by Alison Joy

Brief Company Overview

Lionsgate, the result of a merger between Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and Beringer Gold Corp., was founded in 1997 by Frank Giustra in Vancouver, BC, and is now the leading independent film and television distribution company in all of North America. The company describes itself as a “leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution and new channel platforms.”⁶

Key executives include Jon Feltheimer, Co-Chairman and CEO; Harald H. Ludwig, Co-Chairman; Michael Burns, Vice chairman; and Steve Beeks, President. The company is headquartered at 2700 Colorado Avenue, Suite 500, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, and can be reached via office phone at (310)-449-9200. Their website is located at http://www.lionsgate.com.⁶

Financial

Lionsgate has seen a steady increase in revenue and stock price in the current fiscal quarter, most likely due to their abundance of economic activity and new content. On March 21, 2012, just two days before the release of the Hunger Games, the price for a share of Lionsgate stock on the NYSE was at a high of $15.68, significantly up from its January price where it fluctuated between $8 and $10 and continued to rise. On April 28, 2012, Lionsgate stock was still at a solid $12.44 after leveling off from its Hunger Games surge.²²

In February of 2012, Lionsgate released its fiscal earnings for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, which ended on December 31, 2011. The report details an EBITDA of $16.3 million, up from last year’s third quarter of $10.2 million. It also showed a total revenue of $323 million and a net loss of $1.7 million – a $0.01 loss per basic common share, an improvement from a loss of $0.04 per basic common share last year. The total revenue was down by $99.9 million, most likely due to their lack of wide theatrical releases. However, in this fiscal quarter, Lionsgate has had much theatrical success, and their financial earnings will no doubt continue to climb.⁴

Home entertainment revenue from motion pictures and television totaled $162.9 million, international motion picture revenue came to $14.6 million, and television production revenue was $89.7 million. Digital/on-demand revenue totaled $62.4 million (an 80% increase from last year), the entertainment backlog garnered $607.5 million, and general company expenses came to $35.8 million.⁴

Acquisitions

On January 13, 2012, it was announced that Lionsgate had acquired Summit Entertainment for a combination of cash and stock valuing around $412.5 million. This acquisition reinforces Lionsgate’s position as the leading independent entertainment company, and adds such titles to their library as The Twilight Saga (which has already grossed $2.5 billion), The Hurt Locker and Red. Summit’s term loan was refinanced to a sum of $500 million to be paid back by 2016.⁸

This will bode well for Lionsgate, a company that was once doubted by the entertainment industry in terms of future prosperity. Combined with their theatrical success, this merger should strengthen the financial spine of the company and solidify their reputation as an independent leader.

Films

On January 5, 2012, Lionsgate announced it had acquired exclusive rights for all packaged media and digital platforms of the popular Lalaloopsy™ dolls. The first film by Lionsgate, entitled Adventures in Lalaloopsy Land: Search for Pillow, was released on March 20, 2012. The film details the efforts of the Lalaloopsy dolls searching for their friend, Pillow Featherbed.⁷

On January 23, 2012, Lionsgate announced that The Twilight Saga’s Breaking New Dawn had grossed around $701.3 million since its November 18, 2011 release. The DVD release on February 11, 2012 was also incredibly successful, surpassing 5 million units within its first 11 days on the market. The film garnered 74,000 electronic sell through transactions and 175,000 video-on-demand transactions.¹⁹

On March 23, 2012, Lionsgate released the much-anticipated The Hunger Games, adapted from the bestselling book by Suzanne Collins. On Tuesday, March 20, 2012, stocks rose by 7% to $15.27 and closed on Wednesday at $15.68.²² Industry experts predicted the film to garner an opening weekend box office revenue of $90-$100 million, and a total revenue of $300 million in U.S. ticket sales, shattering Lionsgate’s previous record of $41 million set by Madea Goes to Jail. However, the film earned an opening-day total of $68.25 million, setting a record for a non-sequel, and coming in fifth for best opening day ever ⁵. The opening box office total was $155 million domestically and $59.3 million overseas for a total of $214.3 million, making it the third best debut of all time (after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight), and the best debut of all time for a non-sequel.²¹ The movie also set a record for best debut weekend in March, previously held by Alice in Wonderland at $116.1 million. As of April 30, 2012, the movie has earned over $372 million.¹

Television

In January of 2012, Lionsgate announced that it had acquired for distribution and sold the first season of the Canadian television drama Endgame to premiere on Hulu on January 9^th. This marks the continuation of Lionsgate’s efforts to become involved in digital media platforms.¹⁰

On March 13, 2012, Lionsgate announced its intentions to team up with company founder and ex-Chairman Frank Giustra and his company Thunderbird Films to create a television production partnership called Sea to Sky Entertainment. The two companies will co-manage and co-fund projects, several of which are already in the works. Upcoming content includes an ABC drama called Nashville by Academy Award winners R.J. Cutler and Callie Khouri, as well as the adaptation of the book An Upcoming Youth to be produced by Anne Thomopoulos. Dennis Lehane is also set to produce a one-hour drama series.¹⁴

On April 26, 2012, Lionsgate announced that the two-hour fifth season opener of the award-winning series Mad Men had garnered an audience of over 3.5 million on AMC, setting a record for the program and giving it a 2.5 HH.⁴

Academy Awards

On January 24, 2012, it was announced that Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment had had six Oscar nominations for the season: Best Supporting Actor (Nick Nolte, Warrior), Best Actor (Demían Bichir, A Better Life), Best Original Screenplay (Margin Call), Best Actress (Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs), Best Supporting Actress (Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs), and Best Makeup (Albert Nobbs). However, none of the nominations came through, and Lionsgate walked away without an Oscar win.⁹

Despite the losses, Lionsgate was still well represented at the awards ceremony and garnered some publicity.

