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Model Sues Over ‘Mad Men’ Opening Credits

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday March 1, 2013 @ 4:38pm PSTTags: Gita Hall May, Lionsgate, Mad Men
Nellie Andreeva

Gita Hall May, a popular 1950s and 1960s model, has filed a lawsuit against Lionsgate over the company’s Emmy-winning 1960s drama Mad Men. In the complaint, filed today at the Los Angeles Superior Court, May argues that the series’ opening credits use an image of her without her consent. The image in question had been cropped from an 1950s photograph of May taken by well known photographer Richard Avedon for a Revlon hairspray ad.

“The Main Titles were integral to the success of Mad Men,” the complaint says (read it here), claiming that the producers “have generated income in excess of $1 billion through exploitation of the series and its episodes.” The main title for the show is not produced by Mad Men studio Lionsgate but by Imaginary Forces, with Mark Gardner and Steve Fuller credited as directors and Jeremy Cox and Joey Salim as designers. It won the 2008 Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design.

“(May’s) likeness appears more prominently and directly than any other image in that sequence, and in the Pilot directly opposite the credit for the program’s Producer,” the suit says. Since Mad Men airs on cable, May says she only became aware of the misappropriation last May. In the lawsuit she seeks unspecified damages “suffered as a result of the unauthorized use” of her likeness. Lionsgate had no comment.

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Wayne Levin To Remain Lionsgate’s General Counsel And Chief Strategic Officer

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday February 13, 2013 @ 5:53am PSTTags: Lionsgate

SANTA MONICA, CA, and VANCOUVER, BC, (February 13, 2013) – Wayne Levin, a 17-year veteran of Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) and its predecessor companies, has signed a new long-term agreement to serve as the Company’s General Counsel and Chief Strategic Officer, the Company announced today.

Mr. Levin is the Company’s senior legal and business affairs executive and is a member of Lionsgate’s senior decision-making team. He will continue to report to Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer on corporate management and strategic issues and will work closely with Vice Chairman Michael Burns and Co-Chief Operating Officer Brian Goldsmith on M&A activities and initiatives related to the Company’s capital structure, including significant corporate and project financings. Mr. Levin was one of the architects of Lionsgate’s new, five-year $800 million revolving credit facility.

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Lionsgate Says ‘Divergent’ Could Play Like ‘Hunger Games’ Despite Key Differences

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday February 12, 2013 @ 9:17am PSTTags: Divergent, Lionsgate, The Hunger Games

Lionsgate execs had to do a little balancing act this morning when they talked to Wall Street analysts about the early plans for the movie version of author Veronica Roth’s … Read More »

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Gordy Crawford Joins Lionsgate Board

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday February 12, 2013 @ 6:06am PSTTags: Gordy Crawford, Lionsgate

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 12, 2013 — Veteran media investor Gordon Crawford has joined Lionsgate’s (NYSE: LGF) Board of Directors, the Company announced today. The appointment increases the size of Lionsgate’s Board from 12 to 13 members.

Mr. Crawford served in various senior positions at Capital Research and Management, a privately held investment management company with more than $1 trillion in assets under management, for more than 40 years before his retirement in December 2012. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Olympic Foundation and Vice Chairman of the Paley Center for Media.

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Lionsgate Fiscal Q3 Earnings Soar Past Analysts’ Expectations

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday February 11, 2013 @ 1:15pm PSTTags: Lionsgate

The Street expected upbeat news about the year-end quarter that included the release of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2. But not this good: Lionsgate generated $37.8M in net income in the last three months of 2012, up from a $1.4M loss in the period the previous year, on revenues of $743.6M, +130.2%. Revenues far exceeded expectations for $707M. Reported earnings, at 28 cents a share, beat forecasts for 16 cents. And that number is deceptively low: It includes a $14.7M one-time expense from Lionsgate’s payoff of debt from its purchase of Summit Entertainment. Take that out, and earnings would have come to 39 cents a share. The company’s revenues from motion pictures came to $673.5M, +189% — including theatrical sales of $192.9M, up from $8.4M at the end of 2011. Home entertainment sales for movies and TV were up 23% to $233.0M. And television revenue was up fourfold to $98.8M. But television production revenue fell 22% to $70.1M: Lionsgate says that overseas sales of Anger Management, Mad Men (seasons three, four, and five) and Weeds (Season 8) were offset by “declines in domestic series licensing due to timing.” Lionsgate owns 51% of TV Guide Network and reports in its SEC filing that the cable channel lost $19M in the quarter, down from last year’s $11.9M loss, on revenues of $21M, -17%. The company also owns 31.1% of EPIX and says that the channel generated nearly $17M in net income, -6.2%, on revenues of $83.2M, +4.3%. Read More »

