The story
Founded by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg on Jan 1997.1
Founding and partnership
Platinum Studios was formed in January 1997 when Scott Mitchell Rosenberg — former head of Malibu Comics — acquired a 50% stake in the European rights-agency Platinum Studios, originally founded in 1971 by Ervin Rustemagić. (The 1997 restructuring is commonly described as Rosenberg and Rustemagić "co-founding" the American Platinum Studios.) Rosenberg brought his Malibu character library (around 200 characters) and his expertise in developing comics for film and television, while Rustemagić contributed his extensive European rights portfolio (of more than 1,000 titles). Under their partnership, Platinum Studios positioned itself as a cross‑media content company, aiming to adapt its European catalog into film, television, and other media. The company established its headquarters in Beverly Hills, California.
Cowboys & Aliens, Jeremiah, and Dylan Dog
In May 1997, shortly after forming Platinum, Rosenberg licensed Cowboys & Aliens to DreamWorks/Universal Studios based on storylines, artwork, and an iconic one-sheet depicting a cowboy on horseback shooting at a spaceship.
As part of Rosenberg and Rustemagić's partnership arrangement, Platinum Studios acquired the film and television rights to Tiziano Sclavi's horror comics series Dylan Dog and Hermann Huppen's science fiction comic series Jeremiah, both of which had previously been licensed by Rustemagić. Jeremiah was eventually adapted into a science-fiction TV series on Showtime from 2002 to 2004 — the first European graphic novel series adapted into a live-action U.S. television series; Rustemagić was given the title of executive producer. Dylan Dog was the source material for the 2011 film Dylan Dog: Dead of Night.
Rustemagić left the Platinum Studios partnership in 2000.
Expansion and financial challenges
In 2005, the company hired former Time Warner executive Brian Altounian as chief operating officer, while posting net losses of $2.1 million.
From 2006 to 2008, Platinum expanded its operations — despite increasing financial losses. In 2006, it launched the Platinum Studios Comics imprint, initiated the Comic Book Challenge, and acquired the webcomics hosting platform Drunk Duck. Platinum Studios lost $4.3 million in 2006 and $5.1 million in 2007. Even when revenue increased in 2007, it still lost more than $5 million that year: operating expenses had risen sharply — from $1.6 million in 2005 to $6.6 million in 2007. At the end of 2007, the company had only about $4,000 in cash on hand. In February 2008, Platinum Studios became a publicly traded company, bringing its financial position and corporate governance under increased scrutiny.
2008: A company on the brink
By mid-2008, Platinum Studios had accumulated a $14 million deficit and was running a negative balance of more than $1 million in just the first half of the year. The company received a formal "going-concern" warning, meaning auditors believed there was serious doubt about the company’s ability to continue operating. Three high-level insiders — including COO Brian Altounian, the general counsel, and a director — had sold more than 21 million shares collectively. The stock price had collapsed to $0.04 per share, down from $0.12 only a month earlier. In addition, Platinum had reportedly been late on payments to creators, reflecting its cash scarcity. Analysts viewed these signs the company was moving closer to insolvency.
Nevertheless, the company continued its strategy of acquiring large amounts of intellectual property and pursuing film and video-game — considered by analysts as high-risk and not a reliable revenue model. In June 2008, Platinum and John H. Williams' Vanguard Animation announced plans to launch a new comics imprint, Vanguard Comics (with Williams' company holding a 30% share in the venture). The imprint came about as a result of Williams serving on the jury for the Comic Book Challenge; Vanguard Comics, however, never released any publications.
Read the full text
Also in June 2008, Platinum began talks to acquire WOWIO, a Los Angeles–based digital media platform that allowed users to share and consume e-comics and E-books, while offering monetization opportunities for creators and publishers. Issues related to WOWIO's non-payment of quarterly earnings delayed the sale.
In June 2009, WOWIO was purchased outright by Brian Altounian, former Platinum COO and board member, leaving Platinum with no ownership stake. Third-quarter earnings were eventually paid under a revised formula more favorable to WOWIO. In June 2010, WOWIO acquired DrunkDuck.com from Platinum Studios. (WOWIO itself was effectively defunct by c. 2015; Drunk Duck restructured itself and continues to operate.)
Later developments
In 2011, following the underwhelming release of the Cowboys & Aliens feature film, Platinum Studios retained KKM Global Brand Strategies to oversee a licensing program for the underlying graphic novel, with the company announcing agreements for a range of related products. According to the company's SEC filings that year, Platinum reported approximately $500,000 in licensing revenue from the film Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. Platinum also claimed to have several additional properties in active development, including Unique at Walt Disney Pictures with producer David Heyman, V.I.C.E. with Andrew Lazar and Top Cow Productions, an animated feature project at Sony Pictures Animation, Blood Nation with producer Alexandra Milchan, and the television project MetaDocs with Syfy, FremantleMedia, and Landscape Entertainment. As with most properties "under development" at Platinum, however, as of 2025, none of those projects have been developed.
In 2012, Platinum Studios was delisted from public trading due to failure to file required reports and was later classified as OTC Pink No Information, indicating minimal disclosure to investors. Chris Beall was named interim president of the company in 2012.
By 2014, 27 million shares of Platinum were acquired by KCG Holdings.
From Wikipedia’s article on Platinum Studios, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6