LIONSGATE AND EXCLUSIVE MEDIA GROUP'S NEWMARKET FILMS ENTER INTO HOME ENTERTAINMENT DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT ENCOMPASSING DVD, BLU-RAY, DIGITAL DELIVERY, TELEVISION, AND VOD

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), the leading next generation studio, and Exclusive Media Group's (Exclusive) Newmarket Films, the highly regarded Los Angeles based film production and distribution company, have announced that they have entered into a home entertainment distribution deal including DVD, Blu-ray, digital delivery, TV and Video On Demand (VOD).  Under the terms of the arrangement, Lionsgate will become the exclusive Home Entertainment distributor for all Newmarket Films theatrical releases in the United States in addition to a large majority of Newmarket's extensive library of high profile releases including Christopher Nolan's groundbreaking psychological thriller, Memento.

The first  Home Entertainment  release under the deal will be the recently released Jon Amiel's Creation, about the life of Charles Darwin, starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, which will be released on DVD, VOD and available for digital download on June 29th . The deal also includes the upcoming Newmarket theatrical releases Alejandro Amenabar's Agora (May 28) , starring Rachel Weisz and Sundance favorite Hesher (Fall), starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Natalie Portman. The announcement was made by Steve Beeks, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Lionsgate, and Chris Ball, Co-Chairman of Exclusive and President of Newmarket Films.

"We are thrilled to be in business with Chris and his extraordinary team at Newmarket. I have known Chris for many years and have long admired how he has grown Newmarket into one of the top producers and distributors of independent film in the world," said Beeks. "We are proud to have them as our partner and look forward to the opportunity to represent their films and release them on multiple formats."

"Newmarket has had a great working relationship with Lionsgate and Steve Beeks for many years. This deal is the perfect partnership for our company as we continue to grow and expand our theatrical distribution business," notes Ball.  

The deal between Newmarket and Lionsgate gives the former a strong output deal for its recent and upcoming acquisitions and builds on Lionsgate's tremendous success distributing some of the most prominent product in the marketplace.  

Newmarket Films, founded in 1994 by Chris Ball and William Tyrer, was recently purchased by Exclusive Media Group where Ball is now Co-Chairman as well as President of Newmarket.  The company is actively looking for new films and aims to theatrically release 6-8 director-driven titles per year.  Lionsgate is the industry leader in box office-to-home entertainment revenue conversion rate, over-converting industry packaged norm by 20% and VOD norm by 18%.  Recent theatrical titles Precious and Brothers exceeded industry averages both on DVD and VOD, and were Lionsgate's #1 and #2 best VOD debuts to date.

The deal was negotiated by Ball, Rene Cogan (Exclusive's CFO US Operations) and Gary Hirsh on behalf of Newmarket and by Wendy Jaffe, Executive Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs, Acquisitions & Co-Productions, on behalf of Lionsgate.

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ABOUT LIONSGATE

Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) is the leading next generation studio with a strong and diversified presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has nearly 20 shows on 10 different networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as "Mad Men," "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" along with new series such as "Blue Mountain State" and the syndication successes "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," its spinoff "Meet The Browns" and "The Wendy Williams Show."

Its feature film business has generated such recent hits as Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too?, the action film Kick-Ass, which opened at #1 at the North American box office and the critically-acclaimed Precious, which has garnered nearly $50 million at the North American box office and won two Academy Awards®. The Company's home entertainment business has grown to more than 7% market share and is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 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 brand remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

ABOUT EXCLUSIVE MEDIA GROUP (EXCLUSIVE)

Exclusive Media Group is a vertically integrated independent film studio which was founded by strategic investment group, Cyrte Investments, in May 2008. Exclusive comprises:

• Three development & production labels –
  • Exclusive Films, which has Peter Weir's The Way Back as its first production.
  • Hammer Films, the iconic brand that already has Let Me In and The Resident being readied for release.
  • Spitfire Pictures, which has become the specialist documentary film production house.
• US theatrical distributor – Newmarket Films
• International sales & marketing operations for in-house and third party product– Exclusive Film Distribution
• Exclusive Film Distribution also monetizes a significant film library of over 550 film titles.

Exclusive is run by Co-Chairmen Nigel Sinclair, Guy East and Chris Ball. Sinclair also serves as Group CEO, East as Chairman of Exclusive Film Distribution and Ball as President of Newmarket Films.  Simon Oakes serves as Vice-Chairman of the Group Board as well as President and CEO of Hammer.  Exclusive's strategy has been to build a vertically integrated global film entertainment group which develops and controls its own intellectual property and exploits it on a cross-media basis in the digitally converged era.   Exclusive has an active development slate and produces, finances and markets 5-7 high-quality commercial feature films and documentaries  per year under its three production labels. Exclusive actively acquires further feature films for international distribution via Exclusive Film Distribution, and for US theatrical distribution via Newmarket Films. The Group also develops and produces projects for television and digital platforms. 

Exclusive continues to actively explore strategic expansion through M&A transactions and joint ventures – specific focus is on the acquisition of further high-quality film libraries and local territory distribution.

ABOUT NEWMARKET FILMS

Newmarket was founded in 1994 by William Tyrer and Chris Ball and has been engaged ever since in the financing, production, distribution and ownership of independent motion pictures. Newmarket's daring taste and handcrafted distribution approach set an industry standard with the production and theatrical distribution of Christopher Nolan's Memento in 2000. The company followed up the release of Memento with a surprising string of critical and box office successes that that include: Donnie Darko, Whale Rider, Monster, Downfall and The Passion of the Christ. In addition to Memento, Newmarket has produced such films as Cruel Intentions, The Mexican and The Prestige. The company owns a library of that consists of interests in more than 250 titles.

SOURCE Lionsgate