Dolphin Entertainment, Inc.

greetings and welcome to the dolphin entertainment second quarter 2024 earnings call at this time all participants are on a listen-only mode and a question and answer session will follow the formal presentation if anyone should require operator assistance during the conference please press star zero on your telephone keypad please note this conference is being recorded i will now turn the conference over to your host Mr. James Carbonara with Hayden IR. Sir, the floor is yours.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon. And thank you for joining us for Dolphin Entertainment's second quarter 2024 earnings call. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that during the course of this conference call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involve risks and uncertainties that could differ materially from actual events. Please refer to the cautionary text regarding forward-looking statements contained in the earnings release published earlier today, as well as the most recent SEC filings and reports. During the call today, management will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted operating income or loss. The company believes These will provide helpful information for investors. Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are provided in the earnings release. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Bill O'Dowd, Chief Executive Officer of Dolphin. Bill, please go ahead.

Thanks, James, and welcome, everyone. I'll start by reviewing some of the key financial and operating highlights from our record-setting second quarter of 2024. And then Myrta will provide a more detailed financial overview before we open it up for Q&A. Starting with the headlines, well, as you may have seen in our earnings release of a few minutes ago, total revenue for Q2 was $11.4 million, bringing first half revenue to $26.6 million. We expect the second half of the year to be even stronger than first half, positioning Dolphin well. for fiscal year 2024 revenue to exceed our goal of $50 million, as we aim for more than 20% year-over-year growth. On the bottom line, our Q2 adjusted operating loss was $100,000, and in first half 2024, we generated a positive adjusted operating income of approximately $900,000. As you would expect, we remain on target to report positive adjusted operating income for full year 2024 and beyond. Thus, we expect to enjoy the next phase of financial flexibility for Dolphin, as we no longer have the singular focus of the acquisition strategy that we've employed since uplifting to NASDAQ in 2017, and now expand our focus to growing margins and cash flow while we build businesses such as sports and seize opportunities, including within our ventures strategy. More on that in a little bit. Turning to operating updates, just last month in what is technically our third quarter, it's often announced the acquisition of L Communications. L is a leading PR agency specializing in social and environmental impact. L joins our publicity and marketing group as a division of 42 West and will work well and share clients alongside our other preeminent PR firms, Surefire Media and The Door. our influencer marketing agency, the digital department, and celebrity and booking event agency special projects. All of them are going to benefit from having Elle as a sister agency. Based in Los Angeles and New York, Elle works at the intersection of impact PR and the entertainment industry with a client roster of mission-centered brands, nonprofits, philanthropic foundations, including, I might add, celebrity foundations, Social enterprises, CSR teams, sustainably and ethically made products, activists and leaders, Elle Communications brings 16 years of experience and unmatched relationships to the Dolphin Entertainment family. Many of our existing clients already care about using their celebrity influence or access to pop culture to attempt to put good out in the world or to amplify the messages of those that already do. With Elle, we now have greater resources to keep this work in-house, and to greatly expand it with our referrals and relationships. Thus, this acquisition further strengthens Dolphin's capabilities in the rapidly growing impact investing industry, which currently manages over $1.1 trillion in assets worldwide. Many of you on the call know also it's a passion point of mine, as I'm blessed to sit on the board of United Way Worldwide, as well as the leadership council of United Way. And those positions have allowed me to witness the work that many of the nonprofits, large and small, do both in the United States and globally. And we're excited to be able to bring some of the power of the celebrity and influencers and access to pop culture, as I just mentioned, to this world in a more organized way with Elle. We're excited to welcome the passionate and innovative minds of Elle Communications' entire senior leadership team and staff to Dolphin Entertainment. Shifting to subsidiary highlights in Q2. All right. Well, 42 Us led multiple award-winning campaigns at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival with clients winning Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature and Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature. Also during the festival, 42 Us marketed the premiere of HBO's new documentary feature, Wiseguy, David Chase and the Sopranos, directed by Alex Gibney. Love that show. 42S also supported the world premiere of Megalopolis, the new feature from longtime client Francis Ford Coppola and GKids' Ghost Cat Anzu at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. We've had a real run at Cannes the last few years. Many people will remember that last year we had, excuse me, two years ago we had Top Gun premiere there. And last year was Killers of the Flower Moon. So the three years in a row we've had a major release at Cannes. And during the 2024 Television Upfronts, 42S Champion and clients receiving renewals, including The Boys, Conan O'Brien Must Go, The Conners, and Lopez vs. Lopez. Additionally, 42S Fandoms and Franchises Division, led by the incomparable Shawna Lynch, spearheaded highly successful campaigns for three AAA video games, namely Funko Fusion, Alien Rogue Incursion, and Multiversus. Surefire, our music PR firm, also kept up the beat as clients celebrated several milestones, with the Dave Matthews Band being successfully nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Kylie Minogue making Time Magazine's esteemed Time 100 list. Oren Zeiders won Breakthrough Mail Video of the Year at the 2024 Country Music Awards, and Britney Spencer delivered a stellar performance with Parker McCollum at the same event. Surefire also announced the promotion of five staff members to key leadership positions, reflecting their growth and expanding roster. The Doors' tastes were also once again exquisite and charitable in Q2. Client campaigns included promoting the launch of Newman's Own Pay What You Want Pizza Truck, with all proceeds benefiting the Newman's Own Foundation. 