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VOD Pioneer Jason Constantine Re-Ups At Lionsgate

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday February 6, 2013 @ 8:20am PSTTags: Lionsgate
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: Not that anybody thought he was leaving, but Lionsgate has announced a contract extension for Jason Constantine to continue as President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions at the studio’s Motion Picture Group. Constantine continues to play key roles … Read More »

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Specs On Endangered List? Lionsgate-Summit Acquires ‘Endangered’ For Alli Shearmur

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday February 5, 2013 @ 12:55pm PSTTags: Big Deals Film, Lionsgate
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Long live the spec script! Lionsgate just bought Endangered, a spec script by Ryan Belenzon and Jeffrey Gelber for Lionsgate/Summit with Alli Shearmur producing. It’s an action-adventure script about a team of scientists on a mission … Read More »

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Telemundo Media Licensing Deal With Lionsgate Includes ‘Hunger Games’

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday February 4, 2013 @ 12:57pm PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Lionsgate, Telemundo, The Hunger Games

NBCUniversal’s Spanish-language video operation wants to be seen as a movie destination — probably a smart strategy in light of reports showing a surge in movie-going by Latino audiences. The new multi-year agreement with Lionsgate extends their … Read More »

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Lionsgate’s Codeblack Films Picks Up Angela Davis Documentary

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday January 30, 2013 @ 5:18am PSTTags: AMC, BET, Codeblack Films, Lionsgate

Codeblack Films has acquired the theatrical rights to the documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Written and directed by Shola Lynch, the film about Angela Davis premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year. Free Angela … Read More »

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Lionsgate Inks First-Look TV Deal With Matt Williams’ Wind Dancer Films

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday January 23, 2013 @ 12:16pm PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Lionsgate

Writer-producer Matt Williams‘ Wind Dancer Films will develop and produce scripted comedies and drama for Lionsgate as part of the new deal. Williams created and executive produced the TV series Roseanne. He also was a … Read More »

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Kevin Dersley Named Managing Director Of UK’s Elevation Sales

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday January 17, 2013 @ 4:52am PSTTags: Lionsgate, StudioCanal

Elevation Sales is the home entertainment joint venture between Lionsgate and Studiocanal in the UK that was originally founded in 2004 and later acquired by the partners. Kevin Dersley joins Elevation as managing director from retail … Read More »

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Evolution Entertainment Launches TV Division, Inks First Look Deal With Lionsgate

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday January 16, 2013 @ 10:00am PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Evolution Entertainment, Lionsgate
Nellie Andreeva

Mark Burg and Michael Menchel’s Evolution Entertainment is expanding its partnership with Lionsgate beyond the Charlie Sheen comedy Anger Management, which the two companies are producing together. Evolution has signed a first-look deal with Lionsgate to develop and produce television programming. The pact marks the launch of Evolution’s new television division, which will be overseen by recently hired SVP Rachel Israel. “We have enjoyed an extraordinary collaboration with Evolution on Anger Management so expanding the scope of our relationship with Mark, Mike and their team made perfect sense,” said Kevin Beggs, president of Lionsgate Television Group. “They embody the kind of creative spirit and entrepreneurial acumen that define and drive the Lionsgate brand and we look forward to developing many more projects together.”

As Sheen’s longtime manager, Evolution is a producer of Two and a Half Men and Anger Management, with Burg serving as an executive producer on both series. Following a successful 10-episode run on FX last summer, Anger Management kicks off its 90-episode back order tomorrow night for a virtually uninterrupted two-year run. The series has already been sold in broadcast syndication to Fox Television Stations for fall 2014. “Our partnership with Lionsgate on Anger Management has proven to be everything we hoped for, and this new agreement is an exciting next step as we look to broaden our reach in television for both our clients and the larger community,” said Evolution principal Burg and President Menchel. Read More »

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‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’: First Set Photos

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday January 14, 2013 @ 3:14pm PSTTags: Jennifer Lawrence, Lionsgate, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Here’s the first look at shots from Lionsgate‘s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second in the studio’s trilogy starring Jennifer Lawrence. Francis Lawrence directs the pic, which is set to open November 22.

