Animation
- With a distinguished tenure as President of Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Hicks has masterminded countless iconic franchises like Scooby-Doo, SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer.
- He leads by tapping into his personal blend of energy, business strategy expertise and optimism to drive the creation of original titles, as well as revitalize beloved existing properties.
Jared Wolfson
Chief Executive Officer of Curiosity Ink Media
- As CEO of Curiosity Ink Media, Wolfson is responsible for leading key initiatives, including corporate vision, strategy and culture, partnerships and deal structuring, portfolio management, operations and finance, among others.
- A winning business development executive and marketing specialist in the Kids and Family industry for more than 20 years, he has built and managed numerous successful franchise properties, architected and driven multi-media marketing plans and initiatives powering record sales revenues. He also led development, production, and operational activities for studios, amassing hundreds of half-hours of entertainment content, in various formats and mediums.
Brent Watts
Chief Creative Officer of Curiosity Ink Media
- Curiosity Ink collaboratively merges Mr. Hicks’ expertise in franchise-planning and creative talent development, with the renowned brand-building prowess of Brent Watts.
- The agency he co-founded, Struck, developed many of the most recognizable franchises in family entertainment over the past 20 plus years such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon), the Dr. Seuss franchise, Shrek and Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks Animation), and Spider-Man (Sony Pictures). His creative mind has been a part of each of these highly successful ventures.
- Watts’ imagination pushes limits with new interpretations of familiar children’s brands. His ultimate goal is to fill the world with the kinds of stories and characters that make children curious. Hicks and Watts complement each other having worked together for almost 25 years. They both have a passion for character-driven storytelling, groundbreaking aesthetics and youth entertainment.
Jon I Rosenberg
EVP & Publisher of Curiosity Books
- Leading Curiosity Ink Media’s new publishing division, Curiosity Books, is industry veteran Jon I. Rosenberg.
- Jon is a highly accomplished and creative global business development executive, specializing in originating content and extending existing content-related brands across a range of media and merchandise in the publishing, brand-licensing, and entertainment sectors.
- His experience spans twenty-five years, having fostered alliances with leading authors, illustrators, designers and branded properties, including Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., MGM, Mattel, Hasbro and Crayola.
- As the former VP and Publisher of Silver Dolphin Books, Jon spearheaded their juvenile proprietary and global publishing business, deploying strategies across all publishing segments (licensing, sales, marketing, printed books, interactive books plus and e-books).
- Rosenberg also headed up MGM Studio’s Licensed Publishing Group developing strategic creative initiatives for licensed publishing opportunities for the studio’s 4,200 film library.
Consultants / Advisors
Savannah Brentnall
Marketing Consultant
- In her role as general manager of Santa.com Brentnall taps into her deep experience to lead all facets of e-commerce, editorial, revenue generation, audience cultivation and advertising/partner relations for Santa.com. Ms. Brentnall, a demonstrated marketing leader known for ground-breaking end-to-end marketing and growth campaigns for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C), will also tap into her background in product marketing in the tech industry to help drive Santa.com forward in cultivating highly targeted audiences and driving attendant revenue opportunities.
- Ms. Brentnall’s professional biography is replete with industry-leading marketing success. For 10 years, she led the agency team responsible for Hallmark Channel’s social media program and founded and led Daxia Digital, a marketing agency dedicated to building audiences and revenue through social media for dozens of clients including RCA, Tom’s Shoes and iconic music sensation, James Taylor. The author of two books on software development, Ms. Brentnall has worked in digital since 1984, prior to embracing the power of social media in 2006. In addition, Ms. Brentnall is highly skilled and well versed in website and app development, SEO and website/app optimization, email and SMS marketing, site analytics and reporting, advertising partnerships and brand collaborations, and all aspects of digital marketing.
Michael Sammaciccia
Development & Sales Consultant
- Previously SVP of live action movies and series at Nickelodeon, Sammaciccia executive produced and supervised a large slate of kids & family entertainment content before branching off to independently produce “Survive” for Jeffrey Katzenberg (starring Sophie Turner and Corey Hawkins).
- Sammaciccia began his entertainment career with Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Productions and Miramax Films and served as Walden Media’s first Creative Executive, bringing in the book “Holes” and serving as the executive in charge of production.
Lauren Selig
Advisor & Shareholder
- Lauren Selig is an entrepreneur and executive with a 20-year track record of global impact in the media, real-estate and start-up communities. In 2013, Selig founded Shake and Bake Productions and V.A.L.I.S Studios to finance and produce high-quality independent studio pictures, television and virtual reality. Selig executive produced the Elton John biopic Rocketman, Paramount Pictures thriller Crawl and the Academy Award winning film Hacksaw, Ridge directed by Mel Gibson.
SEC Filings
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