Lionsgate

Lionsgate Entertainment is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Colombia and California in the 6^th of June 1997.  The company is the most successful in the North America with nearly $2 billion expansion in the global entertainment and a leading existence in the motion pictures production and distribution, the television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution and new channel platforms. Lionsgate’s prototype for the growth combines the flexible and progressive culture of an independent company, with has a financial well based relationship on a dominant studio and the structure and the consumer focus of a major digital age company.

Lionsgate was founded in 1997 by Frank Giustra; he is a Canadian investment banker hoping to obtain the growing film industry in his home town. The company bought a number of small production facilities and distributors, including the Trimark Pictures, Mandate Pictures and the Artisan Entertainment. They had sold off their Canadian distribution rights to Maple Pictures, founder and co-owned by two former Lions Executives: Brad Pelman and Laurie May. Currently Lionsgate sold their secondary Maple Pictures to film distributor Alliance Films, which is based in Montreal, Quebec. Its first major finances success was American Psycho in 2000, which began a trend of producing and distributing films too uncertain for the major American studios. Other notable films included Affliction, Gods and Monsters, Dogma, Saw and the Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which until the release of The Hunger Games in 2012, became the studio's highest grossing film.

During the past 10 years, Lionsgate has grown into the leading next generation filmed entertainment studio through a mix of organic growth and strategic attainments. With the recovery of Artisan Entertainment, Trimark Holdings and other available libraries, Lionsgate now manages one of the most prestigious and prolific libraries in the entertainment industry having 13,000 titles, a diverse portfolio of businesses and a commercially potent feature film list of 12 to 15 releases a year.

In 2006, Lionsgate accessed the American television production and alliance company Debmar-Mercury. This studio is recognized for its role in a number of daytime TV programs. The Lions Gate Studios located 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 alliance 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, 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.

In 2007, Lionsgate bought a god part in independent film distribution company Roadside Attractions Lionsgate, along with Paramount Pictures/Viacom, is also a co-owner of Epix, a new pay TV movie channel which debuted on October 30, 2009 on Verizon systems, that will rival Showtime Lionsgate which has stated they would be starting work in music albums.

The distribution of selected recent cinema films for pay-per-view is under the supervision of NBC Universal Television Distribution under Universal Pictures . Universal formally held home video and television rights too many of the early Lionsgate films, while all others are distributed for both cable and broadcast television through Lionsgate's organised division. Lionsgate had played a significant role in the co-financing and co-partnership with Relativity Media on its films until 2010, later the company split from its deal with Lionsgate to form its own self-distribution unit.

Lionsgate's feature film list generated more than half a billion dollars at the North American profit in calendar year 2010 fuelled by such recent profit hits as THE EXPENDABLES, Lionsgate's most profitable film ever, THE LAST EXORCISM, SAW 3D, TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?, the critiqued PRECIOUS, which won two Academy Awards®, DAYBREAKERS, MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D, HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT, FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, RAMBO and THE BANK JOB.  Lionsgate has earned 47 Academy Award® nominations and 10 Oscar® wins over the past 10 years, more than any other independent studio.

The highly diversified company also features a vibrant television production and business with 15 prime-time cable and broadcast network series owning 12 channels, including the Emmy Award-winning drama series “Mad Men” the comedy “Blue Mountain State,”  and the new comedy "Running Wilde," just picked up for its first season by Fox Broadcasting.  Lionsgate's television programming has earned 77 Emmy nominations and seven Emmy wins in the past 10 years, including 26 Emmy nominations in the past year alone.

The Company also has a portfolio of television series through its Debmar-Mercury television distribution arm that includes Tyler Perry’s hit “House of Payne,” with 212 total episodes produced for Turner Broadcasting and the Fox allied station group, its spinoff “Meet the Browns,” “The Wendy Williams Show,” the recently launched comedy "Are We There Yet?" on TBS, the upcoming "Jeremy Kyle Talk Show" and such evergreen classics as "South Park," "Family Feud" and "Trivial Pursuit."

Lionsgate gets about $600-million-a-year, home entertainment business has 7% market share and the industry’s highest box office-to-DVD conversion rate, including such recent hit titles as THE EXPENDABLES, KICK ASS, PRECIOUS, the first five seasons of WEEDS, the first three seasons of MAD MEN and the first season of NURSE JACKIE.

