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ICON International Launches Content and Entertainment Solution, Establishing New Pathways for Brand-Funded Film and Television

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Industry Veteran Aaron Tabas to Lead Offering with First Wave of Partnerships Including Imagine Entertainment, Pro Shop and more

STAMFORD, Conn., June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ICON International, the media-backed financial solutions company, today announced the official launch of its Content and Entertainment solution, a new practice dedicated to solving the industry’s most persistent challenges in content funding, production, and distribution. ICON will debut the offering this month at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (June 22–26), where its executives will meet with brands, agencies, and producers to discuss how the new practice is rewriting the economics of brand-funded entertainment.

The new offering, led by industry veteran Aaron Tabas, has already established strategic partnerships with leading talent agencies, creators, and distributors. Leveraging ICON’s core strength as a media and financial solutions partner, the new offering gives brands, creators, and distributors access to innovative, flexible financing structures that make content initiatives more streamlined, cost-effective, and impactful.

“ICON has always sat at the intersection of media, content, and advertising,” said Reid Steinberg, EVP, Media Director at ICON International. “This new offering formalizes what we have long done best—connecting brands with culture through financial expertise and strategic partnerships.”

Three Core Solutions for Content Financing and Distribution
ICON’s Content and Entertainment solution offers partners three proprietary funding models:

Working Media Solution: ICON unlocks funding for a brand’s content initiatives by creating added value around its existing media investments.Media Trade Solution: ICON funds content projects on behalf of brands and distributors in exchange for future advertising inventory.Independent Financing: ICON serves as a traditional film and television financier, bringing its brand and distributor relationships and marketing expertise to the table alongside capital.

“Working with ICON has changed how we think about brand partnerships,” said Marc Gilbar, President of Brands, Partnerships & IP at Imagine Entertainment. “They came to the table not just with financing, but with a deep understanding of what it takes to make engaging content. ICON has given filmmakers and brands a new roadmap to making their most ambitious projects possible.”

Projects at Launch
From documentary film to scripted prestige television to indie features and viral social content, ICON has already assembled a diverse portfolio of projects that demonstrates the full range of what its funding and distribution models can offer clients. Across each, the throughline is bringing together best-in-class creative partners and giving them the resources to tell stories at the highest level.

Amelia, Feature Documentary in Partnership with CNN Films, Imagine Documentaries, Storyville Films and produced in association with ICON and Sandbox Films: ICON is a core funding partner on Amelia, a feature documentary billed as the definitive portrait of Amelia Earhart. Produced by CNN Films, Imagine Documentaries and Storyville Films, directed by Academy Award Nominated and Emmy-Winning Julie Cohen and Betsy West and set to air on CNN, the project represents the kind of premium, culturally significant content ICON was built to support. The partnership was brokered by CAA Media and Entertainment Partnerships and signals the caliber of relationships the solution brings to the table.The Artist, Limited Series in Partnership with The Network: ICON’s reach extends to scripted prestige television with The Artist, the Gilded Age murder mystery limited series from creator Aram Rappaport featuring an ensemble cast that includes Mandy Patinkin, Janet McTeer, Patti LuPone, Hank Azaria, and Zachary Quinto. ICON funded the program for The Network, the free, ad-supported streaming platform demonstrating the model’s ability to support not only individual titles but the platforms that distribute them. The Artist premiered on The Network over the 2025 holiday season and is streaming now at thenetwork.stream.Social Content Series, in Partnership with Dude Wipes and Pro Shop: ICON executed a social content series for DUDE Wipes in partnership with Pro Shop, a leading golf media company. The series, executed by Skratch Golf with its unique media rights, featured the PGA TOUR’s best players navigating pressure-packed on-course situations during one of the year’s most attended events, the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The program generated more than 3 million views across Skratch Golf’s media channels and exceeded engagement benchmarks.dAte, an Independent Feature Film: ICON is also putting its Independent Financing model to work on dAte, an indie horror film currently in production with Squid Farm Productions. The project showcases ICON’s role as a traditional film financier pairing capital with the brand relationships and marketing expertise that independent filmmakers rarely find in a funding partner.

