VIACOMCBS ANNOUNCES NEW LEADERSHIP ROLES

Genius Brands International has named Jamie Buono-Sikorskias vice president, marketing. Buono-Sikorski will be responsible for driving brand awareness across all the company’s properties, including “Rainbow Rangers” on Nick Jr. with a consumer products retail launch this fall and holiday and “Llama Llama” on Netflix in November and upcoming product line debut at retail. She will also spearhead marketing efforts for Genius Brands’ latest children’s property, “Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten.” The new animated series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger will be supported by a comprehensive consumer products program, currently in development. Additional brands in the company portfolio for which Buono-Sikorski will develop marketing strategies for “Baby Genius,” “Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club” and “Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab,” as well as the Genius Brands Network, which is available in more 80 million U.S. television households. “Jamie brings an impressive track record across a number of highly successful consumer product and entertainment properties,” says Andy Heyward, chairman and chief executive officer, Genius Brands. “In particular, she played an important role in the ‘Paw Patrol’ launch at Spin Master where she helped grow the brand to become a commercial hit in the children’s retail marketplace. While at Bandai, Jamie also managed the brand marketing for the billion-dollar revenue-generating 'Power Rangers,’ one of the most successful children’s brands of all time. We are thrilled to add Jamie to our accomplished team of executives leading the growth of our business and look forward to her contributions in the coming years as we continue to roll out our brands into the global marketplace.” “What drew me to my new role at Genius Brands was the opportunity to play an integral part in building brand awareness for the company’s IP portfolio, including, ‘Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten,’ ‘Rainbow Rangers’ and ‘Llama Llama,’ as well as work with Andy and the Genius Brands team to bring these brands to market,” stated Buono-Sikorski. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest brands out there, like ‘Paw Patrol and Power Rangers,’ and I see similar commercial potential in Genius Brands’ IP.” Before Genius Brands, Buono-Sikorski was vice president, brand marketing, Brandable, where she led the brand strategy and product development activities within the toy, home, and personal care categories, during which time the company experienced triple-digit year-over-year growth. She also served as director of brand marketing and global development at Bandai America, overseeing product marketing and development for Power Rangers toys, which exceeded $100 million in annual sales. Buono-Sikorski also served as senior brand manager at MGA Entertainment where she developed the brand identity for Little Tikes Baby from inception. She and global brand manager at Spin Master contributing to the growth of “Paw Patrol,” with Spin Master becoming a top-ranked growth company in the preschool category. Earlier in her career, Buono-Sikorski held various roles at Toys ’R’ Us and Jones Apparel Group.