company . for the video game developer see platinum games . platinum studios inc. type public traded as otc pink pdos industry comics movies television founded january 1997 founder scott mitchell rosenberg ervin rustemagi headquarters los angeles california u.s. key people scott rosenberg services licensing publishing website http www.platinumstudios.com platinum studios inc. is a publicly traded media company based in the united states . it controls a library of thousands of comic book characters which it seeks to adapt produce and license for all forms of media . the company has released films and or television programming with universal studios paramount pictures dreamworks mgm showtime and lions gate . platinum has developed film or television with others including the walt disney company time warner s new line cinema 20th century fox and sony picture entertainment . contents 1 history 2 film and television production 2.1 cowboys & aliens 3 digital publishing 3.1 drunk duck and wowio 4 platinum studios comics 5 titles published 5.1 original graphic novels 5.2 limited series ongoing series 6 comic book challenge 7 notes 8 references 9 external links history edit platinum studios was co founded in january 1997 by scott mitchell rosenberg and european rights agent ervin rustemagi . 1 as the former head of malibu comics rosenberg led comic spin offs into toys television and feature films including the 1.65 billion dollar film and television franchise men in black 2 based on the marvel malibu comic the men in black by lowell cunningham . in 1992 rosenberg brokered a deal in which seven top selling artists defected from marvel comics to form image comics . 3 rosenberg signed the artists to a label deal which made malibu the publisher of record for the first comics from image which gave the upstart creator run publisher access to the distribution channels . this subsequently led to malibu breaking all sales records for independent comics . in 1992 malibu grabbed almost 10 % of the american comics market share temporarily moving ahead of industry giant dc comics . platinum studios acquired the film and television rights for jeremiah which became the first european graphic novel series to be turned into a live action television series on u.s. television showtime . 4 platinum produces based on two categories those from the macroverse bible a multi thousand page bible of interrelated comic characters created by rosenberg including titles such as cowboys & aliens and properties acquired from other companies or creators such as dylan dog and jeremiah the latter two having been represented by rustemagi for publishing rights only with platinum acquiring all other rights including film and television . rustemagi left platinum studios in 2000 . the company s comic publishing philosophy is for the original publishers or rights holders to continue publishing their comics with platinum studios handling all other rights and development . comics have been published based on platinum s properties continuously since inception whether by platinum itself or the original rights holders . in may 1997 soon after forming platinum studios rosenberg licensed cowboys & aliens to dreamworks universal studios 5 based on film and comic treatments storylines artwork and an iconic one sheet of a cowboy on horseback shooting at an oncoming spaceship . 6 the one sheet when on to become the graphic novel cover and the graphic novel has appeared on the new york times bestseller list fourteen times for both hardcover 7 and softcover . 8 platinum studios comics published the cowboys & aliens graphic novel in various formats between mid 2006 through 2012 full graphic novel online at drunkduck.com for free regular edition to comic shops released through top cow productions special editions to large comics retailers and mail order houses with their own logos along with sales incentives and promotions special gold softback and black hardback editions many of which were platinum studios and rosenberg s gifts to cast and crew of cowboys & aliens new york times best seller hardback graphic album released by harper collins new york times best seller softback movie cover released by harper collins barnes & noble nook edition the cowboys & aliens film was released theatrically in 2011 . 9 over the next ten years platinum studios continued to increase the size of its portfolio through licensing publishing film and television contracts with comic book creators . in 2005 platinum hired former time warner executive brian altounian as its chief operating officer . 10 originally running for three years from 2006 2008 platinum produced the comic book challenge an annual televised competition among aspiring comic book creators . the first challenge was broadcast on knsd the san diego nbc affiliate in conjunction with the san diego comic con but outgrew nbc affiliate s venue . the following year it was hosted by at & t. 11 platinum studios posted net losses of 4.3 million in 2006 and 5.1 million in 2007 . 12 growing to a revenue of 10.5 million . 13 in september 2006 platinum studios purchased the webcomics community site drunkduck.com 14 and in 2008 it acquired the digital media content site wowio . in 2009 platinum sold wowio 15 to brian altounian a platinum studios board member and former platinum coo . in 2010 wowio acquired the drunkduck community from platinum studios as well . 16 in early 2012 platinum studios moved to new offices in west los angeles . in 2014 27 million shares of platinum were acquired by kcg holdings . 17 film and television production edit platinum has licensed film and television rights to several hollywood studios . in addition to the finished films cowboys & aliens and dylan dog dead of night platinum is developing a slate of feature films based on platinum studio s portfolio including atlantis rising with producer mark canton 18 red mantis mal chance with producer tony krantz 19 unique with producer david heyman walt disney pictures 19 the weapon with tv star david henrie attached 20 in addition to jeremiah platinum licensed the television rights to a number of projects including indestructible man an as yet unreleased platinum studios comics title with fox 21 21 gunplay fox 21 22 cowboys & aliens edit main article cowboys & aliens platinum studios chairman & ceo scott mitchell rosenberg spearheaded the creation of cowboys & aliens in 1997 . it was licensed by dreamworks and universal studios in may 1997 based on a one sheet of a cowboy being chased by a spaceship . 