Genius Brands, Lionsgate, US Global Investors Execs Talk Adapting To Coronavirus

Three public company executives held a roundtable discussion hosted by Benzinga's Neal Hamilton Wednesday on what changes they saw to their business amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Genius Brands: Andy Heyward is the CEO of Genius Brands International Inc GNUS, a creator of TV content for kids "with a purpose."

The company's educational and informative content ideal at a time when kids are spending a lot more time at home, which most likely implies more TV time, the CEO said.

Unlike other streaming video platforms, Genius decided to offer its content through an ad-supported model that is free to the user, he said.

Owning a large library of content requires just one show to "take off" and generate opportunities across many categories, Heyward said Wednesday at the Benzinga Global Small Cap Conference. 

A select few have staying power that stands the test of time, such as the "Flintstones," created in the 1960s, he said. 

U.S. Global Investors: Frank Holmes is the chief executive officer and chief investment officer at an investment management firm U.S. Global Investors, Inc. GROW

The company is noticing a growing number of millennials and young people taking up stock trading and investing, especially its ETF US Global Jets ETF JETS, the CEO said. 

While some may accuse young investors of being clueless when they're bullish on air travel stocks during the pandemic, Holmes said he doesn't see it that way.

"It's young people speculating, but they have done their research," he said. "They are not going to Main Street Merrill Lynch research on cycles, et cetera. They are going to YouTube. They are listening to interviews like this."

Lionsgate: James Marsh is the senior VP of investor relations at LionsGate Entertainment Corp. LGF.

The media content giant entered 2020 looking forward to a strong slate of releases, but the pandemic dictated otherwise, Marsh said.

Exiting 2020, Lionsgate's business model has proved to be a lot more resilient than many had assumed, thanks to its large library content that generated record revenue this year, he said. 

"One way or another we are pretty well hedged," the Lionsgate exec said.

"If the world is going to reopen, theaters are going to reopen [and] that's good for our business," he said.