LIONSGATE AND ODDLOT ENTERTAINMENT FORM MULTIPICTURE CO-PRODUCING, CO-FINANCING AND DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

Pictures include Mortdecai, starring Johnny Depp, and the previously announced Draft Day, directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Kevin Costner

SANTA MONICA, Calif. and CULVER CITY, Calif., Sept. 19, 2013 /CNW/ - Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) and OddLot Entertainment have formed a multiyear, multipicture co-financing and distribution deal beginning with OddLot's co-financing of the action comedy Mortdecai, starring Johnny Depp, the two companies announced today. The arrangement provides a framework for Lionsgate and OddLot to co-produce and co-finance additional pictures that may be sourced by either party, and it provides OddLot with access to committed distribution on certain pictures.

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Mortdecai, which is set to begin production this fall, features an all-star cast including Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany and Olivia Munn. OddLot is already partnered with Lionsgate on the sports drama/comedy Draft Day, starring Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary and Frank Langella, slated for release next year. OddLot also produced and spearheaded the partnership with Lionsgate and Digital Domain on the science fiction adventure Ender's Game, starring Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Haile Seinfeld, Viola Davis and Ben Kingsley, which will be released November 1.

"We're delighted to extend and expand our longstanding relationship with OddLot founder Gigi Pritzker and her team," said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger. "Our partnership on Ender's Game and Draft Day has now been extended to include Mortdecai, and we look forward to finding many more pictures to partner on in the future. OddLot is a reliable, accomplished, respected company and an important financial partner, and they will provide us with a valuable and consistent supply of future films for our portfolio."

"We've partnered with Lionsgate on a number of films over the past five years and we feel their entire team shares our entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to commercially exciting, star-driven films with global appeal," said OddLot Chief Executive Officer and founder Gigi Pritzker. "Lionsgate is one of the most dynamic and exciting studios in the entertainment industry today, and we look forward to expanding our current partnership on Ender's Game, Draft Day and Mortdecai to encompass an even broader slate as our relationship continues to evolve."

The deal was negotiated by Lionsgate Motion Picture Group General Manager Sean Kisker, Lionsgate EVP Business & Legal Affairs and Deputy General Counsel David Friedman and Lionsgate SVP Business & Legal Affairs Jean Chi. For OddLot negotiations were led by Co-Presidents Bill Lischak and Michael Nathanson, EVP Business and Legal Affairs Aaron Michiel, SVP of Finance Natalya Petrosova and outside counsel Bryan Wolf and Matt Johnson of Ziffren Brittenham LLP.

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 30 television shows on 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 network series Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show and the critically-acclaimed new series Orange Is The New Black.

Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent successes as the blockbuster first installment of The Hunger Games franchise, The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Now You See Me, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, Warm Bodies, Snitch, Texas Chainsaw 3D, The Expendables 2, The Possession, Sinister, Arbitrage and Pantelion Films' breakout hit Instructions Not Included, one of the highest-grossing Spanish-language films ever 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.

About OddLot

OddLot Entertainment is a Los Angeles-based film and television production company that develops, produces, finances and arranges distribution for quality, commercial properties for both the domestic and international markets.

OddLot's next production to be released is Ender's Game, written and directed by Gavin Hood, and starring Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Asa Butterfield as "Ender." Summit Entertainment is co-financing the film and will release it domestically November 1, 2013. OddLot also produced The Way, Way Back, a comedic drama from Academy Award®-winning writers Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, which was acquired by Fox Searchlight at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theatres on July 5, 2013. The film stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph, AnnaSophia Robb, Amanda Peet and Liam James.

The company is currently producing Ivan Reitman's Draft Day starring Kevin Costner which will be released by Summit Entertainment, and Jon Stewart's upcoming directorial debut Rosewater. OddLot's other credits include producing the critically-acclaimed Drive, Rabbit Hole and From Prada to Nada. Past credits for Gigi Pritzker, OddLot's CEO, include The Wedding Planner, Green Street Hooligans and Mean Creek.

 

SOURCE: Lionsgate

http://www.lionsgate.com

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