Platinum Studios
Platinum Studios, Inc. is an American media company that has developed, published, and licensed comic book properties for adaptation into film, television, and other media.
Founded in 1997 by Ervin Rustemagić and Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the company amassed a large library of comic book characters, which it has licensed for adaptation into film, television, and digital media. Platinum Studios produced television series such as Jeremiah and films including Cowboys & Aliens and Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. It has also operated print and digital publishing platforms, including Drunk Duck and WOWIO.
The company’s reputation later became controversial due to disputes with creators and business difficulties. In the early 2010s, shareholders and former executives raised allegations of financial mismanagement and self-dealing by Rosenberg, including the transfer of intellectual property to shell companies and failure to maintain required financial filings. These disputes coincided with the company being delisted from public trading and the eventual sale of its digital assets. Platinum Studios has been essentially dormant since 2011.
Business model and operations
Rosenberg characterized Platinum Studios' model as "full-circle commercialization," treating intellectual property as a core asset to be spun off into films, television, webcomics, mobile content, games, toys, and merchandise. The company's philosophy is to allow creators or original publishers to continue comics publications while Platinum manages all other rights and media development.The company focuses on two categories of properties:
- Macroverse Bible properties – a multi-thousand-page compendium of interrelated comic characters, many created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, including titles such as Cowboys & Aliens.
- Acquired properties – licensed from other companies or creators, where Platinum holds all media rights while the original publishers retain comics publishing rights.
Corporate history
Founding and partnership
Platinum Studios was formed in January 1997 when Scott Mitchell Rosenberg — former head of Malibu Comics — acquired a 50% stake in the European rights-agency Platinum Studios, originally founded in 1971 by Ervin Rustemagić. Rosenberg brought his Malibu character library and his expertise in developing comics for film and television, while Rustemagić contributed his extensive European rights portfolio. Under their partnership, Platinum Studios positioned itself as a cross‑media content company, aiming to adapt its European catalog into film, television, and other media. The company established its headquarters in Beverly Hills, California.''Cowboys & Aliens'', ''Jeremiah'', and ''Dylan Dog''
In May 1997, shortly after forming Platinum, Rosenberg licensed Cowboys & Aliens to DreamWorks/Universal Studios based on storylines, artwork, and an iconic one-sheet depicting a cowboy on horseback shooting at a spaceship.As part of Rosenberg and Rustemagić's partnership arrangement, Platinum Studios acquired the film and television rights to Tiziano Sclavi's horror comics series Dylan Dog and Hermann Huppen's science fiction comic series Jeremiah, both of which had previously been licensed by Rustemagić. Jeremiah was eventually adapted into a science-fiction TV series on Showtime from 2002 to 2004 — the first European graphic novel series adapted into a live-action U.S. television series; Rustemagić was given the title of executive producer. Dylan Dog was the source material for the 2011 film Dylan Dog: Dead of Night.
Rustemagić left the Platinum Studios partnership in 2000.
Expansion and financial challenges
In 2005, the company hired former Time Warner executive Brian Altounian as chief operating officer, while posting net losses of $2.1 million.From 2006 to 2008, Platinum expanded its operations — despite increasing financial losses. In 2006, it launched the Platinum Studios Comics imprint, initiated the Comic Book Challenge, and acquired the webcomics hosting platform Drunk Duck. Platinum Studios lost $4.3 million in 2006 and $5.1 million in 2007. Even when revenue increased in 2007, it still lost more than $5 million that year: operating expenses had risen sharply — from $1.6 million in 2005 to $6.6 million in 2007. At the end of 2007, the company had only about $4,000 in cash on hand. In February 2008, Platinum Studios became a publicly traded company, bringing its financial position and corporate governance under increased scrutiny.