6 by the mid 2000s the film project rights were returned to platinum . 23 rosenberg commissioned an cowboys & aliens original graphic novel . jon favreau directed the screen adaptation of the comic 24 cowboys & aliens premiered at the 2011 san diego comic con international and was released theatrically in the united states and canada on july 29 2011 . digital publishing edit platinum studios digital publishing works in three areas web comics publishing mobile content and comic news and resources . drunk duck and wowio edit in september 2006 platinum studios purchased the webcomics community site drunkduck.com created by dylan squires 14 for an undisclosed sum . 14 drunk duck was at the time a community of mostly amateur webcomics artists . 14 platinum studios signed several option agreements with drunk duck community members after the purchase which caused some discord in the community . some felt it would help the site s popularity and the community would only get bigger and better ; others were concerned platinum was going to take over and claim the rights to people s comics . citation needed after the purchase the site featured a mixture of platinum studios owned professional comics and independently owned amateur comics . platinum never claimed ownership of any comic that it had not entered into legal documentation with . citation needed the drunk duck community grew to 95 000 subscribed users in mid 2010 . 16 main article wowio in june 2008 platinum studios announced that it had begun talks to acquire wowio a los angeles based online destination that provides users the ability to share and consume digital media content such as e comics and e books while providing revenue generating opportunities for creators and publishers through advertising and merchandising programs . platinum hoped to make wowio a major cornerstone of a global digital publishing distribution initiative . citation needed the companies projected that the acquisition would be concluded early in the third quarter of 2008 citation needed but issues related to wowio s non payment of quarterly earnings delayed the sale . 25 in june 2009 wowio was purchased outright by brian altounian formerly platinum studios coo and still a platinum studios board member ; leaving platinum studios with no ownership stake or percentage . 26 third quarter earnings for the year calculated on a new formula more favorable to wowio were eventually paid . 15 in june 2010 wowio acquired drunkduck.com from platinum studios . 16 platinum studios comics edit platinum studios comics are distributed both online and in print . online releases start before in store print release . in addition some platinum studios comics titles are developed for film television and other media such as app games for mobile devices . platinum studios comics first print project was the cowboys & aliens original graphic novel created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by fred van lente and andrew foley and illustrated by dennis calero and luciano lima . titles published edit original graphic novels edit alien at large 2008 created by bob keenan and rich larson the big amoeba 2008 created written and illustrated by art baltazar cowboys & aliens 2006 created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by fred van lente and andrew foley illustrated by dennis calero and luciano lima gunplay 2008 created and written by jorge vega illustrated by dominic vivona 27 hot shot & mighty girl 2008 created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by fred van lente illustrated by billy penn love bytes 2007 created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by josh elder illustrated by gigi nightfall 2007 created and written by scott o. brown illustrated by ferran xalabarder red mantis 2007 created written and illustrated by martin pardo and david morancho translated from a spanish comic called mal chance lola ; 28 film rights sold to producer tony krantz in 2009 19 super larry 2008 created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by andy mangels illustrated by dan thompson watchdogs feb. 2007 created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by fred van lente and illustrated by brian churilla isbn 978 1 934220 05 4 limited series ongoing series edit the adventures of tymm alien circus 3 volumes 2008 2011 created by dave roman and l. frank weber atlantis rising 5 issues oct. 2007 apr. 2008 created by scott o. brown and tim irwin film rights sold to producer mark canton in 2012 18 big badz 4 issues 2008 created by rob moran written by chuck dixon illustrated by enrique villagr n 29 blood nation 4 issues feb. may 2007 created and written by rob moran illustrated by james devlin consumed 4 issues july oct. 2007 ghosting 5 issues aug. dec. 2007 created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by fred van lente illustrated charles carvalho and carlos ferreira co published with top cow productions hero by night created written and illustrated by d. j. coffman colored by jason embury limited series 4 issues mar. june 2007 ongoing series 3 issues dec. 2007 2008 hero by night free comic book day edition 1 issue 2008 i was kidnapped by lesbian pirates from outer space 6 issues may 2008 2009 created written and illustrated by megan rose gedris incursion 4 issues nov. 2007 feb. 2008 created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by jay busbee illustrated by axel medellin machain kiss 4k 6 issues may 2007 apr. 2008 written by ricky sprague illustrated by kevin crossley and thomas ruppert unique 3 issues mar. may 2007 created by scott mitchell rosenberg written by