Writ Media Group Inc. (WRIT)

Investment Highlights

• Strong Portfolio of Unique Operating Subsidiaries
  Technologies Address Growing Consumer Demand
  Targeting Key Segments of Digital Entertainment
  Highly Experienced Leadership Management Team

Subsidiaries

Front Row Networks is a content creation company that produces, acquires and distributes live concerts in high-definition (HD), Ultra HD (4K) and 3D format for initial worldwide digital broadcast into digitally enabled movie theaters. The company presents live concerts at lower ticket prices to a worldwide fan base in a cost-effective manner.

Following the initial theatrical run, the distribution rights to the concerts will be licensed in both 2D and 3D format to DVD and Blu-Ray retailers, Free TV broadcasters, cable and emerging Ultra-HD (4K) cable channels, and mobile streaming providers. Front Row Networks will also sell merchandising and other goods and products, tailored to each artist and to each sponsor in movie theaters where the live concert is exhibited.

The company also secures and distributes non-concert alternative theatrical programming, such as animated family content, music-related documentaries, and other gaming content that can be distributed via mobile and Internet platforms.

The strategic goal is to acquire the broadest range of rights for exclusive programming. Front Row Networks may finance all or part of the production of its entertainment programs, acquire rights to completed projects, acquire content catalogues, or acquire companies which own or control content catalogues. The company is positioned to benefit from the market growth and increased demand for alternative theatrical content and mobile content as it continues to expand its exclusive library content.

Key highlights:

• Projects include documentary films, concert films, & TV series
  Distribution & marketing agreements for theatrical, DVD, VOD & streaming
  Owns 1,500 hours of edited concert footage and archival material from 106 concerts
  Strategic industry alliances with leading entertainment companies
  Exhibition partnerships with multiple cinema partners to deliver content and events to 4,500+ cinemas (including IMAX) in 40+ countries

Retro Infinity specializes in licensing classic computer and console video game libraries and adapts and republishes the most popular titles for smartphones, modern game consoles, micro-consoles, PCs, and tablets. The company leverages platform and classic game brands, coupled with proprietary technologies, to create new revenue from dormant game libraries.

NASCAR Sponsorship

Retro Infinity has negotiated an arrangement with DEVCAP Partners LLC and its related NASCAR Nationwide Series racing team, which provides marketing of Retro Infinity’s gaming products and point-of-purchase website, branding of Retro and Amiga games, and additional advertising and branding of the company’s partners.

The marketing deal provides inherent value by combining Retro Infinity’s brand with NASCAR on national television and through social media at an affordable cost. The value proposition is very compelling and is expected to create significant value for the stakeholders of WRIT Media Group, Devcap, and Rick Ware Racing.

NASCAR is the nation’s No. 1 spectator sport, and 17 of the top 20 most-attended sporting events in the country are NASCAR events. It is the second-most-watched sport in the United States, after the NFL. In addition to the huge number of female fans, more than 21% of fans are minorities, and more than 50% of the nation’s young people, ages 7 to 17, report they are NASCAR fans.

NASCAR fans are among the most loyal. They will switch brands to be supportive of their favorite drivers or to protest other drivers. Nearly two-thirds of them willingly spend more to buy a NASCAR sponsor’s product. They see it as a way to support the sport as well as the sponsor. Female fans report they would buy non-racing-related items, such as detergent, if they had NASCAR logos on the packaging.

Distribution and Licensing

Microsoft Corporation

The Company entered into a co-marketing and distribution agreement with Microsoft Corporation. The agreement will bring between fifty and five hundred classic game titles to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 through the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store. Microsoft will co-market the release of the gaming titles via Windows.com and Windows Store promotions, Windows social marketing, and Surface Store Picks.

The Company will create special versions of their titles to take advantage of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8's unique features, including live tiles, cross-platform game data sharing, and Snap and Share. In addition, AGI's releases will support Microsoft's Windows 8.1.

Roku Inc.

Retro Infinity entered into a Channel Application Development and Games Distribution Agreement with Roku, the market leader in set-top streaming video players, with over 1,000 channels. Roku is the market leader in streaming entertainment devices for television, with well over 5 million users and 8 billion video streams.

The agreement allows the Company to distribute a minimum of 50 classic game titles to Roku players, with an option by Roku to license up to an additional 500 titles. Roku will co-market the release of the gaming titles via Roku.com and the on-device Roku Channel Store. The Company will create special versions of their titles that showcase the capabilities of Roku 3 player.

