Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. - Annual Report: 2021 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

Commission file number: 001-38331

DOLPHIN ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number (305) 774-0407

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by a check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No

Indicate by a check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No

Indicate by a check mark if the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). þ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by a check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

Emerging Growth Company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting from that prepared or issued its audit report: ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act.) ☐ Yes ☒ No

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter: $67,379,041

Number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock as of May 20, 2022: 9,101,045

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORM 10-K

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this Form 10-K contain “forward-looking statements” and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the “Securities Act”, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the “Exchange Act”, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans, objectives, representations and intentions and are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “will,” “would” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. You should be aware that the forward-looking statements included herein represent management’s current judgment and expectations, but our actual results, events and performance could differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Specifically, this Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements regarding:

These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We wish to caution readers that certain important factors may have affected and could in the future affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. The most important factors that could prevent us from achieving our goals, and cause the assumptions underlying forward-looking statements and the actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by those forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:

The foregoing list of important factors does not include all such factors, nor necessarily present them in order of importance. In addition, you should consult other disclosures made by the Company (such as in our other filings with the SEC or in Company press releases) for other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the Company. Please refer to Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors of this Form 10-K for additional information regarding factors that could affect the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. Any forward-looking statements, which we make in this Form 10-K, speak only as of the date of such statement, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements, except as otherwise required by applicable law. We can give no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. An occurrence of, or any material adverse change in, one or more of the risk factors or risks and uncertainties referred to in this report or included in our other periodic reports filed with the SEC could materially and adversely impact our operations and our future financial results. Comparisons of results for current and any prior periods are not intended to express any future trends or indications of future performance, unless expressed as such, and should only be viewed as historical data.

Any public statements or disclosures made by us following this report that modify or impact any of the forward-looking statements contained in or accompanying this report will be deemed to modify or supersede such outlook or other forward-looking statements in or accompanying this report.

PART I

Unless the context otherwise requires, all references to “we”, “us”, “our, “Dolphin” and the “Company” refer to Dolphin Entertainment, Inc., a Florida corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries.

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Overview

We are a leading independent entertainment marketing and premium content development company. Through our subsidiaries, 42West LLC (“42West”), The Door Marketing Group LLC (“The Door”), Shore Fire Media, Ltd (“Shore Fire”), Viewpoint Computer Animation, Inc. (“Viewpoint”), Be Social Public Relations, LLC (“Be Social”) and B/HI Communications, Inc. (“B/HI”), we provide expert strategic marketing and publicity services to many of the top brands, both individual and corporate, in the motion picture, television, music, gaming, culinary, hospitality and lifestyle industries. 42West (Film and Television, Gaming), Shore Fire (Music), and The Door (Culinary, Hospitality, Lifestyle) are each recognized global PR and marketing leaders for the industries they serve. (B/HI is considered a division of 42West throughout the rest of our discussion.) Viewpoint adds full-service creative branding and production capabilities to our marketing group and Be Social provides influencer marketing capabilities through its roster of highly engaged social media influencers. Dolphin’s legacy content production business, founded by our Emmy-nominated Chief Executive Officer, Bill O’Dowd, has produced multiple feature films and award-winning digital series, primarily aimed at family and young adult markets.

We were first incorporated in the State of Nevada on March 7, 1995 and domesticated in the State of Florida on December 4, 2014. Our common stock trades on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “DLPN”.

We currently operate in two reportable segments: our entertainment publicity and marketing segment and our content production segment. The entertainment publicity and marketing segment is composed of 42West, Shore Fire, The Door, Viewpoint and Be Social and provides clients with diversified services, including public relations, entertainment content marketing, strategic communications, social media marketing, creative branding, and the production of promotional video content. The content production segment is composed of Dolphin Films, Inc. (“Dolphin Films”) and a department within Dolphin, which produce and distribute feature films and digital content.

With respect to our entertainment publicity and marketing segment, we currently see a favorable environment for organic growth, as evidenced by sequential quarterly revenue growth in 2021. The original content budgets of many large studios and streaming services have grown considerably the past few years, and are expected to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, we have seen the entrance of large streaming services such as Disney+, Apple TV, Peacock (from NBCUniversal), HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery, all to compete with Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. We believe that the foremost differentiating factor for all of these platforms will be original programming and, consequently, it is anticipated that there will be an increase of tens of billions of dollars in programming spent across the market. We also believe that each of these original shows will need substantial public relations and marketing campaigns to drive consumer awareness of both the shows themselves and the respective platforms on which to find them.

Additionally, we have endeavored to create a “marketing super group,” combining marketing, public relations, branding, and digital production, that will serve as a platform for organic growth via the cross-selling of services among our subsidiaries. By way of example, our initial public relations companies (42West, Shore Fire, and The Door) have identified the ability to create content for clients as a “must have” for public relations campaigns in today’s environment, which relies so heavily on video clips to drive social media awareness and engagement. Thus, we believe that our subsidiary Viewpoint provided a critical competitive advantage in the acquisition of new clients in the entertainment and lifestyle marketing space, and will continue to fuel topline revenue growth as the average revenue per client increases with the cross-selling of video content creation services. Furthermore, influencer marketing campaigns are considered essential to so many consumer product earned media campaigns in today’s online marketplace, creating large cross-selling opportunities between our PR agencies and Be Social’s expertise and services.

We believe that our expanding portfolio of public relations and marketing companies will continue to attract future acquisitions. We believe that our “marketing super group” is unique in the industry, as a collection of best-in-class service providers across a variety of entertainment and lifestyle verticals. We further believe that with each new acquisition in this space, our portfolio will increase its breadth and depth of services and, therefore, be able to offer an even more compelling opportunity for other industry leaders to join, and enjoy the benefits of cross-selling to a wide variety of existing and potential clients. Thus, we believe we can continue to grow both revenues and profits through future acquisitions into our entertainment publicity and marketing segment.

Finally, we believe our ability to engage a broad consumer base through our best-in-class pop culture assets provides us an opportunity to make investments in products or companies which would benefit from our collective marketing power. We call these investments “Dolphin 2.0” (with “Dolphin 1.0” being the underlying businesses of each of our subsidiaries).

Simply put, we seek to own some of the assets we are marketing. Specifically, we want to own assets where our experience, industry relationships and marketing power will most influence the likelihood of success. This leads us to seek investments in the following categories of assets: 1) Content; 2) Live Events; and 3) Consumer Products.

The first of our 2.0 investments has been in the new world of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). We see a large opportunity in this sector. Even without broad consumer adoption, the NFT market grew from an estimated $250 million in 2020 to over $40 billion in 2021, according to Bloomberg. We believe the NFT market will continue to grow at a rapid pace for years to come, driven by the combination of 1) the ability of consumers to purchase using a credit card (and not just with cryptocurrencies); 2) consumer-friendly pricing options (previously not readily available due to large “gas fees” charged by both sellers and buyers of NFTs to offset the energy consumption required to “mint” the NFT for sale); and 3) popular entertainment and pop culture collectibles being offered.

In March 2021, we announced our intentions to enter into the production and marketing of NFTs. In August, 2021, we announced our partnership with FTX.US, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, to develop and launch NFT collections across all major entertainment industry verticals (film, television, music, gaming, etc.). In October, 2021, we announced the hiring of Anthony Francisco, former Senior Visual Development Artist at Marvel Studios, and designer of many iconic characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to be Creative Director of our NFT studios. And in December, 2021, we unveiled our first collection, entitled “Creature Chronicles: Exiled Aliens,” a generative art collection of 10,000 unique avatars created by Mr. Francisco.

Our second Dolphin 2.0 investment was made in October, 2021, when we acquired an ownership stake in Midnight Theatre, a state-of-the-art contemporary variety theater and restaurant in the heart of Manhattan. An anchor of Brookfield Properties’ recently opened $4.5 billion Manhattan West development, the Midnight Theatre is in the final stages of construction, and expects to open in Spring, 2022. The Midnight Theatre will feature three distinct experiences for guests: the theatre itself; a separate pan-Asian restaurant, Hidden Leaf; and a ground-level café. We will manage all aspects of publicity and marketing for the venue (both theatre and restaurant), as well as facilitate talent and commercial relationships within the entertainment and culinary industries.

The Midnight Theatre will have a weekly schedule of performances and immersive experiences across music, comedy, Broadway, and narrative magic shows programmed at the 160-seat venue. The contemporary variety theatre integrates state-of-the-art 270 degree projection mapped visuals into live performances, allowing for unprecedented intimacy between performers and guests. The Midnight Theatre also has built in live-stream capabilities, allowing for events inside the theatre to expand beyond into people’s homes and corporate offices. The theatre will be available to host live streamed podcasts, comedy specials, music events, corporate keynote events, and more.

Hidden Leaf is the modern pan-Asian restaurant concept on the second floor of The Midnight Theatre space, led by acclaimed restauranteur Josh Cohen. The restaurant features a 75-seat dining room, 20-seat private dining room and a 40-seat lounge/bar area. Hidden Leaf will be open for both lunch and dinner, and will incorporate world-class food with interactive elements such as table-side prep, wine consignments, and memberships.

Our third Dolphin 2.0 investment was made in December, 2021, when we acquired an ownership stake in Crafthouse Cocktails, a pioneering brand of ready-to-drink, all-natural classic cocktails created by world renowned mixologist, Charles Joly and esteemed restaurateur, Matt Lindner. Founded in 2013, Crafthouse Cocktails is an award-winning pioneer in the premium ready-to-drink cocktail category, with eight different, made-from-scratch cocktails, using all-natural ingredients and premium craft spirits, available in more than 2,000 retail locations nationally. We will manage all aspects of publicity and marketing for the brand through our network of agencies and will facilitate talent and commercial relationships within the entertainment and culinary industries.

Growth Opportunities and Strategies

For Dolphin 1.0, we are focused on driving growth through the following efforts:

Expand and grow 42West to serve more clients with a broad array of interrelated services. We believe that the launch and growth of a large number of streaming services over the last two years represents tremendous organic growth opportunities for 42West, due to the increase in potential new clients and a larger number of individual projects to promote.

Enhanced by Dolphin’s acquisitions of Be Social and Viewpoint, 42West has the ability to both structure influencer marketing campaigns and create promotional and marketing content for clients, which are critical services for entertainment content marketers in today’s digital world.

Through our acquisition of B/HI in January, 2021 (considered a division of 42West), 42West has entered into the “sister” entertainment verticals of video gaming and e-sports. We believe these industries represent a tremendous growth opportunity for 42West.

Furthermore, the growing involvement in non-entertainment businesses by many of our existing entertainment clients has allowed 42West to establish a presence and develop expertise outside its traditional footprint. Using this as a foundation, we are now working to expand our involvement in these new areas.

Expand and grow Shore Fire Media to serve more clients in more genres of music and in more markets. For over 30 years, Shore Fire has been a leader in providing public relations and marketing services to a broad array of songwriters, recording artists, publishers and others within the music industry, all from its headquarters in Brooklyn. We plan to significantly expand Shore Fire’s presence in other major music markets, including Los Angeles, Nashville and Miami, which we believe will provide access to potential clients across a wide array of popular musical genres, including pop, country and Latin.

Expand and grow The Door through the expansion of Consumer Products PR business. The Door’s market-leading position in both the food and hospitality verticals, with many clients that have consumer-facing products and the need for attendant marketing campaigns, has provided the Company with the requisite experience for a successful entry into the high-margin consumer products PR business with potential clients outside of the food and hospitality verticals. We plan to significantly increase the number of consumer products PR accounts at The Door. Such accounts often generate higher monthly fees and longer-term engagements than any other of our customer verticals.

Diversify Viewpoint’s Client Base. Viewpoint is a leading creative branding agency and promotional video content producer for the television industry, with long-term clients such as HBO, Discovery Networks, Showtime and AMC. Through 42West, The Door and Shore Fire, Viewpoint can offer its best-in-class services to several new verticals, including motion picture production and distribution companies, video game publishers, musical artists, restaurant groups, the hospitality and travel industry and the marketers of consumer products. The ability for Viewpoint to reach clients of 42West, The Door and Shore Fire provides Viewpoint with the opportunity to diversify its client base, while allowing 42West, The Door and Shore Fire to increase their service offerings to, existing and future clients, potentially driving increased revenues.

