This week we see Lionsgate and STX Entertainment announce a new distribution deal for both new releases and library titles throughout North America. This is an interesting collaboration, coming at a time when collaborative release agreements seem to be becoming the best way forward, especially for smaller studios. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney with Blake & Wang P.A, has the full news.
STX Distribution Through Lionsgate
While full terms of the deal were not offered, Lionsgate will now be responsible for both release and marketing of STX releases in both Canada and the US, as well as distributing their 75-title strong library on their platforms. The first new release due to be distributed under the agreement is The Marsh King’s Daughter, which will bring STX and Lionsgate together with Roadside Attractions.
Original Series Development
Along with the distribution agreement comes plans to jointly develop original TV properties from the STX film library titles. Along with the announcement comes a reiteration of the intention to keep theatrical releases as a cornerstone of their marketing strategy.
Lionsgate have just announced a stellar Q1 for finances, managing to beat out Wall Street expectations for first-quarter revenue of $909M. This represents a 1.6% growth on the previous year’s Q1. Additionally, they announced an adjusted OIBDA of $85.7 million, far higher than the anticipated $28M. They have been pursuing a rather aggressive strategy to expand their content library, which we can assume the STX partnership will build further on. Additionally, there results come from a quarter with very few active releases for them- only The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent stands out among them. The bulk of Lionsgate’s own release titles for the year comes mostly from existing IP and franchises.
It’s certainly an interesting move, and one which aligns with the general movement to procure and release library titles to ‘work for’ the studios once again this year. What’s next? Only time can tell us.