“What we’ve built is a fundamentally different way for brands and creators to work together,” said Aaron Tabas, who leads ICON’s Content and Entertainment solution. “The projects we’re bringing to Cannes reflect what’s possible when you remove the financial friction from the creative process. We’ve partnered with some of the best producers, agencies, and distributors in the business, and we’re just getting started.”

ICON at Cannes Lions
ICON’s Content and Entertainment team, led by Tabas, will be on the ground at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, June 22–26, meeting with brands, agencies, producers, and distributors to discuss partnership and financing opportunities.

About ICON International
ICON International is a media-backed financial solutions partner that transforms underutilized resources into measurable growth. With the trust of over 350 organizations, ICON combines strategic know-how, creativity, financial expertise, and unmatched media partnerships to create enterprise value for its clients. For more information, visit www.iconinternational.com.

Media Contact: iconinternational@jainepr.com

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SOURCE ICON International

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Dreame Expands Beyond Smart Cleaning with Full Smart Living Portfolio at IFA 2026

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SINGAPORE, Sept. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Dreame Technology is showcasing more than 100 products across 16 categories, demonstrating how Physical AI can move beyond the digital interface and become part of the physical world—helping products better perceive, understand, and respond to everyday life.

At the foundation of this ecosystem is Dreame’s Physical AI architecture, which integrates three core technology pillars: the Omni-Perception System, the Home Intelligence Model, and the Intelligent Actuation & Control System. Together, these enable products to perceive surroundings, interpret scenarios, make decisions, and translate them into physical actions—applying shared capabilities across diverse products and real-world use cases.

Smart Cleaning Flagships

Headlining the robot vacuum lineup is the X60 Ultra Extreme. Its Dual-Joint UltraExtend Arms allow the side brush to extend 12cm and the mop to reach 18cm into corners and under furniture. The ultra-slim 8.9cm design, liftable LDS module, and 42,000 Pa Vormax Suction ensure powerful cleaning in low-clearance spaces. AI-Enhanced OmniSight and 10cm ProLeap provide smooth navigation, while the PowerDock offers 100°C mop self-cleaning and up to 100 days of hands-free emptying.

Also unveiled is the Aqua20 Ultra Roller, Dreame’s first steam robot vacuum, using 180°C steam and 100°C hot water to melt grease and kill 99.99% of bacteria, with an 8cm extendable roller mop reaching deeper into recessed spaces.

For floor care, the H16 Pro TriForce combines 30,000 Pa suction, 200°C steam sterilization, 90°C hot water degreasing, and foam cleaning in one slim device, with a 9.85cm low profile and 180° lie-flat reach.

Personal Care Innovations

The Pocket Aura uses smart heat control and real-time distance sensors to reduce heat damage, low-heat drying and a foldable, travel-ready design. The Pocket Uni offers SmartVolt™ global voltage, 350 million negative ions, and a self-absorbing curling wand that styles with airflow. The AirStyle Pro HI is an 8-in-1 styling kit with a 130,000 RPM motor and Dreamehome app guidance, featuring A-Curl™ and a U-shaped straightening nozzle.

Air Purification Solutions

The FP10 Furcatch Air Purifier for pet owners captures 99.5% of pet hair and eliminates odors via six-stage purification with H14 HEPA and CataFresh™.

The TP20 delivers 500m³/h PCADR, refreshing a 20㎡ room in under 6 minutes, with a 3-in-1 filter lasting up to 5 years and 22dB quiet operation. The compact TP10 offers 280m³/h CADR for spaces up to 117㎡, consuming just 0.48kWh per 24 hours. The NP10 uses high-voltage electrostatic purification with a washable filter, delivering 400m³/h CADR at 28W.

Debuting is the RF10 Purifier Cool, a 2-in-1 purifier and fan with 120° wide-area airflow, millimeter-wave radar for person-tracking, and an 8-layer purification system with negative ions, consuming less than 1kWh per 24 hours.

From Intelligent Products to a Connected Smart Living Ecosystem

Dreame’s IFA 2026 presence reflects a shift toward an integrated ecosystem, applying common perception, decision-making, and execution capabilities across categories. With products in 190+ countries and 42 million households, Dreame continues to extend its Physical AI expertise into everyday life.

About Dreame Technology

Established in 2017, Dreame Technology is a trailblazer in smart home appliances that enhance lives through cutting-edge technology. The official distributor for Dreame Technology in Singapore is DM Dasher Pte Ltd. Stay updated by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit https://dreame.sg/.

