As part of a new two-year production deal with the Canadian province of Alberta and the city of Edmonton, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, will begin pre-production in December on its new horror-anthology series FEAR ITSELF. The announcement was made today by Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate's President of Television Programming and Production.
Produced by Lionsgate and Industry Entertainment, the series was picked up last week by NBC for 13 one-hour episodes to air in Summer 2008. Keith Addis, Andrew Deane and Mick Garris, the Emmy Award-winning team behind the critically acclaimed Masters of Horror series, will executive produce FEAR ITSELF, with Industry's Adam Goldworm and Ben Browning onboard to produce.
Like Masters of Horror, which won an Emmy ® and two Saturn Awards during its two-season run on Showtime, the series will feature 60-minute films by some of the genre's most illustrious writers and directors from around the world.
"We're excited to begin production on FEAR ITSELF in Edmonton," said Beggs. "Our new alliance with the city and the province of Alberta allows us to continue expanding our production activities, and we hope this is the first of many new projects we'll be working on together."
Mark Manuel, Lionsgate's Executive Vice President, Structured Finance, negotiated the deal with the province of Alberta and the city of Edmonton. Peter Block, Lionsgate's President of Acquisitions and Coproductions, worked with Industry Entertainment to bring the horror franchise to Lionsgate, and Sandra Stern, Lionsgate Television's Chief Operating Officer, negotiated the deal with NBC.
Industry Entertainment
Keith Addis and Andrew Deane are Partners at Industry Entertainment Partners, a leading talent management and production company, that has produced award-winning films including THE PLAYER, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and QUILLS. Their acclaimed anthology series, MASTERS OF HORROR, which aired on Showtime, featured one-hour movies from such illustrious genre filmmakers as John Carpenter, Takashi Miike, Joe Dante, John Landis, Dario Argento, Tobe Hopper, Stuart Gordon, Brad Anderson and series creator Mick Garris himself. They also executive produced the recent anthology series MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION for ABC.
Both also manage distinguished clients in the literary and talent fields.
Lionsgate
Lionsgate's current television programming slate includes the award-winning comedy series WEEDS, starring Golden Globe ® winner Mary-Louise Parker; the critically acclaimed drama series MAD MEN on AMC; Spike TV's original eight-hour drama event THE KILL POINT, starring Emmy ® winner John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg; USA Network's hit drama THE DEAD ZONE starring Anthony Michael Hall; and the popular ABC Family drama WILDFIRE.
Lionsgate is the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, winning the 2006 Best Picture Academy Award ® for CRASH and operating as a premier producer and distributor of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, and video-on-demand content. Its prestigious and prolific library of more than 11,000 motion picture titles and television episodes is a valuable source of stable, recurring revenue and a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Leah Krantzler
The Lippin Group for Lionsgate
(323) 965-1990
[email protected]
First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: [email protected]
SOURCE: Lionsgate
CONTACT: Leah Krantzler of The Lippin Group, +1-323-965-1990,
[email protected], for Lionsgate
Web site: http://www.lionsgate.com/