POW! Entertainment Inc. is an American media production company formed in 2001 by Gill Champion, Arthur Lieberman and former
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
editor and publisher
Stan Lee
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...
. POW! is made up of two companies: POW! Entertainment, Inc. (POW! Inc.), a holding corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary, POW! Entertainment, LLC (POW! LLC)
and is currently owned by Camsing International Holding.
POW! productions include the 2006
Sci-Fi Channel's TV-movie ''
Stan Lee's Lightspeed'', that network's
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
series ''
Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
''Who Wants to Be a Superhero?'' was a superhero genre reality TV series broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel produced by Nash Entertainment and POW! Entertainment. The show was created by Stan Lee and Nash Entertainment. A junior version of the sho ...
'' and the ''
Stan Lee's Mighty 7
Stan Lee's Mighty 7 (SLAM 7) is a media franchise of a fictional superhero team originally published as a Stan Lee Comics line comic book title.
History
''Stan Lee's Secret Super Six'' property of Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment was signed with A ...
'' media franchise. Other productions include the
direct-to-DVD
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strateg ...
animated features ''
Stan Lee's Mosaic'' and ''
Stan Lee Presents: The Condor''.
History
In November 2001, Stan Lee formed POW! Entertainment, LLC, a
Delaware-registered limited liability company
A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...
, with
Gill Champion
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
and
Arthur Lieberman.
POW! set up their offices at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
's headquarters in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
as a first look deal was negotiated in April 2002 by Lieberman with MGM and Cheyenne Enterprises, Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...
's and producer Arnold Rifkin's production company.
Lee created the risqué animated superhero series '' Stripperella'' for Spike TV
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...
's The Strip animated block which premiered on June 26, 2003. POW! also had a dozen additional feature and television production agreements by July. Three of the films were in preproduction: ''Nightbird'', ''The Femizons'' then with writers Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman and ''The Double Man'', then under development by Training Day director Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua (; born May 30, 1965) is an American film director known for his work in the action and thriller genres. He was originally known as a director of music videos, and made his film debut in 1998 with '' The Replacement Killers''. His ...
. A production agreement was signed by POW! and Idiom Films for ''Forever Man'', an avenging hero type with a twist. Meanwhile, the company signed with DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions, sometimes stylized as DİC) was a French American film and television production company that ...
on a TV series production deal starting with ''Stan Lee's Secret Super Six'', about teens with alien superpowers who are taught by Lee about humanity. The in-development ''Hefs Superbunnies'' animated superhero series was announced by Lee at Comic-Con 2003, which would feature a villain
A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...
fighting Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...
and his playmates.[
]
Public corporation
The separate corporation, POW! Entertainment, Inc., is a holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
created to have publicly traded stock. The corporation originated as Delaware-based Megatek Legacy Systems, Inc., formed August 17, 1998; it became Alta Pacific Minerals, Inc. in 1999, and Arturion Entertainment, Inc. in 2002.[ By 2004, Arturion's stockholder was Media Dynamics, Inc., owned by Valerie Barth, controlling stockholder, and minority stockholder, UltraVision Inc., owned by Ron Sandman. Arturion was a public ]shell corporation
A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...
used to acquire POW! on May 5, 2004, with POW! members receiving Arturion shares to take it public on over-the-counter market "Pink Sheets" in a reverse merger
A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...
. Arturion changed its name to POW! Entertainment, Inc. Media Dynamics invested $500,000 for 769,250 shares with a subscription for additional shares for $650,000.[
In August 2004, Lee announced a superhero program that would feature ]Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
, the former Beatle
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the most influential band in Western popular ...
, as the lead character. Additionally, in August of that year, Lee announced the launch of Stan Lee's Sunday Comics.
In May 2004, IDT Entertainment
Starz Distribution, formerly IDT Entertainment from 2003 to 2006 and Starz Media from 2006 to 2013, is an American television production, distribution, and syndication company and the distribution arm of Starz Inc., a subsidiary of Starz Ente ...
purchased a minority share in POW! Entertainment in an agreement for exclusive distribution rights to POW!'s animated DVD properties and a joint development of six cartoon films.
In 2005, the company announced that another animated film that would feature the voice of Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
. Also in early 2005, the company formed a strategic partnership to develop a new mobile channel with mobile-streaming pioneer Vidiator, through Vidiator's mobile streaming technology. In 2006, this resulted in an agreement with Sprint Nextel
Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being Merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 5 ...
Corp. where the Stan Lee's POW! Mobile Channel is officially listed as Sprint's Channel 70. The channel includes