 

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SOURCE Dreame Technology

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SLACAL Launches Executive Forum Video Series Featuring Lloyd’s Americas President Marc Lipman

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SLACAL CEO Benjamin McKay and Lloyd’s Americas President Marc Lipman discuss wildfire, AI, new sources of capital and the future of insurance coverage in California.

SAN RAMON, Calif., Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Surplus Line Association of California (SLACAL) today released the inaugural episode of its Executive Forum video series, featuring a wide-ranging, on-the-record conversation between SLACAL CEO & Executive Director Benjamin J. McKay and Lloyd’s Americas President Marc Lipman. Moderated by SLACAL Chief Industry & Regulatory Officer David Kodama Jr., the discussion pulls back the curtain on how wildfire risk, artificial intelligence and a new wave of global capital are reshaping where, and how, California residents and businesses find coverage.

California is the world’s fifth-largest economy on its own, and its surplus lines sector now accounts for roughly $24 billion in annual premium. Lloyd’s is proud to be a critical partner; it held an 18% share in the California E&S market in 2025. McKay and Lipman explain why that growth happened, why they say the industry’s biggest reputational myth is flat-out wrong and what’s coming next as AI, data centers and other emerging risks outpace what traditional insurance was built to handle.

In the conversation, viewers will hear:

Why McKay says California’s insurance troubles are “a wildfire crisis, not an insurance crisis,” and how Proposition 103 has shaped the market ever since.Why McKay says surplus lines insurance is safer than most people assume.Why Lipman says the old idea of surplus lines as insurance’s “dumping ground” no longer holds up, and what he calls it instead.How private equity, hedge funds and sovereign wealth are quietly funding California’s next generation of risk transfer.How parametric insurance products emerging from the Lloyd’s Lab—which accelerates the development and adoption of new insurance products and operational solutions for the Lloyd’s market—can help California homeowners after a wildfire or earthquake.

▶ Watch the full conversation now on SLACAL’s YouTube Channel 

The Executive Forum conversation is the first in a planned series exploring the issues shaping California’s insurance market. New episodes, along with additional educational content, will be added to SLACAL’s Learning Center throughout the year.

About the Surplus Line Association of California
As the advisory organization appointed by the California Department of Insurance, the Surplus Line Association of California oversees the state’s nearly $25 billion surplus lines marketplace, serving as a market stabilizer, information authority and early-warning system for regulators and market participants. SLACAL supports regulatory oversight, helps brokers comply with California laws and regulations, processes surplus lines insurance policies and monitors the financial condition of companies on California’s List of Approved Surplus Line Insurers.

About Lloyd’s
Lloyd’s is the only insurance marketplace of its kind in the world. It brings together more than a hundred syndicates and thousands of investors, enabling the market to shoulder more insurance risk for every unit of capital than any other financial institution in the world. The role of the Corporation is to advance and protect the market—by maintaining underwriting discipline and our financial strength; and by attracting expertise, innovation and scale. Our unique global licenses and excellent financial strength ratings provide the infrastructure, oversight and confidence required to understand, price and manage complex and interconnected risks. Risk transfer—properly executed—underpins economic growth, resilience and innovation around the world. This is the role Lloyd’s has played for 337 years, and it remains central to our purpose today.

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SOURCE The Surplus Line Association of California

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Cross-border Counselor LLP: Chinese E-Commerce Sellers File Class Action Seeking to Void Thousands of “Schedule A” Default Judgments Entered After Email Service the Seventh Circuit Has Held Invalid

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Bilateral class action under Rule 60(d)(1) seeks relief from void judgments, an accounting, and restitution of money collected from mainland-China defendants in the Northern District of Illinois

CHICAGO, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A Ningbo-based cross-border e-commerce seller has filed a class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois seeking to void default judgments entered against mainland-China defendants in thousands of “Schedule A” cases, and to require the plaintiffs who obtained those judgments to account for and return the money collected under them.

The complaint, filed by Ningbo Jiaruisi E-Commerce Co., Ltd., which formerly operated on Amazon under the storefront name GENISBULB, asks the court to declare the thousands of default judgments void for lack of personal jurisdiction, to halt their continued enforcement, and to order restitution of funds seized from seller accounts.