Diversify Be Social’s Client Base. Be Social is a leading influencer marketing agency, with a specialization in the beauty, fashion and wellness industries. Through 42West, The Door and Shore Fire, Be Social can offer its services to several new verticals, including motion picture and television content, podcasts, musical artists and labels, restaurant groups, hotels and resorts, the travel industry, the gaming and e-sports industry, and the marketers of broader consumer products. The ability for Be Social to reach clients of 42West, The Door and Shore Fire provides Be Social with the opportunity to diversify its client base, while allowing 42West, The Door and Shore Fire to increase their service offerings to, existing and future clients, potentially driving increased revenues.

Opportunistically grow through complementary acquisitions. We plan to selectively pursue acquisitions to further enhance our competitive advantages, scale our revenues, and increase our profitability. Our acquisition strategy is based on identifying and acquiring companies that complement our existing entertainment publicity services businesses. We believe that complementary businesses, such as live event production companies and PR firms in other entertainment verticals, can create synergistic opportunities that may increase profits and operating cash flow.

For Dolphin 2.0, we are focused on driving growth through the following efforts:

Build a portfolio of premium film, television and digital content. We intend to grow and diversify our portfolio of film, television and digital content by capitalizing on demand for high quality digital media and film content throughout the world marketplace. We plan to balance our financial risks against the probability of commercial success for each project. We believe that our strategic focus on content and creation of innovative content distribution strategies will enhance our competitive position in the industry, ensure optimal use of our capital, build a diversified foundation for future growth and generate long-term value for our shareholders. Finally, we believe that marketing strategies that will be developed by our best-in-class entertainment PR and marketing companies will drive our creative content, thus creating greater potential for profitability.

Build an NFT Studio, to produce, distribute and market NFT collections. We intend to build an NFT studio on the traditional “slate model” employed by the major motion picture studios. We will seek to develop compelling NFT collections, drawing upon our relationships in the entertainment industry, and schedule their release throughout the calendar year. We will use the totality of our PR and marketing experience and reach to support these releases, which we believe can be a differentiating factor in this emerging industry.

Promotion of Midnight Theatre. As noted above, Midnight Theatre is currently scheduled to open in Spring, 2022. All Dolphin PR and Marketing subsidiaries will support the promotional campaigns for the opening of Midnight Theatre. We will also seek to support the programming slate of the theatre itself, through our relationships across music, Broadway and other forms of entertainment.

Assist Crafthouse Cocktails on its expansion. We believe Crafthouse Cocktails is a fantastic product, poised for growth. We will seek to create and execute PR and marketing campaigns to assist Crafthouse in growing its retail presence, both in states where the brand currently is available, as well as new states across the country.

Entertainment Publicity and Marketing

42West

Through 42West, an entertainment public relations agency, we offer talent publicity, entertainment (motion picture and television) marketing, video game and eSports marketing, and strategic communications services. Prior to its acquisition, 42West grew to become one of the largest independently-owned public relations firms in the entertainment industry, and in December 2019 (the most recent year of such rankings), 42West was ranked #4 in the annual rankings of the nation’s Power 50 PR firms by the New York Observer, the highest position held by an entertainment PR firm. As such, we believe that 42West has served, and will continue to serve, as an “acquisition magnet” for us to acquire new members of our marketing “super group,” which has the ability to provide synergistic new members with the opportunity to grow revenues and profits through 42West’s access, relationships and experience in the entertainment industry.

Marketing professionals at 42West develop and execute marketing and publicity strategies for dozens of movies and television shows annually, as well as for individual actors, filmmakers, recording artists, video game publishers, and authors. Through 42West, we provide services in the following areas:

Entertainment Marketing

We provide marketing direction, public relations counsel and media strategy for productions (including theatrical films, DVD and VOD releases, television programs, and online series) as well as content producers, ranging from individual filmmakers and creative artists to production companies, film financiers, DVD distributors, and other entities. Our capabilities include worldwide studio releases, independent films, television programming and web productions. We provide entertainment marketing services in connection with film festivals, awards campaigns, event publicity and red-carpet management.

Talent Publicity

We focus on creating and implementing strategic communication campaigns for performers and entertainers, including film, television and Broadway stars. Our talent roster includes multiple Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winning actors. Our services in this area include ongoing strategic counsel, media relations, studio, network, charity, corporate liaison and event support.

Video Game and eSports Publicity

We provide marketing direction, public relations counsel and media strategy for video game publishers as well as eSports leagues, and other entities in the gaming industry. Our capabilities include global game releases (web, console and mobile), independent releases, eSports tournament and league publicity, and various gaming events.

Strategic Communications

Our strategic communications team advises brands and non-profits seeking to utilize entertainment and pop culture in their marketing campaigns. We also help companies define objectives, develop messaging, create brand identities, and construct long-term strategies to achieve specific goals, as well as manage functions such as media relations or internal communications on a day-to-day basis. Our clients include major studios and production companies, record labels, media conglomerates, technology companies, philanthropic organizations, talent guilds, and trade associations, as well as a wide variety of high-profile individuals, ranging from major movie and pop stars to top executives and entrepreneurs.

Shore Fire

Through Shore Fire, we represent musical artists and culture makers at the top of their fields. Shore Fire’s dedicated teams in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville wield extensive, varied expertise to strategically amplify narratives and shape reputations for career-advancing effect. We believe Shore Fire is the largest public relations agency in the music business, representing top recording artists in multiple genres, songwriters, music producers, record labels, music industry businesses, venues, trade organizations, authors, comedians, social media personalities and cultural institutions.

The Door

Through The Door, a hospitality, lifestyle and consumer products public relations agency, we offer traditional public relations services, as well as social media marketing, creative branding, and strategic counsel. Prior to its acquisition, The Door was widely considered the leading independent public relations firm in the hospitality and lifestyle industries. Among other benefits, The Door acquisition has expanded our entertainment verticals through the addition of celebrity chefs and their restaurants, as well as with live events, such as some of the most prestigious and well-attended food and wine festivals in the United States. Our public relations and marketing professionals at The Door develop and execute marketing and publicity strategies for dozens of restaurant and hotel groups annually, as well as for individual chefs, live events, and consumer-facing corporations.

Be Social

Through Be Social, an influencer marketing agency, we offer brand marketing services (editorial, social media, and both paid and organic influencer marketing campaigns) and management for individual influencers. Be Social is a recognized leader in its field, especially within the beauty, fitness and wellness industries.

Viewpoint

Viewpoint is a full-service, boutique creative branding and production agency that has earned a reputation as one of the top producers of promotional brand-support videos for a wide variety of leading cable networks in the television industry. Viewpoint’s capabilities run the full range of creative branding and production, from concept creation to final delivery, and include: brand strategy, concept and creative development, design & art direction, script & copywriting, live action production & photography, digital development, video editing & composite, animation, audio mixing & engineering, project management and technical support.

Content Production

Dolphin Films and Dolphin Digital Studios

Dolphin Films is a content producer of motion pictures. We own the rights to several scripts that we intend to produce at a future date. Dolphin Digital Studios creates original content to premiere online. We own several concepts and scripts that we intend to further develop and produce at a future date.

Competition

The businesses in which we engage are highly competitive. Through 42West, Shore Fire and The Door, we compete against other public relations and marketing communications companies, as well as independent and niche agencies to win new clients and maintain existing client relationships. Through Viewpoint and Be Social, we compete against other creative branding and influencer marketing agencies, as well as in-house teams at many of our clients. Our content production business faces competition from companies within the entertainment business and from alternative forms of leisure entertainment, such as travel, sporting events, video games and computer-related activities. We are subject to competition from other digital media and motion production companies, as well as from large, well-established companies within the entertainment industry that have significantly greater development, production, distribution and capital resources than us. We compete for the acquisition of literary properties and for the services of producers, directors, actors and other artists as well as creative and technical personnel and production financing, all of which are essential to the success of our business. In addition, our productions compete for audience acceptance and advertising dollars.

We believe that we compete on the basis of the following competitive strengths:

Human Capital Management

Our People and Culture

Because our business is predominantly service-based, the quality of the personnel we employ is crucial to our success and growth. Our employees and contractors are our most valuable assets. We believe our relationship with our employees is great, and we also utilize consultants in the ordinary course of our business and hire additional employees on a project-by-project basis in connection with the production of digital media projects or motion pictures. We conduct training and development in our subsidiaries to ensure our employees maintain the quality for which we are known.

As of March 1, 2022, we had 202 full-time employees, all of which are located within the United States.

Diversity and Inclusion

Dolphin and our subsidiaries are committed to diversity and inclusion, and our culture reinforce these values on a day to day basis, beginning with our leadership team. Our leadership team, which includes our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial and Operating Officer and the leaders of our subsidiaries, is composed 66% of women. Likewise, the Board of Directors is composed 33% of women.

Other Compensation and Benefits

The Company also offers competitive compensation and benefits packages that meet the needs of its employees, including equity incentive awards, retirement plans, health, dental, and vision benefits, basic life insurance and short and long-term disability coverage, among other benefits. The Company analyzes market trends and monitors its own compensation practices to attract, retain, and promote employees and reduce turnover and associated costs.

Regulatory Matters

We are subject to state and federal work and safety laws and disclosure obligations, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and similar state organizations.

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements under Section 13(a) and Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. To the extent we are subject to these requirements, we will have our financial statements audited by an independent public accounting firm that is registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and comply with Rule 8-03 or 10-01(d), as applicable, of Regulation S-X.

Corporate Offices

Our corporate headquarters is located at 150 Alhambra Circle, Suite 1200, Coral Gables, Florida 33134. Our telephone number is (305) 774-0407. We also have offices located at:

Available Information

The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports are available free of charge through the “Investor Relations” section of the Company’s website, www.dolphinentertainment.com, as soon as reasonably practical after they are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC maintains a website, www.sec.gov, which contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information filed electronically with the SEC by the Company. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information when you enroll your email address by visiting the “Investor Relations” section of our website. The content of any website referred to in this document is not incorporated by reference into this document.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to our Business and Financial Condition

The COVID-19 outbreak has adversely impacted the global economy, the entertainment industry, our business, financial condition and results of operations and the extent of the continuing impact is highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.

The global spread of COVID-19 has created significant operational volatility, uncertainty and disruption, both in the global economy, in general, and in the hospitality and entertainment industries, in particular. The extent to which COVID-19 will continue to adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on numerous evolving factors, which are highly uncertain, rapidly changing and cannot be predicted, including:

The potential effects of COVID-19 could also heighten the risks disclosed in many of our other risk factors that are included below, including as a result of, but not limited to, the factors listed above.

Our results of operations are highly susceptible to unfavorable economic conditions.

We are exposed to risks associated with weak or uncertain regional economic conditions and disruptions in the financial markets. Following the severe downturn in most markets following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global economy continues to be challenging. Economic downturns or uncertainty about the strength of the global economy in general, or economic conditions in certain regions or market sectors, and caution on the part of marketers, can have an effect on the demand for advertising and marketing communication services. In addition, market conditions can be and have been adversely affected by natural and human disruptions, such as natural disasters, public health crises, severe weather events, military conflict or civil unrest. Our industry can be affected more severely than other sectors by an economic downturn and can recover more slowly than the economy in general. In the past, including in connection with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, some clients have responded to weak economic and financial conditions by reducing their marketing budgets, which include discretionary components that are easier to reduce in the short term than other operating expenses. This pattern may recur in the future. Furthermore, unexpected revenue shortfalls can result in misalignments of costs and revenues, resulting in a negative impact to our operating margins. If our business is significantly adversely affected by unfavorable economic conditions or other market disruptions that adversely affect client spending, the negative impact on our revenue could pose a challenge to our operating income and cash generation from operations.

We have a history of net losses and may continue to incur net losses.

We have a history of net losses and may be unable to generate sufficient revenue to achieve profitability in the future. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, our net loss was $6,462,303 and $1,939,192. Our accumulated deficit was $104,434,344 and $97,972,041 at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Our ability to generate net profit in the future will depend on our ability to realize the financial benefits from the operations of 42West, The Door, Shore Fire, Viewpoint and Be Social and the success of our Dolphin 2.0 initiatives, as no single project is likely to generate sufficient revenue to cover our operating expenses. If we are unable to generate net profit at some point, we will not be able to meet our debt service or working capital requirements. As a result, we may need to (i) issue additional equity, which could substantially dilute the value of your share holdings, (ii) sell a portion or all of our assets, including any project rights which might have otherwise generated revenue, or (iii) cease operations.

