Lionsgate

Lionsgate is an entertainment company, specializing in film, music, and television. The company is based in Canada, with subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada, and is regarded as the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Lions-Gate-Entertainment-Corporation-Company-History.html

In 1997, financier Frank Giustra, founded the Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation. Before establishing Lionsgate, Giustra had worked as CEO of Yorkton Securities, Inc., an investment bank specializing in mining projects. While he worked as a banker, Giustra had also funded a number of independent film projects. He left Yorkton Securities in December of 1996, set on establishing a film company that could compete with larger Hollywood companies.http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Lions-Gate-Entertainment-Corporation-Company-History.html Giustra financed Lionsgate with $16 million of his own money, and secured another $40 million in investments from his banking connections. http://investors.lionsgate.com/Division.asp

Soon after opening Lionsgate, Giustra acquired a number of film companies, including Cinepix Film Properties and North Shore Studios.http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Lions-Gate-Entertainment-Corporation-Company-History.html

Liosgate reported losses during its first few years, but soon began to turn around, thanks to the release of Gods and Monsters (1998) and Affliction (1999). Lionsgate celebrated its first major box office success with the release of Psycho in 2000, and realized another big success for the company with the 2004 Michael Moore film, Fahrenheit 9/11, which became the company’s highest grossing film. http://investors.lionsgate.com/Division.asp?DivisionId=3

In 2009, Lionsgate joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Warner Bros. in making some of their feature length films and television programs available for free online, through hulu.com http://www.hulu.com/studio/lionsgate?sort=name The Lionsgate titles available on Hulu are from the 90’s and early 2000’s, including such titles as: ALF, Bloody Mallory, The Amityville Curse, Buena Vista Social Club, Dirty Dancing, Good Luck Chuck, Kickboxer 3, National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Phat Beach, Rambo, Speedracer: The Movie, and Wildfire. http://www.hulu.com/studio/lionsgate?sort=name

In addition to Affliction, Gods and Monsters, Psycho, and Fahrenheit 9/11, Lionsgate has produced a number of notable box office pictures, including:

• 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

A remake of the original 1957 film, the story follows a small-time rancher who agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. He must fight a war of wills as the outlaw attempts to psych out the rancher. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381849/

• Rambo (2008)

An action film, starring Sylvester Stallone, who returns to the role of Vietnam veteran, John Rambo, as he attempts to save the lives of hostages held at a prisoner of war camp in Burma. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462499/

• Madea Goes to Jail (2009)

The grandmother figure from many Tyler Perry films and plays, Madea, lands herself in jail after another run-in with the law. While in jail, she is forced to adapt to her recent incarceration, and the variety of characters there. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142800/synopsis