Hollywood’s Hottest Start-up Raises $3.1 Million at a $20 Million Pre-seed Valuation
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LOS ANGELES, May 08, 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Iconic Arts, a new transmedia entertainment studio founded by Steven Haddadian, Alec Roth, Matthew Medney, Mo Yazdani, and Jack Sheehan, announced today $3.1 million in financing at a $20 million pre-seed valuation. The company opens doors in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
The new company has support from Hollywood, gaming, and technology luminaries such as Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth, Grammy-winning artist and founder of FYI.ai, Will.i.am and industry titans Chris Heatherly (The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal), Mark Caplan (Sony Pictures Entertainment), and Motoki Tani (Animoca Brands KK, Millennium, JP Morgan). AI expert and CTIO of JPL NASA, Chris Mattmann, immersive media pioneer, Brian Selzer and legal AI attorney, Charles Lew also join the distinguished advisory board.
Iconic Arts is building the foundations for a global entertainment company with some of the biggest IP companies and brands in Japan through a newly formed joint venture (JV) created by lead investor and advisor, Motoki Tani, who was also the co-founder of Animoca Brands KK.
“Through this JV, Iconic Arts will serve as the entertainment partner for global consumer brands to develop IP across film, television, gaming and merchandising,” said Motoki Tani. Tani was previously the Head of Trading at JP Morgan and Managing Director at Hong Kong-based Millennium.
For the last year, the team has been developing an original slate of IP by using a unique workflow which combines talented creators with emerging technologies such as a set of proprietary AI-powered tools that help lower cost of development by up to 90%, while derisking negative audience sentiment. For example, one tool enables creators to materialize worlds for UGC platforms such as Fortnite, Roblox or any multiplayer native environment with no code, while maintaining their art direction. These UGC platforms serve as market testing and community building environments for their IP.
“We are applying a Silicon Valley approach to the hit-driven models of Hollywood and gaming studios, cutting costs and risks in developing original IP, with timeless storytelling at the heart of our business,” said Founder and CEO, Steven Haddadian.
Iconic Arts has also brought on specialized corporate development executive and in-house counsel Aric Jain, formerly at leading IP law firm Wilmerhale. Aric will be working closely with Charles Lew, Chris Mattmann and California lawmakers to help draft bills for the ethical applications of AI within IP development.
To learn more and stay up-to-date on Iconic Arts, visit https://www.iconicarts.com/. To download a team photo, click here.
About Iconic Arts:
Iconic Arts is a global entertainment company with offices in Los Angeles and Tokyo founded in 2023. The studio develops transmedia IP across gaming, television, film, merchandising, and live experiences with top-tier talent and brands. To learn more, visit https://www.iconicarts.com/.
Steven Haddadian, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Steven Haddadian has spent over a decade in the intersection of entertainment, technology and gaming being an early bitcoin investor and serial entrepreneur since 2012. He was also co-founder of Los Angeles-based media company TheFutureParty, which was acquired by NVE Experience Agency in 2019.
Alec Roth, Co-founder, Director & Executive Producer
Co-founder Alec Roth comes from a vast career and lineage of Hollywood storytelling with having just completed his directorial debut Billy Knight, featuring stars like Al Pacino, Charlie Heaton, and Diana Silvers, along with producing Desert Road through his production company Firebrand Media Group.
Matthew Medney, Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer
Leading the development on the studio’s inaugural slate of IP is Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer, Matthew Medney. Medney, previously the CEO of legendary Heavy Metal Magazine, is one of the most prolific sci-fi writers having penned books and creative directed for Floyd Mayweather, Bobby Wagner of the Seattle Seahawks, Steve Aoki, and Rolling Loud. He recently launched Gungnir Books, a sister company of Iconic Arts, that publishes graphic novels, prose and art books for the studio.
Mo Yazdani, Co-founder & Chief Operations Officer
Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer Mo Yazdani began his career in fintech and banking working at a management consulting firm and State Street before moving into tech as a product manager, shipping over 20 interactive software products for large brands. Prior to founding Iconic Arts, Mo was a Product Lead at a web3 gaming company.
Jack Sheehan, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer
Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer Jack Sheehan also comes from the Hollywood agency and studio system, having held positions at Universal, Sony & WME before producing over 50 independent films with stars such as Keanu Reeves, Margot Robbie, and Tom Hanks, most recently serving as the President of Archstone Entertainment.
Omar Abdelwahed, Chief Technology Officer
Chief Technology Officer Omar Abdelwahed was previously the Technical Director at Vancouver-based East Side Games, VP of Engineering at Playable Worlds and the former Head of Studio at Softbank Robotics where he launched the first humanoid social robot in the US named Pepper. He also led Ubisoft’s first games development studio in San Francisco.
Rob Carroll, Chief Gaming Officer
Chief Gaming Officer Rob Carroll comes from a tenured career at LucasArts, Zynga, Wargaming, Unity, and most recently at Economics Design. Rob has shipped over 40 titles in the gaming space.
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Contacts
Sara Yazdani
Creativ Strategies / Director, Media & Entertainment PR
sara@creativstrategies.com
