Joshua Jackson at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto in September, 2021.Sonia Recchia/Getty Images for Liquid Media Group/ Jane Owen PR
Canadian actor Joshua Jackson said Tuesday that his entertainment company, Liquid Media Group Ltd. YVR-Q, is “ready and able to deliver on our promise” to help independent content creators with a tech-driven, modern version of a movie studio.
In a letter to company shareholders, Mr. Jackson said he believes Liquid Media “continues to be a quality investment, providing inflation- and recession-proof shareholder value.”
Liquid Media, which had a splashy promotional debut at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, still posts little revenue and records large losses. Two of the company’s top officers have departed suddenly. The stock price has plummeted, leaving Liquid Media facing removal from the Nasdaq stock market. The company is worth, at US$8-million, less than the homes of many of Mr. Jackson’s Hollywood actor peers. And it may run out of money in the next year if it fails to raise new investment, its outside auditors say.
The Globe and Mail examined Liquid Media in an article published Sept. 8. Mr. Jackson, serving as interim chief executive officer, was unavailable for an interview for that article.
In Mr. Jackson’s letter he described the acquisitions and partnerships that Liquid Media has executed over the past eight months and highlighted a 187-per-cent increase in revenue to US$1.66-million in the second quarter from the previous three months.
Liquid Media spent a brief time this summer under a “cease trade” order from British Columbia’s securities regulator because it was late in filing its quarterly financial statements. Andy Wilson, the company’s chief financial officer since April, 2021, departed abruptly in July. Ronald Johnson, a media business development consultant who joined Liquid Media as CEO in January, 2021, and made frequent appearances at investor and media industry events to promote the company, resigned in June.
“I’ve been collaborating with management and our board to ensure a healthy and compliant company by allocating appropriate resources, including the hiring of our new CFO, Sheri Rempel, and bringing all filings up to date,” Mr. Jackson said Tuesday.
He said Liquid Media is “diligently working to resolve” its current non-compliance with Nasdaq stock exchange rules requiring a US$1 minimum share price.
Liquid Media traded on the Toronto Venture Exchange until its 2018 listing on the Nasdaq; for much of its history since, the company’s stock price hovered around US$2. In March, 2021, a burst of excitement sent the shares as high as US$7.50. The shares dropped below US$1 earlier this year. Liquid Media stock last closed above 50 US cents on May 4, and it hit a low of 33 US cents on May 12.
The stock closed up at 36 US cents Tuesday on the Nasdaq after Mr. Jackson published his letter.
Mr. Jackson owns 860,533 shares, representing about 4.5 per cent of the company, according to a Liquid Media disclosure.
“Moving into the end of the year, we will continue to execute on the expansion of our offering and creation of new offerings for our clients,” he wrote.
David Milstead