We currently have substantial indebtedness which may adversely affect our cash flow and business operations and may affect our ability to continue to operate as a going concern.

The table below sets forth our total principal amount of debt as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Our indebtedness could have important negative consequences, including:

Our ability to service our indebtedness will depend upon, among other things, our future financial and operating performance and our ability to obtain additional financing, which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions, the profitability of our content production and entertainment publicity and marketing businesses and other factors contained in these Risk Factors, some of which are beyond our control.

If we are not able to generate sufficient cash to service our current or future indebtedness, we will be forced to take actions such as reducing or delaying digital or film productions, delaying or abandoning potential acquisitions, delaying Dolphin 2.0 initiatives, selling assets, restructuring or refinancing our indebtedness or seeking additional debt or equity capital or bankruptcy protection. We may not be able to effect any of these remedies on satisfactory terms or at all and our indebtedness may affect our ability to continue to operate as a going concern.

Our stock price has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future, and as a result, investors in our common stock could incur substantial losses.

Our stock price has recently been volatile and may be volatile in the future. For example, on March 22, 2021, the price of our common stock closed at $5.45 per share while on March 23, 2021, the price of our common stock closed at $18.33 after a press release announced the formation of our NFT division. We may incur rapid and substantial increases or decreases in our stock price in the foreseeable future that may or may not coincide in timing with the disclosure of news or developments by us. The stock market in general, and the market for entertainment companies in particular, has experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, investors may experience losses on their investment in our common stock. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including the following:

Our management has determined that our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal controls over financial reporting are not effective as we have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls.

As disclosed in Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, management concluded that for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective and we identified several material weaknesses. Our management concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

We have commenced our remediation efforts as discussed in Part II, 9A. Controls and Procedures of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to address the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and ineffective disclosure controls and procedures. If our remedial measures are insufficient, or if additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal controls occur in the future, we could be required to restate our financial results, which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition, restrict our ability to access the capital markets, require us to expend significant resources to correct the weakness or deficiencies, harm our reputation and otherwise cause a decline in investor confidence. In addition, we could be subject to, among other things, regulatory or enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, (the “SEC” or the “Commission”).

We rely on information technology systems that are susceptible to cybersecurity risks. In the event of a cybersecurity incident, we could experience operational interruptions, incur substantial additional costs, become subject to legal or regulatory proceedings or suffer damage to our reputation.

We rely on information technologies and infrastructure to manage our businesses, including digital storage of marketing strategies and client information, films and digital programming and delivery of digital marketing services for our businesses. Data maintained in digital form is subject to the risk of intrusion, tampering and theft. The incidence of malicious technology-related events, such as cyberattacks, computer hacking, computer viruses, worms or other destructive or disruptive software, denial of service attacks or other malicious activities is on the rise worldwide. Power outages, equipment failure, natural disasters (including extreme weather), terrorist activities or human error may also affect our systems and result in disruption of our services or loss or improper disclosure of personal data, business information or other confidential information.

Likewise, data privacy breaches, as well as improper use of social media, by employees and others may pose a risk that sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information, strategic plans and trade secrets, could be exposed to third parties or to the general public. We also utilize third parties, including third-party “cloud” computing services, to store, transfer or process data, and system failures or network disruptions or breaches in the systems of such third parties could adversely affect our reputation or business. Any such breaches or breakdowns could lead to business interruption, exposure of our or our clients’ proprietary or confidential information, data corruption, damage to our reputation, exposure to legal and regulatory proceedings and other costs. Such events could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, we could be adversely affected if any of our significant customers or suppliers experience any similar events that disrupt their business operations or damage their reputation. Efforts to develop, implement and maintain security measures are costly, may not be successful in preventing these events from occurring and require ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become more sophisticated. Although we maintain monitoring practices and protections of our information technology to reduce these risks, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent the risk of a security breach of our databases or systems that could adversely affect our business.

The profitability of our investments is uncertain.

During 2021, we acquired an ownership stake in Midnight Theatre, a contemporary variety theater and restaurant in Manhattan and in Crafthouse Cocktails, a brand of ready-to-drink, all-natural classic cocktails. We also started an NFT studio to produce and market NFTs. Investments in these new ventures entail risks those businesses will fail to perform in accordance with expectations. In undertaking these investments, we will incur certain risks, including the expenditure of funds on, and the devotion of management’s time to, synergies that may not come to fruition. Additional risks inherent in these investments include risks that the ventures will not achieve anticipated success and that estimates of the costs of bringing these ventures to profitability may prove inaccurate. Expenses may also be greater than anticipated.

Risks Related to Our Entertainment Publicity and Marketing Business

Our business could be adversely affected if we fail to retain the principal sellers, and other key employees of 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social and the clients they serve.

The success of our entertainment publicity and marketing business operated by 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social substantially depends on our ability to retain the services of the former owners and certain key employees of 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social. If we lose the services of one or more of these individuals, our ability to successfully implement our business plan with respect to our entertainment publicity and marketing business and the value of our common stock could be materially adversely affected. Although we entered into employment agreements with each of the principal sellers, there can be no assurance that they will serve the terms of their respective employment agreements or choose to remain with us following the expiration of such terms. In addition, the employees of 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social, and their skills and relationships with clients, are among our most valuable assets. An important aspect of the business’ competitiveness is its ability to retain such key employees. If 42West, The Door, Shore Fire or Be Social fail to hire and retain a sufficient number of these key employees, it may have a material adverse effect on our overall business and results of operations.

42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social’s talent rosters currently include some of the best known and most highly respected members of the entertainment, hospitality, and musical communities. These include major studios and networks, corporations, well-known consumer brands, celebrity chefs, leading restaurant and hotel brands, recording artists and social media influencers. These clients often form highly loyal relationships with certain public relations and marketing professionals rather than with a particular firm. The employment agreements with the principal sellers currently contain non-competition provisions that prohibit the principal sellers from continuing to provide services to such clients should they leave our company, however, clients are free to engage other public relations and marketing professionals and there can be no assurance that they will choose to remain with our company. The success of 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social, therefore, depend on our ability to continue to successfully maintain such client relationships should the principal sellers or other key employees leave our company. If we are unable to retain the current 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social clients or attract new clients, then we could suffer a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We operate in a highly competitive industry.

The entertainment publicity and marketing business is highly competitive. Through 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social, we must compete with other agencies, and with other providers of marketing and publicity services, in order to maintain existing client relationships and to win new clients. Through Viewpoint, we compete against other creative branding agencies, as well as in-house creative teams at many of our clients. The client’s perception of the quality of an agency’s creative work and the agency’s reputation are critical factors in determining its competitive position.

The success of our entertainment publicity and marketing business depends on its ability to consistently and effectively deliver marketing and public relations services to its clients.

42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social’s success depends on its ability to effectively and consistently staff and execute client engagements to achieve the clients’ unique personal or professional goals. 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social, work to design customized communications or publicity campaigns tailored to the particular needs and objectives of particular projects. In some of its engagements, 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social rely on other third parties to provide some of the services to its clients, and we cannot guarantee that these third parties will effectively deliver their services or that we will have adequate recourse against these third parties in the event they fail to effectively deliver their services. Other contingencies and events outside of our control may also impact 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social’s ability to provide its services. 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social’s failure to effectively and timely staff, coordinate and execute its client engagements may adversely impact existing client relationships, the amount or timing of payments from clients, its reputation in the marketplace and ability to secure additional business and our resulting financial performance. In addition, our contractual arrangements with our clients may not provide us with sufficient protections against claims for lost profits or other claims for damages.

If we are unable to adapt to changing client demands, social and cultural trends or emerging technologies, we may not remain competitive and our business, revenues and operating results could suffer.

We operate in an industry characterized by rapidly changing client expectations, marketing technologies, and social mores and cultural trends that impact our target audiences. The entertainment industry continues to undergo significant developments as advances in technologies and new methods of message delivery and consumption emerge. These developments drive changes in our target audiences’ behavior to which we must adapt in order to reach our target audiences. In addition, our success depends on our ability to anticipate and respond to changing social mores and cultural trends that impact the entertainment industry and our target audiences. We must adapt our business to these trends, as well as shifting patterns of content consumption and changing behaviors and preferences of our target audiences, through the adoption and exploitation of new technologies. If we cannot successfully exploit emerging technologies or if the marketing strategies we choose misinterpret cultural or social trends and prove to be incorrect or ineffective, any of these could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, liquidity and prospects.

A significant labor dispute in our clients’ industries could have a material adverse effect on our business.

An industry-wide strike or other job action by or affecting the Writers Guild, Screen Actors Guild or other major entertainment industry union could reduce the supply of original entertainment content, which would in turn reduce the demand for our talent and entertainment marketing services. An extensive work stoppage would affect feature film production as well as television and commercial production and could have a material adverse effect on our clients and the motion picture production industry in general. Contracts between entertainment industry unions and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which we refer to as AMPTP, expire from time to time. The failure to finalize and ratify a new agreement with the AMPTP or the failure to enter into new commercial contracts upon expiration of the current contracts could lead to a strike or other job action. Any such severe or prolonged work stoppage could have an adverse effect on the television and/or motion picture production industries and could severely impair our clients’ prospects. Any resulting decrease in demand for our talent and entertainment marketing and other public relations services would have a material adverse effect on our cash flows and results of operations.

Clients may terminate or reduce their relationships with us on short notice.

As is customary in the industry, 42West, The Door, Shore Fire and Be Social’s agreements with their respective clients generally provide for termination by either party on relatively short notice, usually 30 days. Consequently, these clients may choose to reduce or terminate their relationships with us, on a relatively short time frame and for any reason. If a significant number of the 42West, The Door, Shore Fire or Be Social clients were to reduce the volume of business they conducted with us or terminate their relationships with us completely, this could have a material adverse effect upon our business and results of operations. Viewpoint’s revenue is derived on a project-by-project basis. Clients may decide to use other creative branding and production companies for their projects which would have an adverse effect upon our business and results of operations.

Revenues from our Entertainment Publicity and Marketing segment are susceptible to declines as a result of unfavorable economic conditions.

Economic downturns often severely affect the marketing services industry. Some of our corporate clients may respond to weak economic performance by reducing their marketing budgets, which are generally discretionary in nature and easier to reduce in the short-term than other expenses related to operations. In addition, economic downturns could lead to reduced public demand for varying forms of entertainment for which we are engaged to provide public relations and media strategy and promotional services. Such reduced demand for our services could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and results of operations.

If our clients experience financial distress, or seek to change or delay payment terms, it could negatively affect our own financial position and results.

We have a large and diverse client base, and at any given time, one or more of our clients may experience financial difficulty, file for bankruptcy protection or go out of business. Unfavorable economic and financial conditions, such as the current events surrounding the COVID-19 global outbreak, could result in an increase in client financial difficulties that affect us. The direct impact on us included reduced revenues, write-offs of accounts receivable and expenditures billable to clients, and negatively impacted our operating cash flow.

Risks Related to Acquisitions

We are subject to risks associated with acquisitions and we may not realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions.

We regularly undertake acquisitions that we believe will enhance our service offering to our clients. These transactions can involve significant challenges and risks, including that the transaction does not advance our business strategy or fails to produce a satisfactory return on our investment. Our customary business, legal and financial due diligence with the goal of identifying and evaluating the material risks involved may be unsuccessful in ascertaining or evaluating all such risks. Though we typically structure our acquisitions to provide for future contingent purchase payments that are based on the future performance of the acquired entity, our forecasts of the investment’s future performance also factor into the initial consideration. When actual financial results differ, our returns on the investment could be adversely affected. Identifying suitable acquisition candidates can be difficult, time-consuming and costly, and we may not be able to identify suitable candidates or complete acquisitions in a timely manner, on a cost-effective basis or at all.

Even if we complete an acquisition, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of such transaction. Our recent acquisitions have required, and any similar future transactions may also require, significant efforts and expenditures, including with respect to integrating the acquired business with our historical business. We may encounter unexpected difficulties, or incur unexpected costs, in connection with acquisition activities and integration efforts, including, without limitation:

If any of our acquisitions do not perform as anticipated for any of the reasons noted above or otherwise, there could be a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition.