The Seventh Circuit’s decision in Kangol

The suit follows a May 29, 2026 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the federal appellate court with jurisdiction over the Northern District of Illinois. In Kangol LLC v. Hangzhou Chuanyue Silk Import & Export Co., 177 F.4th 793 (7th Cir. 2026), the court held that where the Hague Service Convention applies, it supplies the exclusive means of serving process abroad — and that because no provision of the Convention authorizes service by email in China, email service on a mainland-China defendant is not authorized by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 4(f)(3).

For years before Kangol, judges in the Northern District of Illinois routinely granted Schedule A plaintiffs leave to serve Chinese sellers by email or by posting documents to a website. Sellers who never learned of the case did not appear, and default judgments followed.

The scale of the practice

The Northern District of Illinois is the country’s busiest Schedule A forum. According to the complaint, more than 8,900 Schedule A cases were filed there between 2012 and May 2026, by more than 1,900 different named plaintiffs, with each case typically naming dozens or hundreds of online sellers under a collective caption. The complaint alleges that thousands of those cases ended in default judgments against mainland-China sellers served by email or electronic publication rather than through the Convention, that tens of thousands of sellers were affected, and that tens of millions of dollars were collected from them.

“Kangol corrected an error that was repeated thousands of times in the Northern District,” said Wesley E. Johnson of Cross-Border Counselor LLP, lead counsel in this action and in Kangol. “This case seeks to remedy those errors. Spread across tens of thousands of sellers, it adds up to an enormous uncompensated transfers of value out of the Chinese cross-border e-commerce sector.”

The named plaintiff

In December 2022, WHAM-O, owner of the FRISBEE trademarks, filed a Schedule A action in the Northern District of Illinois, WHAM-O Holding, Ltd. v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule “A,” No. 1:22-cv-06802. On Dec. 13, 2022, the court entered a temporary restraining order that also authorized service by email and electronic publication. GENISBULB was listed as defendant No. 44.

The court later entered a default judgment awarding WHAM-O statutory damages of $200,000 against each defaulting defendant and directing third parties holding the defendants’ funds to restrain those accounts and turn the money over. Amazon released $4,393.41 from GENISBULB’s account to WHAM-O. The balance of the $200,000 judgment, along with a permanent injunction, remains outstanding against the company, and the complaint alleges that marketplaces and payment processors continue to treat the judgment as an adjudicated finding of infringement.

A bilateral class structure

The complaint proposes a plaintiff class of mainland-China Schedule A defendants and, unusually, a defendant class of the Schedule A plaintiffs who obtained non-Hague service authorization and then took default judgments. WHAM-O, which the complaint alleges filed at least 116 Schedule A cases, is named as the proposed representative of the defendant class. A subclass would cover sellers whose funds were actually turned over.

No class has been certified, and the court has not ruled on any of the allegations in the complaint.

Information for affected sellers

Many sellers named in Schedule A cases never received notice that a judgment had been entered against them, and some learned of it only when a marketplace account was frozen or closed. Sellers who believe they may have been affected — or who are simply unsure whether a judgment was entered against them — are welcome to contact the firm with questions. There is no cost or obligation to make an inquiry.

About Cross-Border Counselor LLP

Cross-Border Counselor LLP is a law firm with offices in Illinois, California, Washington and New York that represents United States and Chinese companies in U.S. litigation involving international legal issues, with a particular focus on intellectual property actions and cross-border enforcement.

Media contact
Wesley E. Johnson
Cross-Border Counselor LLP
105 W. Madison Street, Suite 2300, Chicago, Illinois 60602
Phone: +1 (312) 752-4828
Email: wjohnson@cbcounselor.com 

Attorney Advertising

This release is attorney advertising. It describes allegations contained in a complaint filed with the court; those allegations have not been proven, and no court has ruled on them. Nothing here is legal advice on any specific matter, and nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Sources: Complaint filed Sept. 3, 2026 (N.D. Ill.); Kangol LLC v. Hangzhou Chuanyue Silk Import & Export Co., 177 F.4th 793 (7th Cir. May 29, 2026); WHAM-O Holding, Ltd. v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule “A,” No. 1:22-cv-06802 (N.D. Ill.).

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SOURCE Cross-Border Counselor LLP

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