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Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Zuma Beach Entertainment Appointments President and Completes Acquisition

Zuma Beach Entertainment Appointments President and Completes Acquisition

MALIBU, Calif., March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Zuma Beach Entertainment ("Zuma") today announced that Academy Award Winning songwriter/composer Donald (Donny) Markowitz has been appointed President of the Company and has signed a co-production with the Company. In addition, an Asset Purchase and Sale Agreement between Zuma Beach Entertainment and Marcu Music Company ("Marcu" - a Company solely owned by Donald Markowitz) was executed.

In his role as President, Markowitz will work closely with Chairman and CEO Daniel P. Cannon and Zuma's executive team to guide the Company's through its growth phase. "Donny joins a team that shares a unified vision and goals, a desire to succeed, and a commitment to execute a strategic plan that mitigates risk and achieves maximum profitability," said Cannon. "There is no question we are excited, Donny's experience in the music and film and entertainment business coupled with the extensive industry relationships he has formed over the years will undoubtedly make us privy to many lucrative projects."

Zuma Beach Entertainment has acquired Marcu's share of the revenues and was assigned exclusive rights to income of the net publishing share derived from the licenses and music rights, contracts and royalties from the 1987 Academy Award winning song, "(I've had) The Time of My Life," co-written by Donald Markowitz for the 1987 hit motion picture, "Dirty Dancing." In addition, Zuma acquired Marcu's share of revenues from the "Bratz" 26 episode animated series currently in production and soon to be released and future DVD and/or film releases. "We are very pleased to have acquired assets with such a proven track record of overwhelming success and a huge upside for revenue and profit generation," said Cannon. "These assets will infuse immediate revenue into Zuma and act as an infinite and profitable income source going forward."

Markowitz won the Academy Award & Golden Globe for Best Original Song - "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" from the hit motion picture "Dirty Dancing." Dirty Dancing has just begun a world tour as a theatrical musical to sell out crowds in Australia and is on its way to Broadway. The movie has grossed over $170 million to date, making it one of the most profitable independent films of all time. Musically, Dirty Dancing re-wrote record books in the music industry and became a phenomenon all its own, launching two different multi- platinum soundtracks. Sixteen years after its initial release and three follow-up releases, the film's soundtrack has sold over 32 million units worldwide. In recent years BMG released a newly remastered Ultimate Dirty Dancing CD and Artisan Home Entertainment released the Dirty Dancing Ultimate Edition DVD. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ranks the soundtrack as one of Top-Selling Albums of All-Time.

MGA Entertainment, the California firm that launched Bratz in June 2001, was projected to earn $3 billion in 2004 from licensing and merchandising, specifically from dolls and accessories. Markowitz is writing the underscore for the Bratz DVD, TV Series and Feature Film which are currently in development. In Britain, a retail audit recently had Bratz ranked #1 in the doll market. The Times, London, recently reported that the "tween" demographic - booming consumer demographic aged between 6 and 12, for the fashion-crazy dolls was worth $22 billion.

Markowitz brings to Zuma a wide array of industry experience that includes the music, film and entertainment production. "I look forward to executing our strategic business plan and guiding our Company to sustained profitability," said Markowitz. "I feel I am entering a situation with the perfect mix of creative talent and knowledge resources to lay the foundation for imminent growth and success."

In TV, Markowitz was contracted by Steven Bochco to write for several projects including the controversial series "Cop Rock" and "Civil Wars." On the WB hit series "Popular," Donny was responsible for the scoring and writing all the show's diverse musical content from the show's inception. He has scored many major network sitcoms and dramas.

In film, Markowitz has scored and produced the soundtrack for "White Lies" a film by the acclaimed, six-time Academy Award winning producer Arthur Cohn ("Central Station," "The Garden of Finzi-Continis" and "Black and White in Color"). He has also scored and written music for several other films including the Showtime original "North Shore Fish" directed by Steve Zuckerman and independent film the "Unknown Cyclist," Donny co-wrote and performed songs with Beth Nielsen Chapman, Amanda Marshall, Nicolette Larson and legendary drummer Russ Kunkel. Donny also lent his talents to other notable films including "Simply Irresistible," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, and "Autumn in New York," starring Richard Gere, "Things to do in Denver..." "Tom and Huck" and many Disney Projects where he was signed as a writer for eight years. His recently completed projects include original score on the play "House" at the Falcon Theatre, and an independent production "Jesus, Mary and Joey," starring Olympia Dukakis and Jason Gedrick. He also wrote the sci-fi score for "Jake2.0" a UPN series. He has written and created two music-oriented television series and a screenplay currently in development and continues to write and produce songs for various artists and feature films.

About Zuma Beach Entertainment

Zuma Beach Entertainment ( http://zumabeachentertainment.com/ ) is a multimedia and entertainment Company that creates, develops and co-produces music, film and animation properties for all audiences. The Company aims to build a superior entertainment library that meets and exceeds the consumers' needs and interests for high quality entertainment that is both captivating and educating. Zuma Beach Entertainment uniquely markets and establishes the distribution of products and merchandise specific to each entertainment property, released to meet the needs of each specific target market. The Company has identified a network of distribution channels to enable the superior delivery of its hit properties to market, maximize licensing opportunities and achieve economies of scale.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" relating to Zuma Beach Entertainment within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements regarding future events, our financial performance and operating results, our business strategy and our financing plans are forward-looking statements. In some cases you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology, such as "may," "will," "would," "should," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements. In evaluating these statements, you should specifically consider various factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements.

Contact: Bill Roberts, +1-937-434-2700 Website: http://www.zumabeachentertainment.com/

Source: Zuma Beach Entertainment

CONTACT: Bill Roberts, +1-937-434-2700, for Zuma Beach Entertainment

Web site: http://www.zumabeachentertainment.com/

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