Losses incurred by us subsequent to completion of an acquisition may not be indemnifiable by the seller or may exceed the seller’s indemnification obligations.

As discussed above, there may be liabilities assumed in any acquisition that we did not discover or that we underestimated in the course of performing our due diligence. Although a seller generally will have indemnification obligations to us under an acquisition agreement, these obligations are usually subject to financial limitations, such as general deductibles and maximum recovery amounts, as well as time limitations. We cannot assure you that our right to indemnification from any seller will be enforceable, collectible or sufficient in amount, scope or duration to fully offset the amount of any losses that we incur with respect to a particular acquisition. Any such liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Risks Related to our Common Stock and Preferred Stock

We have recently issued, and may in the future issue, a significant amount of equity securities and, as a result, your ownership interest in our company has been, and may in the future be, substantially diluted and your investment in our common stock could suffer a material decline in value. (All shares and per share amounts have been retrospectively adjusted for the 1:5 reverse stock split effectuated on November 27, 2020.)

From January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021, the number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding has increased from 3,578,580 to 8,020,381 shares. During this period, we issued approximately 500,667 shares of our common stock as consideration for 42West, The Door, Shore Fire, Viewpoint, Be Social and B/HI acquisitions. Furthermore, we will issue 349,087 shares of common stock to the sellers of The Door and B/HI as earnout consideration for financial performance targets achieved during 2021. We may issue to the seller of Be Social the equivalent of up to $300,000 of our common stock based on the 30-day trading average on the date certain financial performance targets are achieved. During the year ended December 31, 2021, certain holders of convertible notes exercised their right to convert all or a portion of their convertible notes and we issued 963,985 shares of common stock. As of December 31, 2021, we had outstanding convertible notes payable that as of the date of this report are still outstanding in the aggregate principal amount of $2.9 million, which are convertible using a 90-day trading average stock price. As a result of these past issuances and potential future issuances, your ownership interest in the Company has been, and may in the future be, substantially diluted.

The market price for our common stock has been volatile, and these issuances could cause the price of our common stock to continue to fluctuate substantially. Once restricted stock issued in either private placements or to the sellers of the companies we acquired becomes freely tradable, these shareholders may decide to sell their shares of common stock and, if our stock is thinly traded, this could have a material adverse effect on its market price.

We may need to raise additional capital and may seek to do so by conducting one or more private placements of equity securities, securities convertible into equity securities or debt securities, or through a combination of one or more of such financing alternatives. Such issuances of additional securities would further dilute the equity interests of our existing shareholders, perhaps substantially, and may further exacerbate any or all of the above risks.

The Series C Convertible Preferred Stock has super voting rights that may adversely affect our shareholders.

The Series C Convertible Preferred Stock is held by Dolphin Entertainment LLC, an entity owned by Mr. O’Dowd. Except as required by law, holders of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock will only have voting rights once the independent directors of the Board determine that an optional conversion threshold (as defined in the Series C Certificate of Designation) has occurred. On November 12, 2020, such determination by the Board was made, and the holder of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock (indirectly Mr. O’Dowd) is entitled to super voting rights of three votes for each share of common stock into which such holder’s shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock could then be converted. As of December 31, 2021, the Series C Preferred Stock could be converted into 4,738,940 shares of our common stock and the holder was entitled to 14,216,819 votes, which is approximately 65% of our voting securities. The holder of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock is entitled to vote together as a single class on all matters upon which common stockholders are entitled to vote. Your voting rights will be diluted as a result of these super voting rights. On November 12, 2020, we entered into a stock restriction agreement with Mr. O’Dowd that prohibits the conversion of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock into common stock unless the majority of the independent directors of the board of directors vote to remove the restriction. The stock restriction agreement will be immediately terminated upon a change of control as defined in the agreement.

If we are unable to maintain compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements, our stock could be delisted, and the trading price, volume and marketability of our stock could be adversely affected.

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. We cannot assure you, that we will be able to maintain compliance with Nasdaq’s current listing standards, or that Nasdaq will not implement additional listing standards with which we will be unable to comply. On October 17, 2019, we received a deficiency notice from Nasdaq informing us that our common stock failed to comply with the $1 minimum bid price required for continued listing on Nasdaq under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) based upon the closing bid price of the Common Stock for the 30 consecutive business days prior to the date of the notice from Nasdaq. Nasdaq normally provides an initial cure period of six months. Due to the market conditions in 2020, Nasdaq determined to toll the compliance period for the minimum bid price through June 30, 2020. As a result, we were required to regain compliance by December 28, 2020. To regain compliance, the minimum bid price of our common stock must meet or exceed $1.00 per share for a minimum of ten consecutive days at any point prior to December 28, 2020. On November 27, 2020, we effectuated a 1-to-5 reverse stock split and after ten consecutive days with a minimum bid price of at least $1.00, Nasdaq notified us that we were in compliance with the minimum bid price listing requirement.

Failure to maintain compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements could result in the delisting of our shares from Nasdaq, which could have a material adverse effect on the trading price, volume and marketability of our common stock. Furthermore, a delisting could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and obtain additional financing in the future or result in a loss of confidence by investors or employees.

The sale or issuance of our common stock to Lincoln Park may cause dilution and the sale of the shares of common stock acquired by Lincoln Park, or the perception that such sales may occur, could cause the price of our common stock to fall.

On December 29, 2021, we entered into a Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park Capital Fund, LLC (“Lincoln Park”), pursuant to which Lincoln Park committed to purchase up to $25 million of our common stock. Concurrently with the execution of the Purchase Agreement, we issued 51,827 shares of our common stock to Lincoln Park as a commitment fee and on March 7, 2022 we issued an additional 37,019 shares of our common stock as an additional commitment fee. The purchase shares sold pursuant to the Purchase Agreement may be sold by us to Lincoln Park at our discretion from time to time over a 36-month period. The purchase price for shares that we may sell to Lincoln Park under the Purchase Agreement will fluctuate based on the price of our common stock. Depending on market liquidity at the time, sales of such shares may cause the trading price of our common stock to fall.

We have the right to control the timing and amount of any sales of our shares to Lincoln Park in our sole discretion, subject to certain limits on the amount of shares that can be sold on a given date. Sales of shares of our common stock, if any, to Lincoln Park will depend upon market conditions and other factors to be determined by us. Therefore, Lincoln Park may ultimately purchase all, some or none of the shares of our common stock that may be sold pursuant to the Purchase Agreement and, after it has acquired shares, Lincoln Park may sell all, some or none of those shares. Sales to Lincoln Park by us could result in substantial dilution to the interests of other holders of our common stock. Additionally, the sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock to Lincoln Park, or the anticipation of such sales, could make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish to effect sales, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business and operations.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

As of the date of this report, we do not own any real property. For our headquarters and content production business, we lease 3,024 square feet of office space with a lease commencement date of October 1, 2019, located at 150 Alhambra Circle, Suite 1200, Coral Gables, Florida 33134.

For our entertainment publicity and marketing business, we lease the following office space:

We believe our current facilities are adequate for our operations for the foreseeable future.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We currently do not have any material legal proceedings, including those relating to claims arising in the ordinary course of business.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information and Holders of our Common Stock

Our common stock trades on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “DLPN.”

As of April 28, 2022, there were approximately 302 shareholders of record, of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock based on information provided by our transfer agent.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Company Purchases of Equity Securities

None.

ITEM 6. [Reserved].

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The objectives of our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations are to provide users of our consolidated financial statements with a narrative explanation from the perspective of management of our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity and certain other factors that may affect future results. This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about our industry, business and future financial results. Our actual results could differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for additional factors relating to such statements and see “Risk Factors” included in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our past operating results are not necessarily indicative of operating results in any future periods.

Overview

We are a leading independent entertainment marketing and premium content development company. We were first incorporated in the State of Nevada on March 7, 1995 and domesticated in the State of Florida on December 4, 2014. Our common stock trades on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “DLPN.”

On January 8, 2021, we acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of B/HI Communications, Inc, a California corporation, referred to as B/HI, from Dean G Bender and Janice L Bender as co-trustees of the Bender Family Trust dated May 6, 2013, the Seller. The acquisition was effective January 1, 2021. B/HI is an entertainment public relations agency that specializes in corporate and product communications programs for interactive gaming, esports, entertainment content and consumer product organizations. As consideration for the acquisition of the shares of B/HI, we agreed with the Seller to pay, $0.8 million of shares of our common stock based on a 30-day trailing trading average closing price immediately prior to, but not including, the applicable payment date adjusted for working capital, cash targets and the B/HI indebtedness of approximately $0.5 million, net of minimum operating cash as defined in the purchase agreement. B/HI achieved certain specified financial performance targets during the year ended December 31, 2021 and we will pay an additional $1.2 million of which 50% will be paid in cash and 50% will be paid in shares of our common stock to the Seller.

Through our subsidiaries 42West, Shore Fire and The Door, we provide expert strategic marketing and publicity services to many of the top brands, both individual and corporate, in the entertainment and hospitality industries. 42West, Shore Fire and The Door are each recognized global leaders in PR services for the respective industries they serve. Viewpoint adds full-service creative branding and production capabilities to our marketing group and Be Social provides influencer marketing capabilities through its roster of highly engaged social media influencers. Dolphin’s legacy content production business, founded by Emmy-nominated Chief Executive Officer, Bill O’Dowd, has produced multiple feature films and award-winning digital series, primarily aimed at family and young adult markets.

We have established an acquisition strategy based on identifying and acquiring companies that complement our existing entertainment publicity and marketing services and content production businesses. We believe that complementary businesses, such as live event production, can create synergistic opportunities and bolster profits and cash flow. We have identified potential acquisition targets and are in various stages of discussion with such targets. We intend to complete at least one acquisition during 2022, but there is no assurance that we will be successful in doing so, whether in 2022 or at all.

We have also established an investment strategy, “Dolphin 2.0,” based upon identifying opportunities to develop internally owned assets, or acquire ownership stakes in others’ assets, in the categories of entertainment content, live events and consumer products. We believe these categories represent the types of assets wherein our expertise and relationships in entertainment marketing most influences the likelihood of success. We are in various stages of internal development and outside conversations on a wide range of opportunities within Dolphin 2.0. We intend to enter into additional investments during 2022, but there is no assurance that we will be successful in doing so, whether in 2022 or at all.

COVID Update

During March 2020, the World Health Organization categorized a novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) as a pandemic, and it has spread throughout the United States. The pandemic has had and continues to have a significant effect on economic conditions in the United States, and continues to cause significant uncertainties in the U.S. and global economies.

The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic affects our business, operations and financial results depends, and will continue to depend, on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 began and public and private sector measures to reduce its transmission were implemented, such as the imposition of social distancing and orders to work-from-home, stay-at-home and shelter-in-place, the demand for certain of the services the Company offers was adversely affected resulting in decreased revenues and cash flows.

How We Assess the Performance of Our Business

In assessing the performance of our business, we consider a variety of performance and financial measures. The key indicators of the financial condition and operating performance of our business are revenues, direct costs, payroll and benefits, selling, general and administrative expenses, legal and professional expenses, other income/expense and net income. Other income/expense consists mainly of interest expense, non-cash changes in fair value of liabilities, costs directly relating to our acquisitions, and gains or losses on extinguishment of debt and disposal of fixed assets.

We operate in two reportable segments: our entertainment publicity and marketing segment and our content production segment. The entertainment publicity and marketing segment is composed of 42West, The Door, Shore Fire, Viewpoint, Be Social and B/HI and provides clients with diversified services, including public relations, entertainment content marketing, strategic communications, social media marketing, creative branding, and the production of promotional video content. The content production segment is composed of Dolphin Films, Inc. (“Dolphin Films”) and Dolphin Digital Studios, which produce and distribute feature films and digital content.

Revenues

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we derived substantially all of our revenues from our entertainment publicity and marketing segment. The entertainment publicity and marketing segment derives its revenues from providing public relations services for celebrities and musicians, entertainment and targeted content marketing for film and television series, strategic communications services for corporations and public relations, marketing services and brand strategies for hotels and restaurants. Additionally, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we derived revenues from the content production segment from the domestic distribution of our feature film Believe.

