ROUND 9 IS NOW OPEN! WHAT'S CHANGED SINCE ROUND 8?
Yesterday we were delighted to announce that Legion M's 9th round of fundraising is OFFICIALLY OPEN. It's been just over one year since round 8 opened, so we figured it was worth taking a moment to talk about what’s changed since then.
MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS (AND 1 MAJOR LOWLIGHT) OF EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENED SINCE ROUND 8:
WILLIAM SHATNER
William Shatner joined our advisory board, posting an op-ed for Slashfilm which is worth a read if you haven’t already. After working with Bill for nearly a year, we can tell you that he's been an amazing addition to the company. At 91 years old, he's sharp as a tack and works as hard (or harder) than anyone in the business. He also understands the power of fans better than just about anyone, writing:
“People point out all the time that fans are responsible for my career. The fact is, fans are responsible for my entire industry. Take the fans away and the collective value of every company from Netflix to Walt Disney Studios drops to zero. That's why the idea of a fan-owned company is so powerful, and why I decided to become a Legion M shareholder and advisory board member, joining their quest to unite one million people as shareholders of the company.” Read More
SIMON PEGG & NANDOR FODOR
We made a production investment and joined as executive producers for Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, an upcoming feature film starring Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver, Christopher Lloyd, Ruth Connell, Tim Downie, Paul Kaye, and Gary Beadle. We supported the UK shoot, and were even able to secure a number of set visits and walk-on roles for Legion M investors. We brought Minnie Driver and Ruth Connell out to San Diego Comic Con (along with director Adam Sigal) for an epic Ballroom 20 (which seats up to 4,800 people!) panel. The film is in the final editing stages as we speak, with an expected premiere sometime in 2023.
THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN
We wrapped principal photography on The Man In The White Van, an elevated true-crime thriller starring Sean Astin, Ali Larter, Madison Wolfe, Brec Bassinger and Skai Jackson. Based on true events, The Man In The White Van is a cautionary tale about the origin story of one of our greatest fears. This film, produced by Legion M and Garrison Film, featured a number of Legion M investors working on the set (due to COVID protocols we weren’t allowed to bring investors in for set visits) and is expected to premiere in 2023.
KIT HARINGTON & MARY’S MONSTER
We made a development investment and joined as executive producers for Mary’s Monster, a development-stage film with Clara Rugaard and Kit Harington attached, along with BAFTA-award-winning (best drama series) director Farren Blackburn (if you aren't familiar with the BAFTAs, they are the UK equivalent of the Oscars/Emmys). Mary’s Monster is a wonderfully unique take on the story of Mary Shelley, who as an 18 year old woman wrote “Frankenstein,” a work that many consider to be the grandfather of all science fiction novels. While this project has not yet secured funding, if successful it could become one of Legion M's largest projects to date.
THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE
We made a production investment and joined as executive producers for This is Not Financial Advice, a documentary from the amazing team at Optimist about the new frontiers of retail investing, including the rise and fall of the "Dogecoin Millionaire." This is a wonderful documentary in that it's not just entertaining, but also enlightening for anyone trying to navigate investing in 2022. We're planning to partner with the Optimist team and some of the financial influencers featured in the film to host a series of panels designed to shed light on the opportunities and pitfalls of the broad array of "asset classes" that have expanded beyond stocks and bonds to include everything from equity crowdfunding and fractional ownership to crypto, NFTs, and the Metaverse.
WILLIAM SHATNER DOCUMENTARY
We partnered with the award-winning filmmakers at Exhibit A (the people who made Memory: The Origin of Alien) to make a documentary about William Shatner. We also announced that this project will be entirely financed by fans who will have the opportunity to invest directly in the movie with a return tied exclusively to the revenue generated by the film. We haven't announced final terms yet, but if you are interested, you can sign up to make a reservation today. Since Legion M is producing the film, all of our investors already have a stake in the project, but we're excited to open up the opportunity for fans to invest directly in a Legion M project with the potential to earn a near-term ROI based on the success of the film (as opposed to Legion M, which provides a long-term ROI based on the success of the company). If this project proves successful, it's possible we'll do more of these types of investments in the future.
MARVIN JONES III & CAPTAIN SMALLS
We announced that Marvin Jones III (Black Lightning, Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse) joined the producing team for Legion M’s in-development feature Defiant, which tells the amazing true story of Captain Robert Smalls. Marvin joins Legion M, the Wolper Organization (Roots), and legendary actor, director, producer, and Legion M advisor Bill Duke (Mandy, Predator, Black Lightning). Stay tuned for more exciting updates on this project coming soon!
DEVELOPMENT UPDATES
We made a number of other announcements about development projects, including:
We announced that screenwriter Ashley Miller (Thor, X-Men: First Class, DOTA: Dragon’s Blood) has attached to write a screenplay for our development project The Gray Area, which was created by Glen Brunswick and comic book legend John Romita Jr. (The Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, Kick-Ass).
We announced a partnership with New York Times Bestselling author and journalist Jeff Yang to add Tales of the Moonlight Cutter to our slate of development projects.
We announced that Legion M was partnering with writer/director (and Iraq combat veteran) Kyle Hausmann-Stokes to produce My Dead Friend Zoe, a feature film based on his award-winning short film.
We announced The Legion of Comedy, a development project to create a next generation comedy TV series and platform designed to harness the insights and creativity of the crowd..
STOCK SPLIT
We implemented a 10-for-1 stock split (which was approved overwhelmingly by shareholders earlier this year), transitioning every one share owned by Legion M shareholders into ten shares. For more information, please read this blog post.
LEVELING UP
We continue to evangelize Legion M with high-impact speaking opportunities, including CEO Paul Scanlan’s TEDx talk in London, and Legion M's Jeff Annison and David Baxter hosting our first ever Hall H panel (seating capacity 6,500!) at San Diego Comic Con with Kevin Smith and William Shatner.
SETBACK FOR OUR STREAMING SERIES
While most of our news over the past year has been positive, we did have a setback on our streaming series, when we were informed that the streamer who bought it had cut it from their slate. We're currently in the process of trying to negotiate a "turnaround agreement" that will allow us to take the project to other potential buyers.
REVENUE MILESTONE
We made over a million dollars in revenue for the first time in company history in 2021. As an early-stage company, we're not focused on revenue, and frequently trade short-term revenue for opportunities we believe will deliver long-term strategic value -- for more information, we encourage you to read the analysis in our offering document. That being said, we're proud to have broken the million-dollar barrier, and have demonstrated an ability to earn revenue from a diverse array of revenue streams – even at this early stage.
RECORD-BREAKING ROUND
We sold a Legion M record of $3MM worth of shares in just over 3 months during Round 8. We then went back to the SEC, increased our round cap to $3.85MM, and maxed it out yet again. When the dust settled, Round 8 ended as our most successful round ever. With over 35,000 shareholders, Legion M is one of the most successful equity crowdfunded companies in JOBS Act History.
ONWARD AND UPWARD!
As we open Round 9, we look forward to the next stage of Legion M's growth and development. Whether you decide to invest or not, THANK YOU for being part of our community, and joining us on this journey. While there's no telling where it will end, it's going to be a hell of a ride!
-The Legion M Team
Please read the Offering Circular and risks related to this offering before investing. This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should never invest more than you can afford to lose in Legion M (or any startup).