PRESS RELEASE
Santa Monica, CA, and Vancouver, BC, April 4, 2019 – Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) today kicked off its CinemaCon presentation to exhibitors by announcing a joint venture with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, partner James Weaver and their Point Grey Pictures (PGP) to produce multi-platform content. PGP is the multi-genre film and television production company behind hit films such as Blockers, Neighbors, Sausage Party, The Night Before, This is the End, the television shows “Future Man,” “Black Monday,” and “Preacher,” as well as Lionsgate’s highly-anticipated Rogen and Charlize Theron romantic comedy event of the summer Long Shot, which won the Audience Award in the Headliners section of SXSW and will bereleased in the US and select markets on May 3 before expanding worldwide. PGP will continue to operate autonomously under Rogen, Goldberg and Weaver’s leadership while working closely with Lionsgate’s executive teams to develop content for the Company’s motion picture, scripted and unscripted television, digital and location-based entertainment businesses.
“Lionsgate is a leader in entertainment with few equals,” said Rogen, Goldberg and Weaver. “Over the years we have developed some of our biggest hits with Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane— they have been among our biggest supporters. We are thrilled to be partnering with them, alongside Kevin Beggs in TV, and the entire Lionsgate team.”
“Seth, Evan and James are visionary entrepreneurs and three of the greatest storytellers in the business,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “We look forward to a partnership that turbocharges the continued ramp up of our film and television slateswhile creating exciting opportunities across our entire portfolio of businesses. Our investment in the Point Grey team promises great returns for our two companies, our partners, and audiences around the world.”
“From our days at Mandate and Good Universe to our experience working with them here at Lionsgate, we have had the pleasure and privilege of working with Seth, Evan and James on some of their most iconic films and we could not ask for more incredible or collaborative creative partners,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chairman Joe Drake. “We believe the best from Point Grey is yet to come. The partnership we’re announcing today. In addition to the outstanding comedies that have been the hallmark of Point Grey, we are equally excited to see this company continue to push creative boundaries and develop dramatic material as well. As they move in diverse directions artistically, we look forward to continuing to build our businesses together.”
Drake and Kahane’s longstanding relationship with the Point Grey team has included collaboration on the hit comedies Neighbors, This Is The End, and The Night Before, as well as the dramedy 50/50, the Academy Award®-nominated The Disaster Artist and the critically-acclaimed hit Blockers, among others. They had an overall deal with Point Grey at their production and distribution company Good Universe, acquired by Lionsgate in 2017. The Point Grey/Lionsgate alliance allows Rogen, Goldberg and Weaver to creatively thrive and incubate new programming for every platform, screen and venue within Lionsgate’s 360 entertainment ecosystem.
Whether creating globally released theatrical motion pictures through Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, developing irreverent new series that can be packaged and sold through Lionsgate Television, creating content specifically with and for the company’s expanding global streaming platform STARZ or utilizing Lionsgate’s location-based entertainment business, Point Grey’s storytelling and content creation will touch every aspect of the entertainment industry globally— making the partnership a major expansion of Lionsgate’s relationship with and commitment to the trio.
This collaboration is the latest in a string of unique partnerships that Lionsgate has formed with content creators, including its collaboration with 3 Arts Entertainment, the first-ever partnership between a major Hollywood studio and a talent management and production company.
The deal was negotiated for Lionsgate by Motion Picture Group President of Business & Legal Affairs Patricia Laucella and Executive Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs Bonnie Stylides as well as Lionsgate Television Group President Sandra Stern and Television Chief Operating Officer Laura Kennedy. UTA and law firm Felker Toczek negotiated the deal on behalf of Point Grey Pictures.
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