The table below sets forth the percentage of total revenue derived from our two segments for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:

Entertainment Publicity and Marketing (“EPM”)

Our revenue is directly impacted by the retention and spending levels of existing clients and by our ability to win new clients. We believe that we have a stable client base, and we have continued to grow organically through referrals and actively soliciting new business, as well as through acquisition of new businesses within the same industry. We earn revenues primarily from the following sources: (i) celebrity talent services; (ii) content marketing services under multiyear master service agreements in exchange for fixed project-based fees; (iii) individual engagements for entertainment content marketing services for durations of generally between three and six months; (iv) strategic communications services; (v) engagements for marketing of special events such as food and wine festivals; (vi) engagement for marketing of brands; (vii) arranging strategic marketing agreements between brands and social media influencers and (viii) content productions of marketing materials on a project contract basis. For these revenue streams, we collect fees through either fixed fee monthly retainer agreements, fees based on a percentage of contracts or project-based fees.

We earn entertainment publicity and marketing revenues primarily through the following:

Content Production (“CPD”)

Project Development and Related Services

We have a team that dedicates a portion of its time to identifying scripts, story treatments and novels for acquisition, development and production. The scripts can be for either digital or motion picture productions. We have acquired the rights to certain scripts that we intend to produce and release in the future, subject to obtaining financing. We have not yet determined if these projects would be produced for digital, television or theatrical distribution.

We have completed development of some of these projects, which means that we have completed the script and can begin pre-production once financing is obtained. We are planning to fund these projects through third-party financing arrangements, domestic distribution advances, pre-sales, and location-based tax credits, and if necessary, sales of our common stock, securities convertible into our common stock, debt securities or a combination of such financing alternatives; however, there is no assurance that we will be able to obtain the financing necessary to produce any of these feature films.

Expenses

Our expenses consist primarily of:

Other Income and Expenses

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, other income and expenses consisted primarily of: (1) gain on extinguishment of debt; (2) changes in the fair values of (i) put rights, (ii) warrants, (iii) convertible notes and derivative liabilities; (3) acquisition costs; and (4) interest expense and debt amortization. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we also had a loss on the deconsolidation of our Max Steel variable interest entity.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to year ended December 31, 2020

Revenues

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, our revenues were as follows:

Revenues from entertainment publicity and marketing increased by approximately $11.8 million, or 49.1%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The majority of the revenue increase relates to the fact that the industries we serve were resuming normal operations during the 2021 year. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company’s revenues were adversely affected by government-imposed orders to either reduce or completely shut down the in-restaurant service and shut down of movie content production due to COVID-19 that caused our clients to reduce or suspend the services we provided to them. Throughout the year ended December 31, 2021, our revenues saw a recovery with the government-imposed orders alleviated or completely removed by year end 2021. In addition, our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, includes $3.5 million of revenue from B/HI, which was acquired on January 1, 2021 and therefore not present in 2020, as well as a full year of revenue for Be Social that was acquired on August 17, 2020.

We derived immaterial revenues from the content production segment for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 from the domestic distribution of Believe, a feature film that was released in 2013, as we have not produced and distributed any of the projects discussed above.

Expenses

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, our operating expenses were as follows:

Direct costs are mainly attributable to the EPM segment and increased by approximately $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in direct costs is correlated to an increase in Viewpoint’s revenue and costs associated with the production and marketing of NFTs, as Viewpoint incurs third party costs related to the production of marketing materials, which are included in direct costs. In addition, the year ended December 31, 2021 included $0.5 million of NFT production and marketing costs that were not present in the year ended December 31, 2020.

Payroll and benefit expenses increased by approximately $7.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily due to including payroll costs of Be Social acquired in August 2020 and B/HI acquired in January 2021. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company made salary and staff reductions related to decreases in revenues due to COVID-19. All employees’ salaries were restored by the beginning of the 2021.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by approximately $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020.

The increase are primarily related to the year ended December 31, 2021 including selling, general and administrative costs of Be Social, which was acquired on August 17, 2020 and B/HI which was acquired on January 1, 2021:

These increases were partially offset by:

Contingent consideration related to our acquisitions of The Door, Be Social and B/HI was recorded at fair value on our consolidated balance sheet as of the respective acquisition dates. The fair value of the related contingent consideration is measured at every balance sheet date and any changes recorded on our consolidated statements of operations. The fair value of the contingent consideration increased by approximately $3.8 million and $55 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The increase in year ended December 31, 2021 related to a change in the likelihood of achieving the established targets in the B/HI acquisition.

Depreciation and amortization had a small decrease of $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease is related to $79.5 thousand of less amortization of intangible assets and $45.4 thousand less depreciation of fixed assets.

Legal and professional fees increased by approximately $0.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, due primarily to consulting and audit fees incurred in the first quarter of 2021 related to our revision of quarterly and annual 2019 financial statements and restatement of the September 30, 2020 quarterly financial statements, both included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on April 15, 2021. In addition, the Company’s statements of operations now includes the legal and professional fees incurred for Be Social and B/HI in the normal course of business.

Other Income and Expenses

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recorded a gain on extinguishment of debt of approximately $3.0 million, which primarily related to forgiveness of the PPP Loans of the Company and our subsidiaries. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded a gain on extinguishment of debt of $3.3 million primarily related to the Max Steel VIE. On February 20, 2020, the lender of the production service agreement confirmed that the Max Steel VIE did not owe them any debt. We reassessed our status as the primary beneficiary of the Max Steel VIE and concluded that we were no longer the primary beneficiary of the Max Steel VIE. As a result, we deconsolidated the Max Steel VIE and recorded a loss on deconsolidation of approximately $1.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2020.

We elected the fair value option for certain convertible notes issued in 2020. The embedded conversion feature of a convertible note issued in 2019 met the criteria for a derivative. The fair value of these convertible notes and embedded conversion feature are remeasured at every balance sheet date and any changes are recorded on our condensed consolidated statements of operations. For the year ended December 30, 2021 we recorded a change in the fair value of the convertible notes issued in 2020 in the amount of a loss of $0.6 million. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded a change in fair value of the convertible notes issued in 2020 and the embedded conversion feature of the convertible note issued in 2019 in the amount of a loss of $0.5 million. None of the decrease in the value of the convertible notes was attributable to instrument specific credit risk.

Warrants issued with convertible notes payable issued in 2020, were initially measured at fair value at the time of issuance and subsequently remeasured at estimated fair value on a recurring basis at each reporting period date, with changes in estimated fair value of each respective warrant liability recognized as other income or expense. In March 2021, one of the warrant holders exercised 146,027 warrants via a cashless exercise formula. The price of our common stock on the exercise date was $19.16 per share and we recorded a change in fair value of the exercised warrants of approximately $2.5 million on our condensed consolidated statement of operations. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the fair value of the 2020 warrants increased by approximately $0.3 million and we recorded a change in the fair value of the warrants for that amount on our consolidated statement of operations.

The fair value of put rights related to the 42West acquisition were recorded on our consolidated balance sheet on the date of the acquisition. The fair value of the put rights are measured at every balance sheet date and any changes are recorded on our consolidated statements of operations. The fair value of the put rights increased by approximately $71.1 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2021 and decreased by approximately $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The final put rights were settled in March of 2021; as a result, we did not have a liability related to the put rights as of December 31, 2021.

Acquisition costs consisted primarily of legal, consulting and auditing costs related to our acquisitions. Acquisition costs for the year ended December 31, 2021 were related solely to the acquisition of B/HI in January 1, 2021, while acquisition costs for the year ended December 31, 2020 consisted of costs associated with our acquisitions of Be Social on August 2020 and B/HI acquired on January 1, 2021.

Interest expense and debt amortization expense decreased by $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, respectively, as compared to the same periods in prior year primarily due to $1.3 million of debt amortization recorded during the year ended December 31, 2020, related to beneficial conversion features of certain convertible notes payable converted during that period.

Income Tax Benefit

We had an income tax expense of $37.4 thousand for year ended December 31, 2021, compared to a benefit of $137.0 thousand for year ended December 31, 2020. The income tax expense for year ended December 31, 2021 reflects the accrual of a valuation allowance in connection with the limitations of our indefinite lived tax assets to offset our indefinite lived tax liabilities. To the extent the tax assets are unable to offset the tax liabilities, we have recorded a deferred expense for the tax liability (a “naked credit”). The primary component of the income tax benefit for year ended December 31, 2020 is due to a release of the valuation allowance against the deferred tax liabilities of the companies acquired.

As of December 31, 2021, we have approximately $46.7 million of pre-tax net operating loss carryforwards for U.S. federal income tax purposes that begin to expire in 2028; federal net operating losses generated after December 31, 2017 have an indefinite life and do not expire. Additionally, we have state net operating loss carryforwards amounting to $50.0 million that begin to expire in 2029. A portion of the carryforwards may expire before being applied to reduce future income tax liabilities.

In assessing the ability to realize the deferred tax assets, we consider whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of the deferred tax asset is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which these temporary differences become deductible. We believe it is more likely than not that the deferred tax asset will not be realized and we have accordingly recorded a full valuation allowance as of both December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Net Loss

Net loss was approximately $6.5 million or $0.85 per share based on 7,614,774 weighted average shares outstanding on a basic and on a fully diluted basis for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Net loss was approximately $1.9 million or $(0.35) per share based on 5,619,969 weighted average shares outstanding and approximately $(0.58) per share based on 6,382,937 weighted average shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Net loss for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, were related to the factors discussed above.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Cash Flows

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, a decrease of $0.2 million from cash used in operating activities of $1.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Our net loss of $6.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 was adjusted for the following items to arrive at cash provided by operating activities:

The above were offset by:

Our net loss of $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 was adjusted for the following items to arrive at cash provided by operating activities:

The above were offset by:

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 were $3.0 million, which related to (i) $1.5 million issuance of convertible notes receivables, (ii) $1.0 million investment in Midnight Theatre and (iii) a payment of approximately $0.5 million, net of cash acquired, related to the acquisition of B/HI, net of cash acquired.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 were $1.4 million, which related to (i) a payment of approximately $1.0 million, net of cash acquired, for the Be Social acquisition, (ii) a payment of approximately $0.3 million of deferred cash consideration for the Shore Fire acquisition (acquired in 2019) and (iii) $0.1 million of purchases of fixed assets.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, a decrease of $4.7 million from net cash provided by financing activities of $8.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Net cash flows provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 mainly related to:

Inflows:

Outflows:

Cash flows provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 mainly related to:

Inflows:

Outflows:

Going Concern Update

In previous years, we had determined there were factors that raised substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Throughout the past years, we have taken measures to strengthen our financial position, which is evidenced by a positive working capital for three straight quarters, as of June 30, 2021 September 30, 2021, and December 31, 2021. Several of our subsidiaries operate in industries that have been adversely affected by the government mandated work-from-home, stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders as a result of COVID-19. During 2020 and 2021, we took measures to align our workforce to the reduced demand in some of our services. As these industries continue to gradually reopen, we have seen signs of improvement and have noted an increase in demand for our services and noted signs of improvement in the results of our operations.

Further, on December 29, 2021, we entered into the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement (See “2021 Lincoln Park Transaction” section below) with Lincoln Park Capital Fund, LLC (“Lincoln Park”). Pursuant to the terms of the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement, Lincoln Park has agreed to purchase from us up to $25.0 million of our common stock from time to time during the term of the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement. The sale of common stock pursuant to the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement provides the Company with additional cash flow availability for operational purposes.

Management believes that our cash position, together with the forecasted cash flows and the availability of funds through the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement, is sufficient to meet capital and liquidity requirements for at least the next 12 months and thereafter for the foreseeable future. As a result, there is no longer substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Debt and Financing Arrangements 

As described below in further detail, throughout the year ended December 31, 2021 we have taken measures to position the Company with a stronger balance sheet position, extending current loans to longer term maturities and reducing our overall debt position. Total debt amounted to $6.2 million as of December 31, 2021 compared to $9.3 million as of as of December 31, 2020, a reduction of 3.1 million or 33.9%.