Tommo Inc.

The company has an Entertainment Software License Agreement with Tommo Inc. in which Retro will re-launch dozens of Tommo’s popular 90s gaming titles on mobile devices, desktop devices, and TV set top devices through Amiga Games/Retro Infinity’s branded distribution arrangements with Roku’s Game Channel, Microsoft’s App Store, and Samsung’s App Store.

Tommo Inc., which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is a worldwide publisher and licensor 300+ gaming properties across all major entertainment platforms. Tommo has a catalog of popular games it licenses including the award winning Humongous Entertainment Brand and 100+ of the best-loved classic Retro Games from Atari, Spectrum Holobyte, Microprose, Accolade and other historic brands.

Amiga Games Inc. shares resources with Retro Infinity to adapt and republish the most popular titles from the Amiga family of computers for smartphones, modern game consoles, micro-consoles, PCs, and tablets. WRIT Media Group leverages the Amiga brand along with game brands of the past and proprietary technologies to create new revenue from classic games that have proven their ability to sell very well.

Controlling Interest in Pandora Venture Capital Corp.'s Product and Technology

WRIT Media Group, Inc. (“the Company”) announced in June 2016 that it has closed its acquisition of a controlling interest in private equity firm Pandora Venture Capital Corp. Per the transaction, WRIT Media has acquired Pandora’s Pelecoin digital currency, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and digital currency exchange, which the Company will use to organize trade in digital currency instruments.

WRIT Media will utilize the marketing advantages of Pandora’s unique digital currency model, which has generated over half a million users in its first 18 months, along with the actual value of the most popular system of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.

Eric Mitchell, president of WRIT Media, states, “Pandora has created two high-quality businesses, both of which have established an excellent industry reputation. We see this as a compelling opportunity to create further corporate value by leveraging management’s experience in managing complex transactions for diversified businesses with the software and technology expertise gained from Pandora’s extensive knowledge and investment experience in the software and digital currency industrial sectors.”

The acquisition marks WRIT Media’s first investment in, and entrance into, digital currency technologies. In the past, WRIT Media took controlling positions in development stage entertainment and video game companies with both brand names and market expertise. The decision to move into digital currency follows extensive market research and ongoing dialog with Pandora management.

Boris Nayflish of Pandora says, “This transaction is the result of many years of hard work by our team, and constant dialog with the management of WRIT Media. It is a well-run public company with marketing expertise, and is positioned in an attractive capital marketplace. We are very excited to support, through our software development and operational capabilities, WRIT Media’s management team in its ambition to accelerate growth, including through acquisitions. We are delighted to partner with WRIT Media in this enterprise.”
 

Market & Strategy –3D HD-TV Ultra-HD

The current worldwide phenomenon surrounding Ultra-HD and 3D motion pictures creates a great opportunity to Front Row Networks. Management believes that audiences will be attracted to the new Ultra-HD and 3D technology and expects its broadcast of the initial concert to be one of the first of its kind in North America. The current success of Hollywood 3D films and the continuing success of large scale concerts suggest a large international market for the Project.

Mobile Gaming Industry

Mobile gaming is expected to grow to reach $23.9 billion in 2016, due largely to growth in tablet gaming, which boasts 37-47% annual growth rate, and smartphones (19% annually). Nearly two-thirds of US internet users play casual games. Adults over 35, and especially over 50, is fastest growing age segment, women also. In 2014, industry statistics estimate that 48% of gamers are female, while 53% of gamers play games on their smartphones, and 41% of gamers play on their wireless device.

Corporate Strategy

Front Row Networks initial production, acquisition and distribution strategy is designed to bring the much desired live concert experience to a massive worldwide fan base by incorporating the following elements;

• Utilize state-of-the-art Ultra-HD and 3D digital projection technology to reduce or eliminate post production expenses and print costs, and reduce advertising expenditures.
  Utilize Ultra-HD and 3D visual production techniques that will maximize the audience experience and appeal to a broad demography.
  Acquire and leverage 2D, 3D and Ultra-HD catalogue by packaging the new theatrical events, with the existing catalogue, creating a corporate identity as the premiere brand in Ultra-HD and 3D theatrical events.
  Reduce distribution costs by capitalizing on existing concert promotions and advertising, by leveraging the company's catalogue with worldwide distribution partners, and by broadcasting content directly to theaters.
  Engage the best and most popular artists for the initial concert series.
  Target the best and most popular artists and performances for the company's catalogue acquisitions.
  Provide sponsorship opportunities and merchandise for sale to enhance the revenues for the company and its distribution partners.