2008: A company on the brink
By mid-2008, Platinum Studios had accumulated a $14 million deficit and was running a negative balance of more than $1 million in just the first half of the year. The company received a formal "going-concern" warning, meaning auditors believed there was serious doubt about the company’s ability to continue operating. Three high-level insiders — including COO Brian Altounian, the general counsel, and a director — had sold more than 21 million shares collectively. The stock price had collapsed to $0.04 per share, down from $0.12 only a month earlier. In addition, Platinum had reportedly been late on payments to creators, reflecting its cash scarcity. Analysts viewed these signs the company was moving closer to insolvency.Nevertheless, the company continued its strategy of acquiring large amounts of intellectual property and pursuing film and video-game — considered by analysts as high-risk and not a reliable revenue model. In June 2008, Platinum and John H. Williams' Vanguard Animation announced plans to launch a new comics imprint, Vanguard Comics. The imprint came about as a result of Williams serving on the jury for the Comic Book Challenge; Vanguard Comics, however, never released any publications.
Also in June 2008, Platinum began talks to acquire WOWIO, a Los Angeles–based digital media platform that allowed users to share and consume e-comics and E-books, while offering monetization opportunities for creators and publishers. Issues related to WOWIO's non-payment of quarterly earnings delayed the sale.
In June 2009, WOWIO was purchased outright by Brian Altounian, former Platinum COO and board member, leaving Platinum with no ownership stake. Third-quarter earnings were eventually paid under a revised formula more favorable to WOWIO. In June 2010, WOWIO acquired DrunkDuck.com from Platinum Studios.
Later developments
In 2011, following the underwhelming release of the Cowboys & Aliens feature film, Platinum Studios retained KKM Global Brand Strategies to oversee a licensing program for the underlying graphic novel, with the company announcing agreements for a range of related products. According to the company's SEC filings that year, Platinum reported approximately $500,000 in licensing revenue from the film Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. Platinum also claimed to have several additional properties in active development, including Unique at Walt Disney Pictures with producer David Heyman, V.I.C.E. with Andrew Lazar and Top Cow Productions, an animated feature project at Sony Pictures Animation, Blood Nation with producer Alexandra Milchan, and the television project MetaDocs with Syfy, FremantleMedia, and Landscape Entertainment. As with most properties "under development" at Platinum, however, as of 2025, none of those projects have been developed.In 2012, Platinum Studios was delisted from public trading due to failure to file required reports and was later classified as OTC Pink No Information, indicating minimal disclosure to investors. Chris Beall was named interim president of the company in 2012.
By 2014, 27 million shares of Platinum were acquired by KCG Holdings.
Projects and activities
Platinum Studios Comics
The company's publishing imprint Platinum Studios Comics operated from 2006 to 2011. In December 2006, the Cowboys & Aliens one-sheet became the cover of the graphic novel of the same name, published by the newly minted Platinum Studios Comics.Like Cowboys & Aliens, many of Platinum Studios Comics' titles were developed for film, television, and other media ; critics contended that Platinum's publications felt more like film pitches than genuine comics, and that the company’s approach often resulted in thin or derivative work. Online releases often appeared before in-store print releases.
Notable creators published by Platinum Studios Comics included Art Baltazar, Scott O. Brown, Jay Busbee, Dennis Calero, D. J. Coffman, Chuck Dixon, Josh Elder, Andrew Foley, Megan Rose Gedris, Robert Greenberger, Scott Koblish, Andy Mangels, Dean Motter, Dave Roman, and Fred Van Lente. Industry veteran Robert Greenberger recalled a brief, chaotic editorial tenure at Platinum Studios in 2006, highlighting frequent project cancellations, frequent reshuffling of editors and artists, low pay, and creative interference from management. Despite ambitious plans for print and digital comics and adaptations, most projects never came to fruition.
In 2011, the Cowboys & Aliens graphic novel appeared on the New York Times best-seller list for both hardcover and softcover. The Cowboys & Aliens film was released theatrically in July 2011. Cowboys & Aliens received mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office, earning $174.8 million on a $163 million budget.