Our debt obligations in the next twelve months from December 31, 2021 have decreased significantly from the obligations in the same period in 2020. The current portion of the long-term debt decreased to $0.3 million from $4.0 million. We expect our current cash position, cash expected to be generated from our operations and other availability of funds, as detailed below, are sufficient to meet our debt requirements.

Term Loan

Two of our subsidiaries, as co-borrowers, entered in into a three-year term loan in March of 2020, which required monthly repayment of principal and interest and was to mature on March 15, 2023. During the year ended December 2021, the Company paid off the remaining balance of the term loan, as such there is no outstanding balance as of December 31, 2021, related to term loan.

2021 Lincoln Park Transaction

On December 29, 2021, we entered into a purchase agreement (the “LP 2021 Purchase Agreement”) and a registration rights agreement (the “LP 2021 Registration Rights Agreement”) with Lincoln Park Capital Fund, LLC (“Lincoln Park”). Pursuant to the terms of the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement, Lincoln Park has agreed to purchase from us up to $25.0 million of the Company’s common stock (subject to certain limitations) from time to time during the term of the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement.

On December 29, 2021, the Company issued 51,827 shares of common stock to Lincoln Park as consideration for its commitment. Excluding these commitment shares, the Company did not sell any shares of common stock under the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement during the year ended December 31, 2021. Subsequent to December 31, 2021, we sold 1,035,000 shares of common stock at prices ranging between $3.47 and $5.15 pursuant to the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement and received proceeds of $4,367,640. Pursuant to the LP 2021 Purchase Agreement, we issued the remaining 37,019 commitment shares on March 7, 2022.

Convertible Notes Payable

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we issued ten convertible promissory notes to four noteholders in the aggregate amount of $5.95 million. The convertible promissory notes bear interest at a rate of 10% per annum and mature on the second anniversary of their respective issuances. The balance of each convertible promissory note and any accrued interest may be converted at the noteholder’s option at any time at a purchase price based on a 90-day average closing market price per share of the Common Stock but not at a price less than $2.50 per share.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the holders of twelve convertible notes issued during 2021 and 2020 converted the principal balance of $4.5 million plus accrued interest of $11.9 thousand into 682,431 shares of Common Stock at conversion prices ranging between $3.69 and $10.74 per share.

As of December 31, 2021, the aggregate principal balance of the convertible promissory notes of $2.9 million was recorded in noncurrent liabilities under the caption convertible promissory notes on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets.

It is our experience that convertible notes, including their accrued interest are converted into shares of the Company’s common stock and not settled through payment of cash. Although we are unable to predict the noteholder’s intentions, we do not expect any change from our past experience.

Convertible Notes Payable at Fair Value

We had convertible promissory notes outstanding with aggregate principal amounts of $0.5 million as of December 31, 2021 for which we elected the fair value option. As such, the estimated fair value of the note was recorded on its issue date. At each balance sheet date, we record the fair value of the convertible promissory notes with any changes in the fair value recorded in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. As of December 31, 2021, we had a balance of $1.0 million in noncurrent liabilities related to this convertible promissory note measured at fair value.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, notes issued in 2020 with remaining aggregate principal balances of $1.1 million were converted into 281,554 shares of Common Stock at purchase prices ranging between $3.90 and $3.91 per share.

Similar to the Convertible notes discussed above, our historical experience has been that these convertible notes are converted into shares of the Company’s common stock prior to their maturity date and not settled through payment of cash.

Nonconvertible Promissory Notes

As of December 31, 2021, we have outstanding unsecured nonconvertible promissory notes in the aggregate amount of $1.2 million, which bear interest at a rate of 10% per annum and mature between January 15, 2022 and December 10, 2023. For these nonconvertible promissory notes we had a balance of $0.3 million and $0.9 million recorded as current and noncurrent liabilities, respectively, as of December 31, 2021. Subsequent to December 31, 2021, a non-convertible promissory note amounting to $0.2 million with a maturity date of January 15, 2022 was repaid in cash.

Convertible Notes Receivable

We hold convertible notes receivable from Stanton South LLC, which operates Crafthouse Cocktails and JDDC Elemental LLC which operates Midnight Theatre. These convertible notes receivable are recorded at their principal face amount plus accrued interest. Due to their short-term maturity and conversion terms (described below), these have been recorded at the face value of the note and an allowance for credit losses has not been established.

The Crafthouse Cocktails note amounts to $500,000 and is mandatorily redeemable by February 1, 2022. The Midnight Theatre notes amount to $1,000,000 and are convertible at the option of the Company into Class A and B Units of Midnight Theatre. Subsequent to year-end, on February 1, 2022, the Crafthouse Cocktails note was converted and we were issued Series 2 interests of Stanton South LLC. In addition, on each of January 3, 2022, February 2, 2022, March 22, 2022 and April 1, 2022, we issued Midnight Theatre four additional notes amounting to $1,585,500 in aggregate, on same terms as the previous note.

Critical Accounting Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and related notes, as well as the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. Management evaluates its accounting policies, estimates and judgments on an on-going basis. Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions. Our significant accounting policies are discussed in Part II, Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.”

An accounting policy is considered to be critical if it requires an accounting estimate to be made based on assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time the estimate is made, and if different estimates that reasonably could have been used, or changes in the accounting estimate that are reasonably likely to occur, could materially impact the consolidated financial statements.

We consider the fair value estimates, including those related to acquisitions, valuations of goodwill, intangible assets, acquisition-related contingent consideration and convertible debt to be the most critical in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements as they are important to the portrayal of our financial condition and require significant or complex judgment and estimates on the part of management. Further details on each item are discussed below. See Note 18 – Fair Value Measurements in the notes to the audited consolidated financial statements, included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for information pertaining to acquisition-related fair value adjustments.

Goodwill

Goodwill results from business combination acquisitions. Goodwill is recorded as the difference, if any, between the aggregate consideration paid for an acquisition and the fair value of the net tangible assets and other intangible assets acquired. As of December 31, 2021, in connection with its acquisitions of 42West, The Door, Viewpoint, Shore Fire, Be Social and B/HI, we have a balance of $20.0 million of goodwill on our consolidated balance sheets which management has assigned to the entertainment publicity and marketing segment. We account for goodwill in accordance with FASB ASC No. 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (“ASC 350”). Goodwill is not amortized; however, it is assessed for impairment at least annually, or more frequently if triggering events occur. The Company’s annual assessment is performed in the fourth quarter.

For purposes of the annual assessment, management initially performs a qualitative assessment, which includes consideration of the economic, industry and market conditions in addition to our overall financial performance and the performance of these assets. If our qualitative assessment does not conclude that it is more likely than not that the estimated fair value of the reporting unit is greater than the carrying value, we perform a quantitative analysis. In a quantitative test, the fair value of a reporting unit is determined based on a discounted cash flow analysis. A discounted cash flow analysis requires us to make various assumptions, including assumptions about future cash flows, growth rates and discount rates. The assumptions about future cash flows and growth rates are based on our long-term projections. Assumptions used in our impairment testing are consistent with our internal forecasts and operating plans. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds its carrying amount, there is no impairment. If not, we recognize an impairment equal to the difference between the carrying amount of the reporting unit and its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill.

Intangible assets

In connection with the acquisitions of 42West, The Door, Viewpoint, Shore Fire, Be Social and B/HI, the Company acquired in aggregate an estimated $13.5 million of intangible assets with finite useful lives initially estimated to range from 3 to 13 years. The intangible assets consist primarily of customer relationships, trade names and non-compete agreements.

Intangible assets are initially recorded at fair value and are amortized using the straight-line method over their respective estimated useful lives and reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. If a triggering event has occurred, an impairment analysis is required. The impairment test first requires a comparison of undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated over the useful life of an asset to the carrying value of the asset. If the carrying value of the asset exceeds the undiscounted cash flows, the asset would not be deemed recoverable. Impairment would then be measured as the excess of the asset’s carrying value over its fair value. See Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion. Events or circumstances that might require impairment testing include the loss of a significant client or clients, the identification of other impaired assets within a reporting unit, loss of key personnel, the disposition of a significant portion of a reporting unit, significant decline in stock price or a significant adverse change in business climate or regulations.

Business Combinations and Contingent Consideration

The determination of the fair value of net assets acquired in a business combination and specifically the estimates of acquisition-related contingent consideration (sometimes referred to as “earn-out liabilities”) requires estimates and judgments of future cash flow expectations for the acquired business and the related identifiable tangible and intangible assets. Fair values of net assets acquired are calculated using expected cash flows and industry-standard valuation techniques. Fair values of earn-out liabilities are estimated using income approaches such as discounted cash flows or option pricing models.

Due to the time required to gather and analyze the necessary data for each acquisition, U.S. GAAP provides a “measurement period” of up to one year in which to finalize these fair value determinations. During the measurement period, preliminary fair value estimates may be revised if new information is obtained about the facts and circumstances existing as of the date of acquisition, or based on the final net assets and working capital of the acquired business, as prescribed in the applicable purchase agreement. Such adjustments may result in the recognition of, or an adjustment to the fair values of, acquisition-related assets and liabilities and/or consideration paid, and are referred to as “measurement period” adjustments. Measurement period adjustments are recorded to goodwill. Other revisions to fair value estimates for acquisitions are reflected as income or expense, as appropriate. See Note 6 – Acquisitions in the notes to the audited consolidated financial statements, included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for information pertaining to acquisition-related fair value adjustments.

Significant changes in the assumptions or estimates used in the underlying valuations, including the expected profitability or cash flows of an acquired business, could materially affect our operating results in the period such changes are recognized.

Convertible debt

The terms of our convertible debt agreements are evaluated to determine whether the convertible debt instruments contain both liability and equity components, in which case the instrument is a compound financial instrument. Convertible debt agreements are also evaluated to determine whether they contain embedded derivatives, in which case the instrument is a hybrid financial instrument. Judgement is required to determine the classification of such financial instruments based on the terms and conditions of the convertible debt agreements.

Estimation methods are used to determine the fair values of the liability and equity components of compound financial instruments and to determine the fair value of embedded derivatives included in hybrid financial instruments. Fair values of convertible debt are estimated using pricing models such as the Monte Carlo Simulation. Evaluating the reasonableness of these estimations and the assumptions and inputs used in the valuation methods requires a significant amount of judgement and is therefore subject to an inherent risk of error. See Notes 14 – Convertible Notes Payable At Fair Value and 18 – Fair Value Measurements in the notes to the audited consolidated financial statements, included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for information pertaining to acquisition-related fair value adjustments.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

For a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements, see Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Not required for smaller reporting companies.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

The financial statements required by this Item 8 are included at the end of this Report beginning on page F-1 as follows:

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

None.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

We carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) as of December 31, 2021. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to material weaknesses identified in our internal control over financial reporting described below.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We are responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as such term is defined by Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). Our internal controls are designed to provide reasonable assurance as to the reliability of our financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Internal control over financial reporting has inherent limitations and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. Further, because of changes in conditions, the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting may vary over time.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we have evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, as required by Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(c). The framework on which such evaluation was based is contained in the report entitled “Internal Control — Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 Framework) (the “COSO Report”). We concluded that based on our evaluation, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2021, due to the following material weaknesses:

Control Environment, Risk Assessment, and Monitoring

As previously reported, we did not maintain appropriately designed entity-level controls impacting the control environment, risk assessment procedures, and monitoring activities to prevent or detect material misstatements in the consolidated financial statements. These deficiencies were attributed to: (i) lack of structure and responsibility, insufficient number of qualified resources and inadequate oversight and accountability over the performance of controls, (ii) ineffective identification and assessment of risks impacting internal control over financial reporting, including fraud risks, and (iii) ineffective evaluation and determination as to whether the components of internal control were present and functioning.

Control Activities and Information and Communication

These material weaknesses contributed to the following additional material weaknesses within certain business processes and the information technology environment:

We are neither an accelerated filer nor a large accelerated filer, as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, and are not otherwise including in this 2021 Form 10-K an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not required to be attested to by our registered public accounting firm pursuant to Item 308(b) of Regulation S-K.