425, a John George restaurant, became one of the newest additions to the Michelin Guide. The door also supported Carbone Fine Foods' launch of the sales rep jacket. I know many people on the call are from New York and know Carbone and John George restaurants. The sales rep jacket was the first piece of an exclusive capsule collection. And Staple Gin, a Dolphin partnership with the longtime door client Rachel Ray, also landed a spot on VinePair's 30 best gins in the world, receiving a rating of 94, the highest score received. More on Staple Gin in a minute. The digital department of TDD, as we call them, was once again highly influential. I love what James Carbonaro does there with the wordplay. Executing a comprehensive influencer strategy for Crocs' latest product line, the Getaway Sandals, garnering impressive results. TDD was also selected to join Ulta Beauty's 2024 Beauty Collective. And further, TDD talents Mariah and Peter Gerber, very nice people, launched their new clothing collection, the Match Me Boutique, on Amazon. And finally, our special projects team made their mark on the Chanel Tribeca Festival Arts Center, supported Infatuation's Eats Con LA, and led an incredible night at the Peabody Awards, in each case booking notable celebrities and industry leaders to attend the events. These achievements demonstrate the exceptional work being done across our subsidiaries, and I commend the whole Dolphin family for their dedication and success. It never ceases to amaze me. consistent output of work they do for leading entertainment clients. Shifting gears, I'll now provide updates on some of our ventures. As a reminder for those new to the Dolphin story, ventures will provide us ownership stakes and assets wherein our form of marketing can provide the greatest influence on the likelihood of success. Specifically, while we are open to a wide range of opportunities, the assets we are most interested in are content creation, consumer products, and live experiences. Notably, it's worth repeating that we anticipate Dolphin securing ownership stakes in many of these endeavors without the necessity of any cash outlay. First, our film Blue Angels, oh wow, what a run, has achieved a remarkable milestone. In Q2, we released it the week before Memorial Day weekend. in IMAX theaters and across the $2 million market, the box office. A very, very strong result for a documentary. I believe it's the best opening weekend of the year for a documentary. And it debuted at number one on Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video, over the Memorial Day holiday frame. That's of all movies on Amazon, not just documentaries. It's always nice to start a multi-year partnership with a hit right out of the box. Both IMAX and ourselves are thrilled with the results of Blue Angels. And of course, this is only the start of the film generating returns for Dolphin. Later this year, we expect to begin putting the film in the IMAX institutional theaters around the country, generating an annuity for Dolphin for years to come. You may recall that these are the theaters and museums and cultural institutions like the Smithsonian. We are delighted with Blue Angels and hope to have a follow-up project to announce on our next earnings call. after the fall film festival and development season. Congratulations, though, to Emerson Davis and all the hardworking people at Dolphin Films. That project was a real hit. It's always nice to have a home run and your first at bat in a new partnership. Next, I'm thrilled to announce the launch of Staple Gin, the first product developed by Dolphin in partnership with one of the A-list celebrities on our talent rosters. This recipe-driven spirit, created by culinary icon Rachel Ray and crafted in New York's Catskills region, won double gold and a 96-point rating at the 15th Annual New York International Spirits Competition, which we announced this morning, and is now available nationally via e-commerce at www.staplegin.com and in New York State at bars, restaurants, and retail destinations nationwide. via Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits with additional markets to follow. As I'm sure everyone on the call knows, but Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits is the world's preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol. Southern's the largest wine and spirits distributor in the United States with operations in 44 states and Washington, D.C. with 24,000 employees and $26 billion in revenue as of 2023. also like to point out they're a proud miami-based company as is dolphin i'm also very pleased to announce that we selected oakview group thank you lois o'neill a global leader in venue development management premium hospitality services and 360 degree solutions to manage operations at mastercard midnight theater the strategic partnership with oakview group will ensure the highest level of service and experience for our patrons at this iconic venue. Oakview is almost finished with the renovations and the MasterCard Midnight Theater will be fully open for lunch and dinner with a full slate of shows in the theater right after Labor Day. Looking ahead, we anticipate making an announcement later this year regarding the first of Dolphin's owned or co-owned live events set to take place either late this year or in 2025. This marks a significant step in our strategy to expand our presence in the live entertainment sector and create new revenue streams. Also, our entry into live events will mark the final vertical of assets to own in our venture strategy, along with content like Blue Angels and consumer products like Staple Gin. These developments underscore Dolphin Entertainment's commitment to delivering exceptional content, products, and experiences across multiple platforms. By leveraging our talented roster, by forging strategic partnerships, And by exploring new opportunities, we are well positioned for continued growth and success. In addition to the exciting venture developments, we expect the second half of this year will witness Dolphin's strategic expansion into sports as a new vertical. This will also mark a new era for Dolphin, one in which we can build businesses as well as buy them. Of course, we believe the sports industry is as large and dynamic as the entertainment industry. and that the two go together like peanut butter and jelly. We expect that launching our services into the sports world will also provide a vast array of fresh ventures opportunities with sports-related content, sports-related consumer products, and sports-related live events to be developed. We believe that expanding into sports and acquiring Elle to create immediate growth and impact PR are two examples of Dolphin demonstrating its agility and adaptability in a rapidly changing market. We are excited about the opportunities that we expect both sports and impact to bring to our existing businesses and vice versa, and remain committed to delivering exceptional results for our clients and stakeholders. We look forward to providing more details on our sports initiative following a formal announcement prior to our Q3 earnings call. Died it for sports, says the seven-foot man on this call. In conclusion, we believe that Dolphin Entertainment's record-breaking financial performance and impressive subsidiary achievements in Q2 2024 demonstrate our unwavering commitment to organic growth. Furthermore, we believe that our acquisition of Elle and expansion into sports demonstrate our commitment to growth through opportunity and innovation. As we continue to deliver exceptional content, services, and experiences, across multiple platforms, we remain steadfast in our mission to create long-term value for our clients, partners, and shareholders. With a strong foundation, a talented team, and a clear vision for the future, we believe Dolphin Entertainment is poised for continued success in the years to come. With that said, let me turn it over to Mirtha to review the quarter's financial details. Mirtha?