For $$The Next Act$$ how about an entertainment stock.
LGE-T. It looks exciting and I just bought some. Lots of big crosses on this one. Yorkton is the biggest buyer. Maybe because Frank Giustra the chair & CEO of LGE is also a director at Yorkton.
These guys are putting out some big pictures. NOW SHOWING - Wild Things - Kevin Bacon, Matt Dilon & Neve Campbell (I'de go just to see Neve Campbell).
This stock gets a lot of coverage by the Van Sun.
LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT CORP. AND PETER GUBER ANNOUNCE THE FORMATION OF MANDALAY PICTURES
Mandalay Pictures Will Have Long-Term Financing, Production &
Distribution Agreement With Paramount Pictures
VANCOUVER, March 9 /CNW/ - Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (TSE:LGE)
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGE:TSE) and Peter Guber have forged an
agreement to create Mandalay Pictures it was announced today by Lions Gate
Entertainment Corp., Chairman and CEO, Frank Giustra, and Guber. Mandalay
Pictures will be owned by LG Pictures (a wholly owned subsidiary of Lions Gate
Entertainment Corp.) and Guber, Paul Schaeffer and Adam Platnick. Peter
Strauss is the President of LG Pictures. Mandalay Pictures will develop and
produce approximately 20 films over five years. Mandalay Pictures is
simultaneously entering into a long-term, multi-picture financing, producing
and distribution agreement with Paramount Pictures which also was announced
today via a separate press release. Mandalay Pictures will become Lions
Gate's only source of major studio motion picture product.
''By creating Mandalay Pictures and having the company supported by a
substantial agreement with Paramount, Lions Gate has instantly established the
ability to co-own [with Guber, Schaeffer and Platnick] major studio motion
pictures'' stated Giustra. ''These arrangements represent a significant
milestone in our effort to build a fully integrated Canadian-based film and
television powerhouse. With Peter Guber's extraordinary skills in the
development, production and marketing of feature films coupled with
Paramount's support and expertise in all areas of the motion picture industry,
Lions Gate looks forward to producing a slate of exciting high quality
films.''
''I'm thrilled at our new partnership with Lions Gate,'' said Guber.
''Frank Giustra's entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen will provide
Mandalay Pictures with a unique resource to allow us to grow our company to
its next level.''
The slate of Mandalay Pictures' films will be financed through its
production, distribution and financing arrangement with Paramount, Mandalay's
seven international partners (including Constantine/Kirsch, Entertainment
Film, Tri-Pictures, Checci Gori, Village Roadshow), along with equity
financing provided by Lions Gate. The total value of the production slate
will be over US$800 million.
As part of the Mandalay Pictures' agreement, Guber, Schaeffer and
Platnick's interest in Mandalay Pictures may be converted into Lions Gate
Entertainment Corp. shares by either Lions Gate or Guber, Schaeffer and
Platnick. Accordingly, all parties interests become clearly aligned in
working towards the success of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
In the past two years, Mandalay Entertainment (the current motion picture
company run by Messrs. Guber, Platnick and Schaeffer) has become one of the
preeminent independent producers and financiers of major motion pictures for
the global market. Last year's successes include the box office smash hit I
Know What You Did Last Summer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sara Michelle
Geller, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. and written by Kevin Williamson,
which to date has grossed over $100 million worldwide; the international
sensation, Seven Years In Tibet, starring Brad Pitt and David Thewlis and
directed by Jean Jacques Annaud, which has to date reached $150 million in
worldwide box office; and the critically and commercially successful Donnie
Brasco, starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, directed by Mike Newell.
Upcoming releases from Mandalay Entertainment through Columbia/TriStar
include Wild Things, starring Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon and Neve Campbell and
directed by John McNaughton; Deep End of the Ocean, based on the number one
best-selling book by Jacquelyn Mitchard, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer,
Whoopi Goldberg and Treat Williams; Les Miserables, starring Liam Neeson,
Geoffery Rush, Uma Thurman and Clair Danes and directed by Billie August; and
the much anticipated sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer, starring
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Brandy and Freddie Prinze Jr. and directed by Danny
Cannon.
In addition to guiding Mandalay's success for the past three and a half
years, Peter Guber has had an illustrious career in the entertainment
business, where he has produced some of the industry's most successful,
record-breaking and innovative films such as Batman, Rain Man, The Color
Purple, Midnight Express, The Witches of Eastwick, An American Werewolf in
London, The Deep, Missing and Inner Space. Prior to spearheading the Mandalay
Entertainment corporation, Guber was the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sony
Pictures Entertainment from its inception through 1994.
Guber is also Chairman of Mandalay Series Television and Mandalay
Television Pictures, which in its first year completed five top-rated movies
and mini-series and has an extensive slate of pilots and series for the 1998
season. In September 1997, Mandalay Television's operations were acquired by
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., publicly traded on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (LGE:TSE), has a growing influence in both the American and global
feature film and television marketplaces with a mandate to continue to
strategically strengthen and expand the company through major acquisitions.
In addition to the newly formed Mandalay Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment
has three key divisions; Lions Gate Films, Lions Gate Studios (Canada's
largest studio facility) and Mandalay Television.
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