Lionsgate is also building a allied portfolio of new channel businesses, including FEARnet, the branded horror channel operated with partners Sony and Comcast, TV Guide Network, gathered in February 2009 and operated in agreement with JPMorgan’s One Equity Partners, EPIX, the new premium entertainment channel with partners Viacom and MGM, and Tiger Gate, which operates the branded action and horror channels Kix and Thrill in Asia in partnership with the Saban Capital Group.

By doing this research up to now I found out the types of producers they are working with to produce the film but also the distributors and the programming such as the EPIX thrill channel which could help me with my horror video distribution. This wide research is making me realise that even that it is an independent company it has a really big wide of alliances which are made for all the businesses/companies to benefit and prosper. This research is making me form an opinion about the company itself and whether to use its services viewing its part.

Moreover a TV Guide Network, which is a fully distributed channel reaching over 80 million homes, has achieved significant growth of its content and distribution businesses in its first year under the Lionsgate banner.  TV Guide.com is a leading online navigation site which has grown from 5 million to 21 million unique monthly visitors in the past three years.  EPIX continues to gain momentum with its transformative carriage agreement with Netflix along with other recent deals with Verizon, Charter, Cox, Mediacom, NCTC and DISH Network.  EPIX has gone from launch to profitability in its first year and is already available in more than 30 million homes. 

 As Tiger Gate is expanding its distribution across Asia, its Thrill channel showcases high-end local Asian horror films and thrillers and hit television series, and it will also leverage Lionsgate's vast stockpile of horror/thriller content as well as other Hollywood studio hits. Other companies within the Lionsgate family include Lionsgate UK, acquired in October 2005, and the independent production and distribution company Mandate Pictures, acquired in August 2007, which after the released, the box office hit and Best Picture Academy Award® nominee JUNO, as well as HAROLD AND KUMAR 2 etc.

 Lionsgate made a 42% equity investment in Break.com, the leading online site for young men ages 18-34 with nearly 130 million unique users, and a 43% investment in Roadside Attractions, an independent film production and distribution platform that released last year's Academy Award(R) winning documentary THE COVE. Lionsgate has also created a vibrant global distribution root that includes the product of a growing agenda of third parties including Relativity Media, Gold Circle Films, Televisa and StudioCanal.

Also the Lionsgate possesses its own record label & music publishing company in the form of Lionsgate Music & Publishing. During the past 10 years, Lionsgate has grown its revenues eightfold, from $180 million ton early $1.6 billion, its theatrical box office market share tenfold and its television revenues by a multiple of 50, from $8 million in 2000 to nearly $360 million this past year .One shock from this firm costs $12.12

In January 2012, Lionsgate announced it was collecting Summit Entertainment, producers of the Twilight Saga films, for $412.5 million. The two companies have planned on merging since 2008. On March 23, 2012, the Lionsgate film "The Hunger Games" grossed $68.3 million at the Friday U.S. box office. It was the best opening and the fifth highest of all time. Of that total, $19.7 million was earned via Thursday midnight screenings. In its first weekend, The Hunger Games grossed $152.5 million; making it Lionsgate's highest grossing film after just three days. They keep an online record of the financial reports they get: http://investors.lionsgate.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=62796&p=irol-reportsAnnual

To promote their company as well as the films they distribute they use different types of strategies. Some of which are: Browser and flashing cookies, web beacons which are a little graphic images helping us remember, the use of IP Address, External Links, Third Party Advertisements, and other usual adverts such as a TV/radio add, posters and flyer etc. For this year’s promotion, more exactly the Hunger Games, the company has spend over $45 million. Its budget for this film was slim going up to $80 million.

By seeing all this information and gathering it, I have realised how big a production company is, in terms of their financial side and the profit they could get out of it if it has a good promotion technique and the film itself is successful, but also the time and successes when linking or buying companies to expand your own. This company will be a good company to represent my horror video as it has several good horror films released n the big screens and also owns the thrill channels and programmes.  By my analyse it has a good history with big companies alliances and contracts, making good and professional films and videos.