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‘Breaking Dawn Part 2′ Headed To Home Vid March 2

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday January 14, 2013 @ 2:56pm PSTTags: Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

The Summit franchise has already grossed $3.3 billion in global box office culminating with the finale of the series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, which has taken in $821.8 million of that. The weekend release date will surely allow for strong midnight events surrounding the home … Read More »

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Care Bears And Strawberry Shortcake Find Home Vid Home At Lionsgate

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday January 9, 2013 @ 1:05pm PSTTags: Lionsgate

Lionsgate‘s deal with American Greetings Corp for home entertainment rights to Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake properties comes after not-so-cuddly rights litigation between American Greetings and Cookie Jar Entertainment, which tried to purchase the former in … Read More »

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Lionsgate Lends A Hand To Samsung’s 3D TV Technology: CES

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday January 9, 2013 @ 8:00am PSTTags: 3D TV, Lionsgate, Samsung

Consumers aren’t going to buy many 3D TV sets unless they have more content to watch on them. The independent studio said at the International CES confab in Las Vegas today that it will help the cause by using Samsung’s … Read More »

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Media Stocks Join Wall Street’s Rally Following Fiscal Cliff Deal

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday January 2, 2013 @ 11:27am PSTTags: Big Deals Film, Big Deals TV, Big Media, Lionsgate, Viacom

Investors are still celebrating the new year after lawmakers in Washington agreed to deficit reduction legislation that will derail a package of spending cuts and tax increases that many economists say could have triggered another recession. Media stocks are largely up today, with Lionsgate hitting an all-time high, and conglomerates including CBS, News Corp and Time Warner touching 52-week highs. The Dow Jones U.S. Media Index is +2.7% in early afternoon trading, ahead of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard and Poor’s 500, which are both +1.7%. Viacom (+5.7%) is a standout among the leading Big Media companies. The increase follows a report this morning from Lazard Capital Markets’ Barton Crockett who says that the entertainment company “should benefit from a sentiment swing” as ratings stabilize at networks including Nickelodeon and MTV. Following Viacom among the industry leaders: News Corp (+3.7%), Time Warner (+3.0%), CBS (+2.8%), Comcast (+2.5%), Discovery (+2.6%), Sony (+2.3%), and Disney (+2.0%). Other big gainers today include LIN TV (+7.2%), National CineMedia (+6.4%), and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (+6.1%).

Related: Hollywood Wins Tax-Break Extension In Fiscal Cliff Agreement Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘Tyler Perry’s Temptation’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday December 21, 2012 @ 12:13pm PSTTags: Kim Kardashian, Lionsgate, Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry's Temptation

Lionsgate‘s latest Tyler Perry pic Tyler Perry’s Temptation, which he wrote and directed, stars Friday Night Lights alum Jurnee Smollett, Lance Gross, Vanessa Williams, Robbie Jones and Kim Kardashian in a drama about a married marriage counselor (Smollett) who falls into a relationship with a rich client … Read More »

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Global Showbiz Briefs: Aeon-Warner Japan, ‘Anger Management’ India And More

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday December 20, 2012 @ 10:30pm PSTTags: Anger Management, Foxtel, Lionsgate

Aeon Buys Out WB Stake In Japan Cinemas
Japanese retail giant Aeon Group will acquire Warner Bros Entertainment’s 50% stake in the Japanese theater circuit Warner Mycal, Film Business Asia reports. A major exhibitor in Japan with 60 theaters and 496 screens, Warner Mycal was launched in 1993 as a partnership of Warner and Aeon, which was known at the time as Mycal. Aeon’s purchase is expected to close in February or March. Aeon separately owns some 70 complexes with 600 screens. Bringing the Warner Mycal theaters under its wholly owned umbrella is expected to make Aeon the largest movie theatre operator in Japan. Current market leader is Toho Cinemas. Aeon did not disclose the value of Warner Mycal. Warner Bros International Cinemas has been a multiplex cinema pioneer, opening more than 170 theatres with almost 1,600 screens in 11 countries including Portugal, Japan, Holland, Italy, China, and Taiwan. Most have been sold to local companies.
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