Cross-Media Ventures

On February 2, 2012, Lionsgate announced a multi-year library agreement with Starz Entertainment to bring more than 500 movies from Lionsgate’s 13,000-title entertainment collection. Titles that will be provided include The Expendables, 3:10 to Yuma, the “Tyler Perry” movie franchise, the Saw franchise, Crash, Dirty Dancing, The Blair Witch Project and many others.¹⁷

On February 3, 2012, Lionsgate announced in partnership with Machinima, a video entertainment network for gamers, that they would expand the zombie apocalypse comedy web series “Bite Me” for a second season. The show premiered on March 6, 2012 on the Machinima Youtube Channel, as well as on FEARnet, a premium cable network channel.¹⁵

On March 22, 2012, the company announced that it had acquired distribution rights to Saban’s Power Rangers Samurai, the popular children’s action hero brand. Through this deal, Lionsgate obtains DVD and Blu-ray rights to all associated content, rights to the Power Rangers TV series on Nickelodeon, as well as distribution rights for the Christmas and Halloween specials.¹³

Company Personnel Changes

On January 20, 2012, it was announced that Summit Entertainment Co-Chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger would become Co-Chairs of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. This decision followed the announcement of the Lionsgate/Summit merger that took place the previous week.¹⁶

On February 9, 2012, Lionsgate announced Erik Feig, former President of Worldwide Production and Acquisitions at Summit Entertainment, would become President of Production for Lionsgate.¹²

On March 9, 2012, Lionsgate announced that Steve Beeks, a 14-year employee, would continue to serve as Co-Chief Operating Officer (a position he has held since 2007) as well as take on the new position of President of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group as Lionsgate and Summit continue to integrate.¹⁸

On April 12, 2012, Lionsgate announced more personnel changes in their international division as it continues to integrate with Summit Entertainment. Jill Jones was promoted to Executive Vice President International Marketing and Publicity after serving for four years as Summit’s Senior Vice President, International Marketing and Publicity. Brad Kembel was promoted to Executive Vice President of International Distribution after maintaining a similar position at Summit for over twenty years. Helen Lee Kim, Lionsgate’s former head of international has announced plans to leave the company after phasing in the new team.¹¹

On April 25, 2012, Tim Palen signed a new contract extending his position as Chief Marketing Officer for another ten years.²⁰

Works Cited

1. “Biggest Opening Weekends at the Box Office.” Box Office Mojo. 29 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.

2. “Company Overview.” Lionsgate Investors. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

3. Feltheimer, Jon and Michael Burns. Lionsgate 2011 Annual Report to Shareholders. Digital image. Lionsgate Investors. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

4. Friedman, Roger. “‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Opener Most Watched Ever–3.5 Mil Viewers.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.

5. “‘Hunger Games’ Serves up Huge Opening Day at $68M.” Seattle Post-Intelligenzer. Hearst Communications Inc., 24 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

6. “Investor FAQs.” Lionsgate Investors. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

7. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lionsgate Acquires the Exclusive Home Entertainment Distribution Rights for Lalaloopsy™, One of the Hottest Toy Properties on the Market. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 5 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

8. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lionsgate Acquires Summit Entertainment for $412.5 Million. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

9. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lionsgate Family Earns Six Oscar Nominations. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

10. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lionsgate Forges Innovative Agreement To Sell Thunderbird Films’ Procedural Drama “Endgame” to Hulu. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 9 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

11. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lionsgate International Completes Reorganization and Announces New Management Team. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.

12. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Names Erik Feig President of Production. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

13. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lionsgate ‘Powers Up’ with Distribution Rights to Saban’s Power Rangers Samurai. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 22 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

14. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lionsgate Teams with Frank Giustra and Thunderbird Films in Television Programming Partnership. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

15. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Machinima and Lionsgate Renew and Expand Original Web Series “Bite Me” PR Newswire. United Business Media, 3 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

16. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger Named Co-Chairs of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

17. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Starz Agreement Licenses More than 500 Movies from Lionsgate in MultiYear Agreement. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

18. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Steve Beeks Signs New Longterm Agreement to Continue as Lionsgate Co-Chief Operating Officer, Also Named President of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

19. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Breaks $700 Million Mark at Worldwide Box Office. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 23 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

20. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Tim Palen Signs New Long-Term Agreement as Lionsgate Films Chief Marketing Officer. PR Newswire. United Business Media, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.

21. McClintock, Pamela. “‘Hunger Games’ Third-Best Opening Weekend of All Time.” The Hollywood Reporter. 25 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.

22. “Summary for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.” Yahoo! Finance. Yahoo! – ABC News Network, 28, Apr. 2012. Web. 2012.