SANTA MONICA, Calif., and
VANCOUVER,
British Columbia, April 17, 2014 /CNW/ - Lionsgate (NYSE:
LGF), a premier next generation global content leader, is
integrating the marketing operations of its Lionsgate and Summit
film labels, the Company announced today.
As a result of this integration, Nancy
Kirkpatrick, who has served as Summit Entertainment's
President of Worldwide Marketing for the past six years, will
resign at the end of this month. Ms. Kirkpatrick shepherded the
marketing of all five films of the global blockbuster Twilight
Saga franchise and the recent successful launch of the
Company's new Divergent franchise.
The Company's feature film marketing is being integrated under
Chief Marketing Officer Tim Palen, who will have marketing
oversight of the Company's Lionsgate and Summit film labels as well
as its Pantelion Films joint venture with Televisa and its urban
Codeblack Films label along with expanded responsibilities for
merchandising, theme park attractions and new business
opportunities generated by the Company's franchises.
"Now was the right time to take the next step in integrating the
marketing departments of our Lionsgate and Summit film labels as we
continue to achieve significant operational synergies following the
acquisition of Summit Entertainment two years ago," said Lionsgate
Motion Picture Group Co-Chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick
Wachsberger. "Under the leadership of our innovative
Chief Marketing Officer Tim Palen, we will continue to develop
fresh marketing strategies that strengthen our brand, cultivate new
film properties and leverage our existing franchises into exciting
new businesses."
"Nancy has successfully completed the mission we asked her to
perform two years ago, maintaining the momentum of a vibrant slate
of Summit Entertainment films, culminating in last month's
blockbuster launch of the first film in our new Divergent
franchise," continued Friedman and Wachsberger. "Nancy is a
consummate professional and a skilled and intuitive marketing
executive. She has been a key member of our motion picture family
for years, and she will be missed."
ABOUT LIONSGATE
Lionsgate is 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, new
channel platforms and international distribution and sales.
Lionsgate currently has 34 television shows on 22 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 network series Nashville, the syndication success
The Wendy Williams Show and the critically-acclaimed 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 Expendables 2,
The Possession, Sinister, Roadside Attractions'
Mud 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 15,000 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
pwilkes@lionsgate.com
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SOURCE Lionsgate