SANTA MONICA CA — Genius Products LLC. has entered into a multi-year agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) to be the exclusive home entertainment distributor of all WWE DVD titles effective November 1 2006 a partnership that lays the foundation for a “Smackdown” on the entertainment industry. 

The announcement was made today by Bob and Harvey Weinstein Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company the majority owner of Genius Products and Vince McMahon WWE’s Chairman along with Genius Products’ Trevor Drinkwater President and CEO Genius Products’ Stephen K. Bannon Chairman and WWE’s Shane McMahon Executive Vice President Global Media and Donna Goldsmith Executive Vice President Consumer Products.  

“Home entertainment is a major part of the WWE’s business and we believe we have found in Genius a company that understands our brand and will help us continue to drive our company’s growth ” said Vince McMahon.  “Bob and Harvey Weinstein have a tremendous track record.  We’re excited about this partnership and its long-term potential.”

WWE has successfully used its core businesses of live events pay-per-view and producing television content for broadcast and cable networks to establish a vibrant global brand with a presence in more than 130 countries.  The company has significantly expanded its line of popular licensed consumer products such as video games toys books and magazines to territories around the world.  WWE is focused on spreading its sports entertainment content to new media platforms and has experienced success with subscription video on demand broadband and mobile services online advertising and ecommerce.  It also has created a film division focused on the production of feature films and other film and television projects.

Bob Weinstein noted “WWE is not simply a brand; it is an American Icon. Harvey and I very much relate to Vince McMahon’s entrepreneurial style and entertainment philosophy.  We love what Vince has done in making WWE the leading sports entertainment franchise in the world and we are very interested in expanding our relationship beyond DVD distribution to other facets of WWE’s global entertainment empire.  We view our relationship with WWE as a major alliance with great growth potential.”

Shane McMahon added “The entrepreneurial spirit of our two organizations is very similar. We look forward to the potential of working together on a wide array of future projects to include a line of co-produced direct-to-video movies.”

WWE has seen particular success in offering its content in the DVD format and its home entertainment business has successfully bucked the industry trend of flattening DVD sales. In 2006 10 of WWE’s DVD releases achieved the No. 1 position on the Sports DVD charts according to Nielsen VideoScan.  WRESTLEMANIA® 22 debuted at No. 5 among all DVD releases in the U.S. and is now the No. 1 best-selling WWE DVD of all-time.   Home entertainment revenue accounted for $42 million or 10 percent of WWE’s revenues for fiscal year 2006 more than double from the prior fiscal year.

Under the terms of the multi-year agreement Genius will be the exclusive U.S. distributor for all WWE DVDs.  New releases will include content from WWE’s 90 000-hour video library the largest of its kind in the world featuring content from RAW® SmackDown!® and ECW® (Extreme Championship Wrestling(tm)) pay-per-view events including WrestleMania and past and present Superstar profiles among others.  The deal was negotiated by Trevor Drinkwater and Mitchell Budin EVP Sales for Genius and Joel Satin Senior Director Home Entertainment and Publishing for WWE.

Genius assumes distribution for WWE’s titles on November 1 2006. The first title to be distributed features one of WWE’s greatest legends BORN TO CONTROVERSY: THE RODDY PIPER(tm) STORY (November 14 2006 street date).  This will be followed by THE SPECTACULAR LEGACY OF THE AWA® (November 21 2006 street date) and the RAW brand’s pay-per-view WWE CYBER SUNDAY(tm) 2006 (December 5 2006 street date).  Genius will release a minimum of 25 new titles in 2007 with additional plans to exploit WWE’s DVD catalog of more than 100 titles.

In making the announcement Drinkwater noted “The WWE has transformed sports entertainment into a cultural phenomenon through broadcasting live events and the Superstar icons they create which are brands unto themselves. We are honored to be associated with a global brand such as WWE.  The company continues to expand its presence in the marketplace through creative programming and brand-building which in turn helps provide for unique high-quality DVD programs.”

Added Donna Goldsmith “Our DVD titles continue to dominate the sports category and to grow in popularity.  With Genius and its team of savvy experienced industry veterans we will continue this track record of performance and expand upon it.”

The momentum behind the WWE further strengthens Genius’ rapidly growing library of sports and entertainment content.  Over the past year Genius has been strategically expanding its position in the industry through the introduction of new brands and strategic content provider partnerships across key power alleys such as Sports and Fitness and Lifestyle now complemented by WWE and ESPN.

Steve Bannon added “Our partnership with WWE validates our thesis of building a company with major studio infrastructure/supply chain and independent studio attitude and aggressiveness.  WWE has demonstrated its confidence in Genius’ ability to achieve broad retail distribution with a ‘best in class’ philosophy.  Partnerships with this caliber of company will enable Genius to deliver long-term shareholder value.”

About Genius Products
Genius Products Inc. (OTC BB:GNPI) along with The Weinstein Company jointly own 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(TM) Baby Genius® Dragon Dynasty(tm) Dimension Films ESPN® IFC® NBC News® Sundance Channel Home Entertainment® Wellspring(tm) and The Weinstein Company®.  Genius Products Inc. is the managing member of Genius Products LLC in which it holds a 30% equity interest.

About World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford Conn. with offices in New York City Los Angeles Toronto and London.  Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.