Ron Schwartz and Jim Packer Promoted to Co-Heads of Lionsgate Worldwide Home Entertainment Operations

News provided by

Oct 09, 2014, 09:00 ET

Company to Increase its Integrated Focus on Digital & Physical Media in the Home Entertainment Space

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move to position Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) at the forefront of innovation in the home entertainment industry, the Company has promoted Jim Packer and Ron Schwartz to be co-heads of its worldwide home entertainment operations, it was announced today by Lionsgate Co-Chief Operating Officer and Motion Picture Group President Steve Beeks, to whom they will continue to report.

Packer will keep his current title and responsibilities as President of Worldwide Television & Digital Distribution while Schwartz will serve as President of Lionsgate Home Entertainment, and the two executives will jointly run Lionsgate's nearly $1 billion-a-year worldwide home entertainment operations. Packer's promotion follows his recent signing of a new long-term agreement with the Company. Schwartz entered a new long-term deal with Lionsgate last year and has been upped from his previous position as President & General Manager of Lionsgate Home Entertainment Sales & Distribution.

Schwartz and Packer will both assume expanded responsibility for crafting the marketing strategies of Lionsgate's Home Entertainment Group worldwide, maintaining the Company's uniquely integrated focus on digital and physical media as well as planning and executing strategic initiatives to capitalize on emerging opportunities in the global home entertainment marketplace.

"Ron and Jim have complementary skills and experience, and they bring strategic vision, marketing acumen and operational expertise to the opportunities created by fast-changing home entertainment consumption patterns," said Mr. Beeks. "Under this new alignment, they will continue to lead a team of innovative and experienced executives in designing win/win scenarios for our digital and traditional partnerships alike as we expand the choices and enrich the quality and excitement of the home entertainment experience for our consumers."

"Jim and Ron are ideally qualified to continue building our momentum, generate new opportunities for incremental revenue and margin growth and extend our home entertainment business in exciting new directions," said Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer. "The emergence of new windows, the entry of new players in the digital space and the continued growth of our content business around the world create a perfect storm of opportunity on which Lionsgate is well positioned to capitalize as a next generation content company."

The promotions underscore the Company's focus on licensing film and television content to a broad and growing spectrum of digital platforms emerging alongside its traditional physical media partners. Lionsgate has been a first mover in customizing home entertainment release strategies for its content, including early EST, early VOD and day-and-date theatrical/VOD release windows for hits such as Arbitrage and Margin Call.

Under Packer and Schwartz's leadership, Lionsgate continues to over-index the industry average in its DVD, VOD and digital-to-box office conversion rates. The Company recently launched the successful home entertainment roll-out of the first installment of its global franchise Divergent, which has become the biggest-selling EST title in the Company's history and substantially over-performed expectations in its packaged media release as well.

Lionsgate became the first outside studio to license its titles to Comcast to facilitate their recent entry into the EST space, and the two companies have forged a long-term partnership to create motion picture apps built around specific film titles for Xfinity subscribers, beginning with the successful July 2014 launch of the Divergent app. The Company also continues to build its prolific and prestigious library of 16,000 motion picture and television titles, complementing its own product with successful third-party distribution agreements with Miramax, Studiocanal, A&E and others.

Schwartz and Packer also cited the innovation and performance of the home entertainment executive team they manage, which includes: Executive Vice President of Marketing Anne Parducci who, in addition to helping launch the Company's biggest home entertainment titles in recent years, has also grown its family home entertainment and faith-based lines of business; Home Entertainment COO Akin Ceylan, who helps guide the operational growth of the business; Executive Vice President of Sales & Distribution Jed Grossman, who helps lead the Company's home entertainment sales operations; recently-promoted Executive Vice President of Worldwide Digital Distribution Thomas Hughes, who spearheads the growth of Lionsgate's content licensing to digital platforms around the world; and Michael Youn, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning & Business Development, who heads the Home Entertainment Group's planning functions and is one of the industry's most widely respected research analysts.

About Lionsgate

Lionsgate, home to The Hunger Games, Twilight and Divergent franchises, is a premier next generation global content leader with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, digital distribution, new channel platforms and international distribution and sales. Lionsgate currently has more than 30 television shows on over 20 different networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mad Men and Nurse Jackie, the comedy Anger Management, the broadcast network series Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show and the critically-acclaimed hit series Orange is the New Black.

Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent successes as the blockbuster first two installments of The Hunger Games franchise, The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the first installment of the Divergent franchise, Now You See Me, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, Warm Bodies, The Possession, Sinister, Roadside Attractions' A Most Wanted Man and Pantelion Films' breakout hit Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.

Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 16,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

www.lionsgate.com

For further information, please contact:
Peter D. Wilkes
Lionsgate
310-255-3726
[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130919/LA83194LOGO

SOURCE Lionsgate