Leadership

WRIT Media Group is led by accomplished entertainment industry executives with deep industry relationships in music and film. They have a successful track record of delivering innovative, high-quality entertainment product on time and within budget. Management also has extensive experience building highly successful entertainment companies across other mediums of media. The company's management has proven industry leadership and has worked with widely recognized industry talent and critically acclaimed creative talent.

Eric Mitchell - Chairman and CEO, Writ Media Group Eric Mitchell has more than 20 years of financial, business development and strategic planning experience in the motion picture industry. Mitchell’s acquisition and financial talents helped Sony Pictures’ Tri-Star division acquire theatrical distribution rights to such hits as Cliffhanger, Sniper, Threesome, and Weekend at Bernie’s 2. Mitchell assisted Tri-Star in acquiring multi-picture distribution rights with Carolco Pictures; the deal generated $250 million in profit for the studio and led to such hits as LA Story, Universal Soldier, The Doors, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Terminator 2. As an advisor to Ascendant Pictures and VIP Media Fund, the largest German tax fund, Mitchell participated in placing over $500 million dollars in production financing into 46 feature films. Mitchell is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and received his M.S. in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School.

Patrick Roberts - Advisor, Retro Infinity and Amiga Games Patrick Roberts has more than 30 years of experience in business development, software development, computer graphics, compression, software optimization and mobile software development focused on the entertainment industry. He has developed software for Dreamworks SKG and was a supervising effects animator for Walt Disney Feature Animation. As Senior 3D Animator for EDS Digital Studios, he won a Vanguard Award for an animated Microsoft commercial. In 2002 Patrick co-founded Lower Mars, one of the first third-party mobile developers. Lower Mars created mobile entertainment middleware and apps for smartphones, licensed to Sharp, Palm, Amiga, Nokia, and Motorola. In 2010 he co-founded MediaPlasm, a company providing advisory and development services for traditional entertainment media companies seeking to monetize social media and OTT content platforms. Clients and partners have included Deluxe, Crest Digital, Target, Front Row Networks, Fox TV, Amiga, Palm, Microsoft, Sony Pictures Television, ABC, and the Walt Disney Company.

John Diaz - Advisor, Front Row Networks From his start as a non-paid stage manager at the original Woodstock, John Diaz has enjoyed a nearly 40-year career in music and video production and distribution. With the advent of new distribution platforms for music in the early 1980s, like the dawn of MTV and the explosion of music videos as a medium and art form, Diaz established himself as one of the leading producers of music videos and events for broadcast throughout the 90s. Diaz has produced domestic and international TV for some of the largest music events in history, including specials with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, The Rolling Stones and many others. Turning to the Internet as an emerging content distribution technology in the 90s, he was part of the forefront of today’s digital media. Diaz has focused his energies on bringing music and other digital content distribution to the Internet, first as a founding employee of mp3.com, then as EVP of Vivendi/Universal’s Internet arm, VUNET.

Bob Johnston - Strategic Business Consultant, Front Row Networks Bob Johnston’s experiences in HDTV and 3D production have included developing budgeting scenarios, scheduling and logistics plans and embracing post-production workflows for over 300 stereoscopic projects, as well as the technical development and consultation of several hardware appliances for capture and playback of stereoscopic media for public and private theaters. Produced 3D projects have included live action feature programming for IMAX, Disney, Lionsgate, Nu Image and Technicolor. Johnston has also consulted with 3D productions for Discovery, World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and dozens of other independent producers, studios and 3D acquisition and post-production technology concerns. He has helped enable the 3D market in Korea with Skylife 3D and TV Globo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has participated on numerous 3D conference panels and 3D market awareness events in Los Angeles, Berlin, Seoul, Tokyo and London. Johnston’s live event experiences include physical production and promotion of numerous music festivals, large scale multi-day events and concerts including large scale multi-day events, as well as early tour development of the first solo tours of Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie. Additionally, he has garnered international feature film, television , music video and commercial project development and production experiences as a producer, associate producer, production manager or production supervisor with projects for Disney, MTV, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks, Imagine, Walden Media, Dektor and Associates and dozens of other independent production entities. Key projects have includes: “Alien Resurrection,” “Around the World in 80 Days,” the pilot for the international hit TV series “24,” and the mini-series “Son Of The Morning Star,” among others.

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