AKIN CEYLAN PROMOTED TO CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF LIONSGATE HOME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflecting the continued growth and diversification of Lionsgate's (NYSE: LGF) home entertainment business, industry veteran Akin Ceylan has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Lionsgate's Home Entertainment Group, it was announced today by Lionsgate Home Entertainment President & General Manager, Sales and Distribution Ron Schwartz, to whom he will continue to report.

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Ceylan will be responsible for all operational aspects and infrastructure management of a home entertainment group that is coming off its best year ever in 2012, achieving more than $1 billion in revenue and top five studio market share, driven by two of the biggest blockbuster titles of the calendar year, the first installment of The Hunger Games franchise and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.  Ceylan is part of the management team guiding Lionsgate's home entertainment business to another stellar performance this calendar year, propelled by a diverse mix of hits including The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Now You See Me, a star performer in packaged, digital and on demand media, and A&E's breakout hit Duck Dynasty.

In addition to managing the operational growth of Lionsgate's home entertainment business, Ceylan oversees the Company's distribution and supply chain relationships with an expanding array of packaged media and digital retail partners and maximizes the efficiency of Lionsgate's home entertainment supply chain.  During the past year, he was instrumental in negotiating new home entertainment distribution and replication agreements with Fox and Cinram, respectively, that save Lionsgate millions of dollars annually.

"Akin has been a key contributor to our growth in recent years and, as COO of the Home Entertainment Group, he will help guide the continued expansion of our business as we serve a broadening spectrum of traditional and digital platforms," said Schwartz.  "Akin is a superb operational strategist and consummate tactician who has built outstanding relationships with our retail and digital partners.  He is ideally qualified to help us maintain our commitment to being a cutting edge innovator in meeting the evolving needs of today's home entertainment consumer."

An eight-year veteran of Lionsgate, Ceylan previously served as Chief Supply Chain Officer and Executive Vice President of Operations for the Home Entertainment Group.  Prior to joining Lionsgate in 2005, he served as Senior Vice President, Domestic Operations, for MGM, where he was responsible for their Home Entertainment Group's North American operations and played a key role in developing and maintaining self-distribution as part of MGM's strategic growth plan.  Ceylan is a member and former Vice Chairman of the Supply Chain Committee of the Digital Entertainment Group.

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 broadcast 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, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film 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.  

For further information, please contact:
Peter D. Wilkes
310-255-3726
[email protected]

SOURCE Lionsgate