Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Related Party Transactions

v3.23.1
Related Party Transactions
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
Related Party Transactions Related Party Transactions
Pursuant to his employment agreements dated December 7, 2020, Andy Heyward, the Company’s CEO, is entitled to an Executive Producer fee of $12,500 per one-half hour episode for each episode he provides services as an executive producer. During the three months ended March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022, Mr. Heyward earned and was paid $162,500 and $612,155 in producer fees, respectively. Mr. Heyward also earned his $55,000 quarterly bonus during the three months ended March 31, 2023.
On August 25, 2022, Mr. Heyward's employment agreement was amended to include assignment of music royalties to Mr. Heyward for all musical compositions in which he provides services as a composer for or on behalf of the Company, in the event that the Company acquires up to 50% of the writer's share of the royalties for that musical composition. If the Company acquires more than 50% of the writer's share of the royalties on musical compositions Mr. Heyward provided services for, he has the option to purchase the additional royalties from the Company at the price the Company paid to acquire the additional royalties. During the three months ended March 31, 2023, Mr. Heyward has not earned royalties from musical compositions.
Pursuant to his employment agreement dated April 7, 2022, Michael Hirsh, CEO of Wow and its Frederator and Mainframe Studio subsidiaries is entitled to an Executive Producer fee of $12,400 per one-half hour for each episode of any audio-visual production produced by Wow and any of its subsidiaries during the term of his employment, up to 52 episodes per year. During the three months ended March 31, 2023, Mr. Hirsh has not earned producer fees under the employment agreement.
On July 21, 2020, the Company entered into a merchandising and licensing agreement with Andy Heyward Animation Art (“AHAA”), whose principal is Andy Heyward. The Company entered into a customary merchandise license
agreement with AHAA for the use of characters and logos related to Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club and Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 in connection with certain products to be sold by AHAA. The terms and conditions of such license are customary within the industry, and the Company earns an arm-length industry standard royalty on all sales made by AHAA utilizing the licensed content. During the three months ended March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022, Mr. Heyward has not earned royalties from this agreement.
On September 30, 2021, the Company entered into a Loan Agreement and Promissory Note with POW in the amount of $1,250,000, accruing simple interest at the annualized rate of 9%. The loan has accrued interest of $0.2 million and $0.1 million as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively, recorded with the principal balance within Note Receivable from Related Party on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. In addition, pursuant to its joint venture with POW and formation of the entity Stan Lee Universe, LLC, the Company included within Note Receivable from Related Party, the amount owed to the Company related to the 50% non-controlling interest held by POW. On November 1, 2022, POW failed to repay the Loan as set forth in the applicable loan agreement and the Company had not received any payment as of March 31, 2023. As the Library secures repayment, the Company initiated a public sale of the Stan Lee Library owned by POW during February 2023, however, POW has since repaid the loan during April 2023 and the auction has been cancelled.
On July 19, 2022, the Company entered into a Shareholder Loan Agreement with YFE in the amount of EURO 1.3 million, accruing interest at the fixed annualized rate of 5%, with successive interest periods of three months due on the last day of each calendar quarter. The entire principal sum was required to be remitted to YFE within 5 days of the effective date. The principal, plus interest must be repaid by no later than June 30, 2026. The loan has accrued interest of USD $44,701 as of March 31, 2023 recorded with the principal balance within Note Receivable from Related Party on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet.
On December 1, 2021, the Company entered into an Independent Contractor Agreement for two years with F&M Film and Medien Beteiligungs GmbH ("F&M"), a company controlled by Dr. Stefan Piëch. Pursuant to the agreement, F&M will receive $150,000 annually, paid on a semi-monthly basis. In addition, Dr. Piëch was granted 30,000 of the Company's RSUs that vest in three six-month intervals beginning on December 1, 2021.
During 2022, the Company entered into a sublease agreement with a related party to lease one office in the general office space at 190 N. Canon Drive, Suite 400, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. The sublease payment is $595 per month and recorded to Other Income in the Company's condensed consolidated statement of operations.