Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation[4] (commonly referred to as Lionsgate) is a North American[5] entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.[6][7] As of 2011, it is the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America.[8]
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Lionsgate was founded in 1997 by Frank Giustra, a Canadian investment banker hoping to capitalize on the growing film industry in his home town. The company bought a number of small production facilities and distributors, including Montreal-based Cinépix Film Properties (CFP) also known as Cinéxus-Famous Players Distribution, Trimark Pictures, Mandate Pictures and, most notably, Artisan Entertainment (which itself had formerly been LIVE Entertainment, and before that, Vestron Pictures).[9]
They had sold off their Canadian distribution rights to Maple Pictures, founded and co-owned by two former Lionsgate executives, Brad Pelman and Laurie May.[10] Recently, Lionsgate sold their subsidiary Maple Pictures to film distributor Alliance Films, which is based in Montreal, Canada.
Its first major box office success was American Psycho in 2000, which began a trend of producing and distributing films too controversial for the major American studios. Other notable films included Affliction, Gods and Monsters, Dogma, Saw and the Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which became the studio's highest grossing film.
Lionsgate had played a significant role in the co-financing and co-partnership with Relativity Media on its films until 2010 when the latter company split from its deal with Lionsgate to form its own self-distribution unit.
In 2006, Lionsgate acquired the American television production and syndication company Debmar-Mercury. This studio is recognized for its role in a number of daytime TV programs.
In 2007, Lionsgate bought a partial stake in independent film distribution company Roadside Attractions.[11]
Lionsgate, along with MGM and Paramount Pictures/Viacom, is also a co-owner of Epix, a new pay TV movie channel which debuted on October 30, 2009 on Verizon FiOS IPTV systems, that will rival HBO and Showtime.[12] Lionsgate also stated they would be starting work in music albums.[13]
The distribution of selected recent non-in-house films for pay-per-view and on-demand are under the supervision of NBCUniversal Television Distribution under Universal Pictures (Universal formally held home video and television rights to many of the early Lionsgate films), while all others (particularly the in-house films) are distributed for both cable and broadcast television through Lionsgate's syndicated division.
Lionsgate's library of movies and TV shows can be seen on digital platform Hulu.[14]
Contrary to some assumptions, Lionsgate has no relation to the now-defunct, Los Angeles-based studio and production company run by filmmaker Robert Altman in the 1970s, which the director called Lion's Gate Films.[15] However, both companies take their name from the same landmark: the entrance to Greater Vancouver's harbour, the Lion's Gate, and the famed Lions Gate Bridge that spans it. The view from the bridge includes the distant Lions, a pair of mountain peaks north of Vancouver, where Altman shot his 1969 feature, That Cold Day in the Park.
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Aside from home video distribution of films sub-licensed from other studios, Lionsgate's library consists of films from the respective companies Lionsgate succeeded-in-interest, such as Producers Sales Organization, Vestron Pictures, and Artisan Entertainment, in addition to their in-house material. Their complete ownership depends on the worldwide regions of license.
Lionsgate Television produced such series as The Dead Zone, Five Days to Midnight, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Tyler Perry's House of Payne and the Emmy Award-winning Mad Men. Lionsgate also recently acquired TV syndication firm Debmar-Mercury in 2006 with 20th Television handling ad-sales with the exception for Meet the Browns, as the ad-sales are handled by Disney-ABC Domestic Television and Turner Television co-distributing the series. Lionsgate also owns the TV Guide Network.
The Lions Gate Studios property in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada was sold to a private company, Bosa Developments, and is now called North Shore Studios, and no longer have an affiliation with Lionsgate Entertainment. In 2006, the company acquired land in Rio Rancho, New Mexico for construction of a new studio facility. The former Lionsgate office located in Toronto is now owned by Maple Pictures (basically the spiritual successor for the original Lions Gate), the distribution arm of Alliance Films, a major Canadian motion picture distribution/production company, resulting in Lions Gate's demerger into two companies, Lionsgate (the American company formerly known as Artisan) and Maple Pictures (the Canadian company formerly known as Lions Gate).
Lionsgate has a home video library of more than 8000 films with all of the former Artisan Entertainment releases (many the result of output deals with other studios), including such titles as Dirty Dancing, Earth Girls are Easy, Army of One, Total Recall, On Golden Pond, and the Rambo series. Lionsgate also distributes select NBC programs such as Will & Grace, Little House on the Prairie and The Biggest Loser; Mattel's Barbie-branded videos and Clifford the Big Red Dog videos from the Scholastic Corporation and is also the current home video distributor of HiT Entertainment titles, including Barney & Friends, Thomas and Friends and Fraggle Rock.
Video properties currently owned by Lionsgate Home Entertainment include those from Family Home Entertainment, Vestron Video, Lightning Video (a former Vestron company), and Magnum Entertainment.
Lionsgate posseses its own record label & music publishing company in the form of Lionsgate Music & Publishing.
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