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GNPI News Genius Products and ImaginAsian Entertainment Enter into Exclusive Home Entertainment Distribution Agreement

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genius Products, LLC announced today that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with ImaginAsian Entertainment, Inc. to be the exclusive home entertainment distributor for ImaginAsian’s expanding portfolio of Asian-genre motion pictures and television programs. The announcement was made by Genius Products’ Trevor Drinkwater, President and CEO, and Stephen K. Bannon, Chairman, and by ImaginAsian’s Michael Hong, CEO, and David L. Chu, SVP, Programming and Production.

ImaginAsian Entertainment, Inc., a multimedia company, through its multiple platforms, seeks to reach the major sub-segments of the Asian American community with entertainment, news and information. This community is one of the fastest growing, most economically influential ethnic populations in the U.S.

Under the five year agreement, Genius has acquired the rights to distribute DVDs in North America under the ImaginAsian Home Video banner. The first two films in the repertoire include:

• Green Chair, one of 2005’s most acclaimed Korean films, directed by veteran South Korean director Park Chul-soo. A Grand Jury Prize nominee (World Cinema – Dramatic) at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, Green Chair is an erotic drama about an illicit affair between a 32-year old divorced woman and her 19-year old lover, who under Korean law, is considered a minor until he turns 20. Based on true events, and starring Seoh Jung and Shim Ji-Ho, Green Chair is the first film in four years from controversial director Park Chul-soo.
• The critically-acclaimed Vietnamese American feature film Journey from the Fall, written and directed by Ham Tran and produced by Lam Nguyen. Journey from the Fall follows a family’s fight for freedom in the wake of 1975 war-torn Vietnam and is inspired by actual events, including communist prison camps and the mass exodus of boat people. Journey from the Fall has earned festival accolades including Best Cinematography at the Milan International Film Festival and Audience Award at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and was an Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival.

In making the announcement, Mr. Drinkwater noted, “We are thrilled to be in business with ImaginAsian who, in a very short time, have established themselves as a premiere player in aggregating content for the Asian American viewer. This is a terrific opportunity for both companies to leverage their expertise in developing and exploiting the burgeoning Asian cinema and lifestyle content on DVD.”

Mr. Hong noted, “Genius is the ideal partner for ImaginAsian to realize the broadest reach and visibility for its titles. Combined with our knowledge and unique marketing capabilities with ImaginAsian TV, we intend to take Asian-inspired content to new heights.”

Mr. Bannon added, “The ImaginAsian deal represents another example of the ever increasing quality of branded content distributed by Genius through the expanded infrastructure we created to handle major titles from The Weinstein Company, ESPN and WWE. We believe Genius is poised to establish ImaginAsian as the best Asian and Asian American content available on DVD; it’s entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking content.”

About Genius Products

Genius Products, Inc. (OTCBB:GNPI), along with The Weinstein Company, jointly owns Genius Products, LLC, a leading independent home-entertainment distribution company that produces, licenses, and distributes a valuable library of motion pictures, television programming, family, lifestyle and trend entertainment on DVD and other emerging platforms through its expansive network of retailers throughout the U.S. Genius handles the distribution, marketing and sales for such brands as Asia Extreme™, Baby Genius®, Dragon Dynasty™, Dimension Films, ESPN®, IFC®, NBC News®, Sundance Channel Home Entertainment®, Wellspring™ and The Weinstein Company®. Genius Products, Inc. is the managing member of Genius Products, LLC, in which it holds a 30% equity interest.

About ImaginAsian Entertainment, Inc.

ImaginAsian Entertainment, Inc. (www.iaei.tv) is a multimedia company that promotes Asian Pacific American culture to mainstream America. Headquartered in New York City, ImaginAsian Entertainment uses a fully integrated marketing strategy through multiple platforms: ImaginAsian TV (America’s first 24/7 Asian American Network), The ImaginAsian Theater (New York’s Premier Asian American Theater), ImaginAsian Pictures (distribution of cutting-edge and critically acclaimed Asian films), ImaginAsian Home Video (video/DVD unit dedicated to quality Asian home entertainment), ImaginAsian Radio (the sound of Asian America), and iaLink (ImaginAsian’s community based e-zine).

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for historical matters contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements reflect assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that may affect Genius Products’ business, forecasts, projections and prospects, and cause actual results to differ materially from those in these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the anticipated number of releases, timing and financial performance of releases from ImaginAsian Entertainment, including, but not limited to titles such as “Green Chair” and “Journey from the Fall,” and any other statements relating to new or potential releases that are not historical statements of fact, and Genius’ ability to successfully position ourselves as a leading home entertainment distributor. Actual results could vary for many reasons, including but not limited to, the unpredictability of audience demand, the effect of technological change and the availability of alternative forms of entertainment and the ability to acquire and keep valuable content or expand the number of distribution partnerships. Other risks and uncertainties include matters described in Genius Products Inc.’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Genius Products Inc. assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.