Jim Packer Sets New Deal as Worldwide TV Distribution Chief for Lionsgate

Lionsgate total global subscribers rose to 37.8 million for the fiscal second quarter ended in September, driven by international and domestic streaming, where subs were up 52% year-on-year to 27.3 million. Rebranded Lionsgate+ subscribers grew 97% to 14.8 million.

EXCLUSIVE: Documentary+, the free streaming service launched by non-fiction studio XTR, has launched its latest slate of original feature docs.

Barunson E&A, the production company behind Oscar-winner Parasite, is set to officially launch its new international ventures at the upcoming American Film Market as it looks to expand into co-production, financing and sales.

Taylor Swift’s fans have channeled Sally Field to deliver a message: they really, really like her.

The UK wing of Universal Music’s distribution and artist services division, that being Virgin Music, has launched a new unit called Parachute specifically for dance and electronic music with crossover appeal.“The growth of dance music over the past year has been undeniable, and at Virgin Music UK we’re proud to launch a new choice for artists and producers alike”, says Virgin Music UK MD Vanessa Bosaen.The new unit is aiming to put out one release per month and has actually already put out one track pre-launch – Melle Brown’s ‘Feel About You’ – with a Sean McCabe remix now set for release on 4 Nov. Parachute’s first official single, ‘Don’t Walk Away’ by Essel, will be out on 21 Oct.“Having an independent spirit is fundamental to me at this stage in my career as an artist, allowing me to release music with an open mind and experiment whilst developing my sound”, says Brown.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor CANNES – The newly constituted senior entertainment team at Fox Corp. came to Mipcom this year with checkbooks in hand. The trio of executives who offered the keynote address Monday evening at the international content conference were blunt in telling the crowd that they came to make some new friends around the world and strike some deals. The company is bucking the trend in media toward direct-to-consumer subscription platforms. Fox is putting its resources into content and IP that can travel around the world and be adaptable in many forms. “While others are trying to hide their content behind paywalls, we are doing the opposite,” said Rob Wade, who was promoted this month to CEO of Fox Entertainment (“I’m 10 days in to the job,” he noted with a smile on stage). “We see the potential of working with (outside) networks, producers and distributors to be able to get our content out there further.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Fox has given out an early Season 2 renewal to the Jon Hamm-led animated comedy “Grimsburg” before the show has even premiered. The announcement was made by Michael Thorn, president of entertainment for Fox Entertainment, during a MIPCOM panel moderated by Variety‘s co-editor-in-chief, Cynthia Littleton. “’Grimsburg’ is yet another clear example of our strong commitment to, and intense focus on, upholding the high bar of standards any show must exceed in order to reside under the Animation Domination banner,” Thorn said. “Of course, having Jon Hamm’s talent and star power front and center is a great place to start. Equally important, everything we’re seeing with ‘Grimsburg’ – from the very first scripts and show bible to animatics and preliminary cuts – makes us believe we have a winner on our hands that beautifully complements our animation brand.”

Jim Packer isn’t leaving Lionsgate any time soon.

The Independent Film & Television Alliance today unveiled new details, as to the programming and speakers to be featured at this year’s American Film Market.

Jon Gosselin is getting called out by the CEO of his daughter’s beauty brand!

Manori Ravindran International Editor New York’s South Asian International Film Festival has appointed Chayan Sarkar as its new president. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and festival director, Sarkar is also the founder of the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland in Australia. He takes over from SAIFF founder Shilen Amin, who will step down as president, but will remain a member of the festival’s board of directors. Sarkar joins SAIFF as the festival enters its 19th year as a leading film festival in the U.S. for new cinema from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and within the Indian diaspora. In recent years, SAIFF has become increasingly influential as a platform for South Asian cinema, both in the U.S. and internationally. Fourteen of India’s submissions for the international feature film Oscar have had their North American premieres at the festival.

Joe Drake has inked a new long-term employment agreement with Lionsgate as their Motion Picture Group Chair.

“Joe and his team continue to execute our core mission of creating great intellectual properties with a strong slate of tentpole films ready for launch beginning with John Wick: Chapter Four,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said. “He is an entrepreneur with strong talent relationships and a firm grasp of the global theatrical marketplace, and he will continue to be a great partner in helping us move the Company forward.”Drake initially served as Lionsgate’s motion picture group chair from 2007-2012, overseeing the launch of the “Hunger Games” and “Expendables” series along with the expansion of the “Saw” horror franchise. In 2012, he left Lionsgate with producing partner Nathan Kahane to create the production company Good Universe, which produced films like “Neighbors,” “Don’t Breathe” and Spike Lee’s remake of Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy.” Drake returned to the Lionsgate chair in 2017 after the studio acquired Good Universe, with Kahane being named president of the motion picture group.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Longtime film executive Joe Drake has extended his contract as Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group chair. The multi-year deal will unfold as Lionsgate debuts a slew of sequels and spinoffs in theaters, including “John Wick: Chatper Four,” the “Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” “Now You See Me 3,” “Expendables 4,” and the remake of “Dirty Dancing.” “Joe and his team continue to execute our core mission of creating great intellectual properties with a strong slate of tentpole films ready for launch beginning with ‘John Wick: Chapter Four,'” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “He is an entrepreneur with strong talent relationships and a firm grasp of the global theatrical marketplace, and he will continue to be a great partner in helping us move the company forward.”

Emily Longeretta “Dancing With the Stars” took on once of its most popular weeks on Monday night, with each star performing routines to hit Disney+ songs. While many of the routines were on the faster side, the emotion was still running high. Selma Blair and Sasha Farber were tasked with a quickstep to “The Muppet Show Theme” from “The Muppet Show,” and she was feeling the pressure. Ahead of her routine, she admitted that after performing blindfolded last week, she thought she would receive higher scores than four 7s — the scores she’s gotten every week. She said it was a “wake up call” that she wasn’t impressing the judges the way she wanted. Luckily, after this week’s quickstep, the pair were thrilled to receive four 8s for the first time.

The Eye Network had a very good Friday night in the ratings wars.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor It’s showtime for David Nevins – for him and for the business he helped transform over the past dozen years.  Nevins, who announced his resignation Thursday as chairman and CEO of Paramount Premium Group and chief creative officer of Paramount+ Scripted Series, cited the evolution of Showtime’s financial underpinnings as among the highlights of his tenure. Over the past few years, as the streaming revolution in TV has accelerated, Showtime’s business model has shifted from entirely wholesale to MVPDs to a “significant” portion of its total revenue coming direct to consumer.  The depth of the change that he helped lead at Showtime and Paramount+ and other parts of Paramount Global were a big part of the reason he decided to make a change in his own career. Nevins will formally exit the Paramount fold at year’s end. As of today, Nevins said he has no specific plans other than to take an extended break from work for the first time in more than 25 years. 

Joe Otterson TV Reporter WWE is shaking up their commentary teams, Variety has learned exclusively. Beginning with this week’s season premiere episode of “SmackDown,” the commentary team for the shows will be as follows: On “SmackDown,” Michael Cole and Wade Barrett will be the main commentators, with Barrett moving over from the “NXT” commentary team. Samantha Irvin will serve as the ring announcer, with Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant serving as backstage interviewers. At “Monday Night Raw,” Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves will the commentary team. Patrick has worked as a backstage correspondent, a play-by-play commentator for “WWE Main Event,” and the host of “Raw Talk.” Mike Rome will be the ring announcer. Cathy Kelley and Byron Saxton will conduct onscreen interviews. Kelley is returning to WWE after leaving the company in 2020. Saxton has been working on the “Raw” commentary desk along with Graves and Jimmy Smith of late.