Management’s Remediation Plan for Material Weaknesses in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

The Company and its Board are committed to maintaining a strong internal control environment. We have begun the process of designing and implementing effective internal controls measures to improve our internal control over financial reporting and remediate the material weaknesses. Our internal control remediation efforts include the following:

Management is beginning the process of implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of these and other processes, procedures and controls and will make any further changes deemed appropriate. Management believes our planned remedial efforts will effectively remediate the identified material weaknesses. As we continue to evaluate and work to improve our internal control over financial reporting, management may determine it is necessary to take additional measures to address control deficiencies or determine it necessary to modify the remediation plan described above

Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures

A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. We do not expect that our disclosure controls will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Controls can also be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with associated policies or procedures. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

Changes in Internal Controls

During the most recently completed fiscal quarter, there have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

None.

ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS

Not applicable

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Directors and Executive Officers

Under our Bylaws, each of our directors is elected for a term expiring at the next annual meeting of shareholders following his or her election or until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. Our officers are appointed annually by our Board of Directors (“Board”), which may remove our officers at any time.

Our directors and executive officers, their age, positions held, and duration of such, are as follows:

Business Experience

The following is a brief account of the education and business experience of directors and executive officers during at least the past five years, indicating their principal occupation during the period, and the name and principal business of the organization by which they were employed.

William O’Dowd, IV. Mr. O’Dowd has served as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board since June 2008. Mr. O’Dowd founded Dolphin Entertainment, LLC in 1996 and has served as its President since that date. Mr. O’Dowd enjoys a solid reputation as an Emmy-nominated producer, international distributor, and financier of quality entertainment content. Some of Mr. O’Dowd’s notable credits include: Executive Producer of Nickelodeon’s hit series, Zoey 101 (Primetime Emmy Award-nominated); Executive Producer of Raising Expectations, starring Molly Ringwald and Jason Priestley (winner of 2017’s KidScreen Award for Best Global Kids Show); Producer of the feature film Max Steel (based on a top-selling Mattel action figure in Latin America); and, in the digital arena, Executive Producer of H+, which premiered on YouTube and won multiple Streamy Awards.

Mr. O’Dowd has served on the Leadership Council of United Way Worldwide since its inception in 2012, as well as on the Board of Directors of United Way United Kingdom since its inception in 2014, and has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Miami-Dade County Public School System Foundation, among other charities. Furthermore, Mr. O’Dowd has taught one course a year as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Communication for the past 25 years.

Mirta A. Negrini. Ms. Negrini has served on our Board since December 2014 and as our Chief Financial and Operating Officer since October 2013. Ms. Negrini has over thirty years of experience in both private and public accounting. Immediately prior to joining us, she served since 1996 as a named partner in Gilman & Negrini, P.A., an accounting firm of which we were a client. Prior to that, Ms. Negrini worked at several multinational corporations and she began her career at Arthur Andersen LLP in 1986. Ms. Negrini serves on the Board of Trustees of St. Brendan High School and on the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors of RCMA. She is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of Florida.

Michael Espensen. Mr. Espensen has served on our Board since June 2008. From 2009 to 2014, Mr. Espensen served as Chief Executive Officer of Keraplast Technologies, LLC, a private multimillion-dollar commercial-stage biotechnology company, from where he retired. From 2009 to present, Mr. Espensen has also served as Chairman of the Board of Keraplast. While serving as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Espensen was responsible for overseeing and approving Keraplast’s annual budgets and financial statements. Mr. Espensen is also a producer and investor in family entertainment for television and feature films. Between 2006 and 2009, Mr. Espensen was Executive or Co-Executive Producer of twelve made-for-television movies targeting children and family audiences. As Executive Producer, he approved production budgets and then closely monitored actual spending to ensure that productions were not over budget. Mr. Espensen has also been a real estate developer and investor for over thirty years.

Nelson Famadas. Mr. Famadas has served on our Board since December 2014. He is Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Carver Road Capital, a hospitality private equity fund. Previously, he owned and served as President of Cien, a Hispanic marketing firm. Prior to Cien from 2011 to 2015, Mr. Famadas served as Senior Vice President of National Latino Broadcasting (“NLB”), an independent Hispanic media company that owns and operates two satellite radio channels on SiriusXM. From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Famadas served as our Chief Operating Officer, where he was responsible for daily operations including public filings and investor relations. From 2002 through 2010, he served as President of Gables Holding Corp., a real estate development company based in Puerto Rico. Mr. Famadas began his career at MTV Networks, specifically MTV Latin America, ultimately serving as New Business Development Manager. From 1995 through 2001, he co-founded and managed Astracanada Productions, a television production company that catered mostly to the Hispanic audience, creating over 1,300 hours of programming. As Executive Producer, he received a Suncoast EMMY in 1997 for Entertainment Series for A Oscuras Pero Encendidos. Mr. Famadas has over 20 years of experience in television and radio production, programming, operations, sales and marketing.

Anthony Leo. Mr. Leo has served on our Board since September 2018. He is the co-founder of Aircraft Picture, a leading independent production company that produces scripted content for kids, families and young adult audiences at which he has served as Co-President since 2005. He was the Artistic Producer of Resurgence Theatre Company, a non-profit arts organization he co-founded, and has produced over twenty-five professional theatre productions. Mr. Leo also held the position of Professor at Ryerson University where he taught Theatre Entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Nicholas Stanham, Esq. Mr. Stanham has served on our Board since December 2014. Mr. Stanham is a founding partner of R&S International Law Group, LLP in Miami, Florida, which was founded in January 2008. His practice is focused primarily in real estate and corporate structuring for high net worth individuals. Mr. Stanham has over 25 years of experience in real estate purchases and sales of residential and commercial properties. Since 2004, Mr. Stanham has been a member of the Christopher Columbus High School board of directors. In addition, he serves as a director of ReachingU, a foundation that promotes initiatives and supports organizations that offer educational opportunities to Uruguayans living in poverty.

Claudia Grillo. Ms. Grillo has served on our Board since June of 2019. Ms. Grillo has served as Associate Vice President of Strategic Philanthropy for the University of Miami since April of 2018. Prior to joining the University of Miami, Ms. Grillo served as the Chief Operating Officer at the United Way of Miami-Dade where she was responsible for securing gifts from individuals, families and corporations. She has been an active member of the South Florida community through her involvement as a board member of the International Women’s Forum, The Children’s Trust and Achieve Miami.

Family Relationships

There are no family relationships between any director or executive officer.

Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings

There are no material proceedings to which any director or executive officer or any associate of any such director or officer is a party adverse to our company or has a material interest adverse to our company.

No director or executive officer has been involved in any of the following events during the past ten years:

Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports

Under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act (“Section 16(a)”), our executive officers, directors, and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of the Company’s equity securities are required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission initial statements of beneficial ownership, reports of changes in ownership and annual reports concerning their ownership of our common stock and other equity securities, on Forms 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Executive officers, directors, and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of the Company’s equity securities are required by Securities and Exchange Commission regulations to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) reports that they file.

Based solely on the copies of such reports and amendments thereto received by us, or written representations that no filings were required, we believe that all Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to our executive officers and directors and 10% stockholders were met for the year ended December 31, 2021. The Company determined that a Form 3 was not filed in connection with the commencement of Anthony Leo’s directorship in September 2018.

Code of Ethics

Our Board has adopted a Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers (our “Code of Ethics”). Our Code of Ethics sets forth standards of conduct applicable to our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial and Operating Officer to promote honest and ethical conduct, proper disclosure in our periodic filings, and compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. In addition, our Board adopted a Code of Conduct for Directors, Officers and Employees (“Code of Conduct”). Our Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct are available to view at our website, www.dolphinentertainment.com by clicking on Investor Relations. We intend to provide disclosure of any amendments or waivers of our Code of Ethics on our website within four business days following the date of the amendment or waiver.

Audit Committee and Audit Committee Financial Experts

The Audit Committee consists of Messrs. Famadas, Stanham and Espensen, who serves as Chairman. In 2021, the Audit Committee held four meetings. All members of the Audit Committee attended at least 75% of the meetings in 2021.

Among its responsibilities, the Audit Committee assists the Board in overseeing: our accounting and financial reporting practices and policies; systems of internal controls over financial reporting; the integrity of our consolidated financial statements and the independent audit thereof; our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; and the performance of our independent registered public accounting firm and assessment of the auditor’s qualifications and independence.

In addition, the Audit Committee selects and appoints our independent registered public accounting firm and reviews and approves related party transactions. The Audit Committee Chairman reports on Audit Committee actions and recommendations at Board meetings. The Audit Committee may, in its discretion, delegate its duties and responsibilities to a subcommittee of the Audit Committee as it deems appropriate. Our Board has determined that each member of the Audit Committee meets the independence requirements under Nasdaq’s listing standards and the enhanced independence standards for audit committee members required by the SEC. In addition, our Board has determined that Mr. Espensen meets the requirements of an audit committee financial expert under the rules of the SEC and Nasdaq.

Director Nominations

Our Board currently does not have a standing nominating committee or committee performing similar functions. In accordance with Nasdaq rules, a majority of the Board’s independent directors recommend director nominees for selection by the Board. Our Board believes that our independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting, approving and recommending director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are those independent directors of the Board identified above. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

The Board will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our shareholders during such times as it is seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of shareholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of shareholders). All shareholder nominations and recommendations for nominations to the Board must be addressed to the Chairman of the Audit Committee who will submit such nominations to the Board. Our Board currently does not have a written policy with regard to the nomination process, or a formal policy with respect to the consideration of director candidates. In addition, we have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the Board considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our businesses, integrity, professional reputation, independence, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders. The Board will evaluate the suitability of potential candidates nominated by shareholders in the same manner as other candidates recommended to the Board.

Compensation Committee

The Compensation Committee consists of Messrs. Stanham and Famadas, who serves as Chairman. In 2021, the Compensation Committee held one meeting, which both members attended.

Among its responsibilities, the Compensation Committee: establishes salaries, incentives and other forms of compensation for executive officers and directors; reviews and approves any proposed employment agreement with any executive officer and any proposed modification or amendment thereof; and maintains and administers our equity incentive plan.

The Compensation Committee Chairman reports on Compensation Committee actions and recommendations at Board meetings. The Compensation Committee has the authority to engage the services of outside legal or other experts and advisors as it determines in its sole discretion; however, in 2021 the Compensation Committee did not engage an independent compensation consultant because it did not believe one was necessary. Our Chief Executive Officer may recommend compensation levels for executive officers (other than his own) to the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee may form and delegate authority to subcommittees as appropriate and in accordance with applicable law, regulation and the Nasdaq rules.

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Our executive compensation program is designed to balance the goals of attracting and retaining talented executives who are motivated to achieve our annual and long-term strategic goals while keeping the program affordable and appropriately aligned with stockholder interests. We believe that our executive compensation program accomplishes these goals in a way that is consistent with our purpose and core values and the long-term interests of the Company and its stockholders.

The following table sets forth information concerning all cash and non-cash compensation awarded to, earned by or paid to (i) all individuals serving as the Company’s principal executive officers or acting in a similar capacity during the last two completed fiscal years, regardless of compensation level, and (ii) the Company’s two most highly compensated executive officers other than the principal executive officer serving at the end of the last two completed fiscal years (collectively, the “Named Executive Officers”).

Summary Compensation Table

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Employment Arrangements

Mirta A. Negrini. On October 21, 2013, we appointed Ms. Negrini as our Chief Financial and Operating Officer. The terms of Ms. Negrini’s employment arrangement do not provide for any payments in connection with her resignation, retirement or other termination, or a change in control, or a change in her responsibilities following a change in control. On May 17, 2021, the Compensation Committee of the Board approved an increase in the base salary of Ms. Negrini from $250,000 to $300,000 per year. The increase was effective January 1, 2021.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

None of the Named Executive Officers in the table above had any outstanding equity awards as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.

Director Compensation

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we did not pay compensation to any of our directors in connection with their service on our Board.

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

The table below shows the beneficial ownership as of April 28, 2022, of our common stock and our Series C Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series C”) held by each of our incumbent directors, director nominees, named executive officers, all incumbent directors, director nominees and executive officers as a group and each person known to us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding common stock and 5% of our Series C. The percentages in the table below are based on 9,101,045 shares of common stock outstanding and 50,000 shares of Series C outstanding as of April 28, 2022. Shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the Series C are not included in such calculation as a result of the Stock Restriction Agreement entered into between the Company and the holder of the Series C pursuant to which the conversion of the Series C is prohibited until such time as a majority of the independent directors of the Board approves the removal of the prohibition. The Stock Restriction Agreement also prohibits the sale or other transfer of the Series C until such transfer is approved by a majority of the independent directors of the Board. The Stock Restriction Agreement shall terminate upon a Change of Control (as such term is defined in the Stock Restriction Agreement) of the Company.

Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with Rule 13d-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act. Except as indicated by footnote and subject to community property laws, where applicable, to our knowledge the persons named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock that are shown as beneficially owned by them. In computing the number of shares owned by a person and the percentage ownership of that person, any such shares subject to warrants or other convertible securities held by that person that were exercisable as of April 28, 2022 or that will become exercisable within 60 days thereafter are deemed outstanding for purposes of that person’s percentage ownership but not deemed outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.

Common Stock

Series C Convertible Preferred Stock

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* Less than 1% of outstanding shares.

ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Related Party Transaction Policy

Under applicable Nasdaq listing standards, all related person transactions must be approved by our Audit Committee or another independent body of the Board. For smaller reporting companies, current SEC rules define transactions with related persons to include any transaction, arrangement or relationship (i) in which we are a participant, (ii) in which the amount involved exceeds the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of our total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years, and (iii) in which any executive officer, director, director nominee, beneficial owner of more than 5% of our common stock, or any immediate family member of such persons has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. All directors must recuse themselves from any discussion or decision affecting their personal, business or professional interests. All related person transactions will be disclosed in our applicable SEC filings as required under SEC rules.

Transactions with Related Persons

William O’Dowd, IV. Mr. O’Dowd is our Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the Board. Dolphin Entertainment, LLC, an entity owned by Mr. O’Dowd, previously advanced funds for working capital to Dolphin Films, Inc. (“Dolphin Films”), its former subsidiary, which we acquired in March 2016. During 2016, Dolphin Films entered into a promissory note with Dolphin Entertainment, LLC (the “DE LLC Note”) in the principal amount of $1,009,624 for funds previously advanced The note was payable on demand and accrued interest at a rate of 10% per annum. On November 29, 2017, the Audit Committee approved an amendment to the promissory note to allow for additional advances and repayments on the promissory note up to a maximum principal balance of $5,000,000. On June 15, 2021 the Company exchanged the Original DE LLC Note for a new note maturing on July 31, 2023 (“New DE LLC Note” and together with the Original DE LLC Note, the “DE LLC Notes”). Other than the change in maturity date, there were no other changes to the principal, interest or any other terms of the Original DE LLC Note. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, Dolphin Films owed Dolphin Entertainment, LLC $1,107,873 and $1,107,873, respectively, of principal, and $55,849 and $26,683, respectively, of accrued interest, that was recorded on the consolidated balance sheets. Dolphin Films recorded interest expense of $110,787 and $111,091, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we did not repay any principal amount owed to Dolphin Entertainment, LLC. During the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we paid $81,621 and $500,000, respectively, of interest payments to Dolphin Entertainment, LLC. There have not been any proceeds received, repayments of principal or payments of interest related to this note for the period between January 1, 2022 and April 25, 2022. The largest aggregate principal amount Dolphin Films owed Dolphin Entertainment, LLC during 2021, 2020 and as of April 25, 2022 was $1,107,873. The balance of principal outstanding under the note as of April 25, 2022 was $1,107,873.

On September 7, 2012, we entered into an employment agreement with Mr. O’Dowd, which was subsequently renewed for a period of two years, effective January 1, 2015. The agreement provided for an annual salary of $250,000 and a one-time bonus of $1,000,000. Unpaid compensation accrues interest at a rate of 10% per annum. As of each of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had a balance of $2,625,000 of accrued compensation related to this agreement. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had a balance of $1,565,593 and $1,756,438 of accrued interest related to this agreement. We recorded $262,500 and $263,219, respectively, of interest expense for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. The largest aggregate balance we owed Mr. O’Dowd during 2021, 2020 and as of April 25, 2022 was $2,625,000. The balance of accrued compensation as of April 25, 2022 was $2,625,000.

Charles Dougiello. Mr. Dougiello served as a director of the Company from June of 2019 to September of 2021. On July 5, 2018, we purchased all of the membership interest of the sellers of The Door Marketing Group, LLC, of which Mr. Dougiello owned 50%, for approximately $2 million in cash and $2 million in shares of common stock (less certain working capital and closing adjustments, transaction expenses and payments of indebtedness), plus the potential to earn up to an additional $7.0 million, of which the first $5 million is payable in shares of common stock and the last $2 million is payable in cash, if certain financial targets are achieved over a four year period. For the year ended December 31, 2021, Mr. Dougiello met the financial targets and will receive 139,782 shares of the Company’s common stock. In connection with our acquisition of The Door, we entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Dougiello for a four-year term after the closing date of the acquisition, with an initial base salary of $240,000, subject to annual increases of 5% and annual bonus provisions.

Leslee Dart. Ms. Dart served as a director of the Company from June of 2020 to May of 2021. On March 30, 2017, we purchased all of the membership interests of the sellers of 42West, of which Ms. Dart owned 31.67%, for approximately $18.7 million in shares of common stock (less certain working capital and closing adjustments, transaction expenses and payments of indebtedness), using a stock price of $46.10 per share, plus the potential to earn up to an additional $9.3 million in shares of common stock. During the year ended December 31, 2017, 42West achieved the required financial performance targets, and the sellers, including Ms. Dart, earned the additional consideration, of which Ms. Dart was issued 68,868 shares in 2020. In connection with the 42West acquisition, we entered into an employment agreement with Ms. Dart for a three-year term after the closing date of the acquisition, with an initial base salary of $400,000, subject to annual increases based on achievement of certain EBITDA thresholds, and annual bonus provisions. On April 5, 2018, we amended Ms. Dart’s employment agreement to modify the annual bonus provisions and eliminate her right (i) to be eligible to receive in accordance with the provisions of our incentive compensation plan, a cash bonus for the calendar year 2017 if certain performance goals were achieved and (ii) to receive an annual bonus, for each year during the term of her employment agreement, of $200,000 in shares of common stock based on the 30-day trading average market price of such common stock. The amendment provides for Ms. Dart to be eligible under our incentive compensation plan to receive annual cash bonuses beginning with the calendar year 2018 based on the achievement of certain performance goals. No bonus was earned for the year ended December 31, 2019. On April 1, 2020, we entered into a three-year employment agreement with Ms. Dart for an annual salary of $400,000. The employment agreement has an option to renew for one additional year at the mutual agreement of Ms. Dart and the Company. In connection with the 42West acquisition, we also entered into a put agreement with Ms. Dart, pursuant to which we granted Ms. Dart the right, but not the obligation, to cause us to purchase up to an aggregate of 73,970 of her shares of common stock received as consideration for a purchase price equal to $46.10 per share, during certain specified exercise periods up until March 2021. On August 12, 2019, Ms. Dart entered into an agreement with us to exchange 15,239 Put Rights for a convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $702,500. The convertible promissory note earned interest a rate of 10% per annum and matured on August 12, 2020. On September 24, 2020, the Company paid Ms. Dart $500,000 of the principal of the convertible note. On November 4, 2020, the Company paid Ms. Dart $298,334, including the remaining principal of $202,500, accrued interest and legal fees. As of April 25, 2022, we had purchased an aggregate of 73,970 shares of our common stock from Ms. Dart for an aggregate purchase price of $3,410,000, including the $702,500 convertible promissory note discussed above, pursuant to the put agreement. As of April 25, 2022, we did not owe Ms. Dart for any Put Rights exercised. As of April 25, 2022, the Company does not owe anything to Ms. Dart for Put Rights or the convertible promissory note.

Compensation of Named Executive Officers and Directors

For information regarding compensation of named executive officers and directors, please see “Item 11. Executive Compensation.”

Director Independence

We deem that each of Michael Espensen, Nelson Famadas, Nicholas Stanham, Esq., Anthony Leo and Claudia Grillo, are independent as that term is defined by NASDAQ 5605(a)(2).

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

Fees Paid to Our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The following table sets forth the aggregate fees billed or expected to be billed to our company for professional services rendered by our independent registered public accounting firm, BDO USA, LLP, for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.

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Policy on Pre-Approval by Audit Committee of Services Performed by Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Audit Committee reviews, and in its sole discretion pre-approves, our independent auditors’ annual engagement letter including proposed fees and all auditing services provided by the independent auditors. Accordingly, our Audit Committee approved all services rendered by our independent registered public accounting firm, BDO USA, LLP, during fiscal year 2021, as described above. Our Audit Committee and Board has considered the nature and amount of fees billed or expected to be billed by BDO USA, LLP and believes that the provision of services for activities unrelated to the audit was compatible with maintaining BDO USA, LLP’s independence.

The Audit Committee has not implemented a policy or procedure which delegates the authority to approve, or pre-approve, audit or permitted non-audit services to be performed by BDO. Our Board may not engage the independent auditors to perform the non-audit services proscribed by law or regulation.

PART IV

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

(a) Documents filed as part of this report:

(1) Financial Statements

See Item 8 for Financial Statements included with this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

(2) Financial Statement Schedules

None.

(3) Exhibits

The exhibits identified in the Exhibit Index below are included herein or incorporated by reference.

Exhibit Index

† Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

* Schedules (and similar attachments) have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. The Company agrees to furnish supplementally a copy of any omitted schedule to the Securities and Exchange Commission upon request.

ITEM 16 FORM 10-K SUMMARY

None.

SIGNATURES

In accordance with Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Dolphin Entertainment, Inc.

Audited Consolidated Financial Statements

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Shareholders and Board of Directors

Dolphin Entertainment, Inc.

Coral Gables, Florida

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years then ended, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Private company investments

As described in Notes 2, 10, and 11 of the consolidated financial statements, the Company may participate in selected investment or strategic arrangements to expand its operations or customer base. These investments are made through the issuance of common stock and convertible notes under ASC 323 Equity Method of Accounting, and ASC 320 Investments - Debt Securities. The convertible notes issued with these investments require review for potential embedded features in order to determine if the notes contain embedded derivatives that are required to be bifurcated and accounted for separately from the host contract. The determination as to whether each business entity in which the Company has equity interests, debt, or other investments constitutes a variable interest entity based on the nature and characteristics of such arrangements and the accounting for convertible notes issued in relation to these private company investments is inherently complex and requires significant judgment by management. As of December 31, 2021, the Company’s private company investments totaled $2,500,000 and are included in notes receivables and other long-term assets in the consolidated balance sheets.

We identified the accounting for private company investments as a critical audit matter because of the complexity and judgment involved in applying the accounting framework and judgments made by management. This required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased level of effort when performing audit procedures.

The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:

Convertible Notes Payable

As described in Notes 2, 14, and 15 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company issues convertible notes payable in the normal course of business to raise capital. In order to determine the proper accounting for these notes, management evaluates the classification to determine if the notes should be accounted for as liabilities or equity. In addition, management identifies embedded features to determine whether the embedded features should be bifurcated from the host instrument and accounted for as derivatives. Management has elected to apply the fair value option to certain of these notes which requires certain of these notes to be remeasured at fair value every reporting period. The valuation model used in determining the fair value of the convertible notes payable includes inputs subject to management's judgment, including the estimate of volatility and discount rate. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had convertible notes payable totaling approximately $3,900,000.

We identified the classification and initial measurement for convertible notes payable as a critical audit matter because of the complexity and judgment involved in evaluating the classification and embedded features of the instruments and in applying the accounting framework and judgments made by management in estimating the fair value of the convertible notes under the fair value option. This required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased level of effort when performing audit procedures, including the involvement of valuation professionals with specialized skills and knowledge.

The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:

/s/ BDO USA, LLP

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2014.

Miami, Florida

May 25, 2022

DOLPHIN ENTERTAINMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Consolidated Balance Sheets

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020

(Continued)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

DOLPHIN ENTERTAINMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Continued)

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

DOLPHIN ENTERTAINMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Consolidated Statements of Operations

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

DOLPHIN ENTERTAINMENT, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

(Continued)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

DOLPHIN ENTERTAINMENT, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Continued)

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the statements of cash flows that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the statements of cash flows:

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. 

DOLPHIN ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020