Lionsgate Signs Film Group Chair Joe Drake to Multiyear Agreement

Warner Bros. and AppleTV+ marketing vet JP Richards and STX marketing exec Keri Moore are joining Lionsgate’s motion picture group respectively as President and Co-President of Worldwide Theatrical Marketing. They start Nov. 1.

On the night of November 13, 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks throughout Paris left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which was then in control of large swaths of land in the Middle East, took responsibility for the attacks.

Nick Clement The Newport Beach Film Festival is attracting more interest from Hollywood as it opens its 23rd edition Oct. 13. The festival, which runs through Oct. 20 will feature a battalion of acclaimed films and attract talent for its numerous awards. This year’s opening night screening is the Daniel Radcliffe-led biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” while the closing night selection is “Glass Onion,” which is Rian Johnson’s hotly anticipated follow-up to “Knives Out,” a big critical and box office success in 2019.  “We’re seeing all of the major studios and distribution companies seeking to work with us, as they understand the many benefits and opportunities of screening at festivals that are growing, and bringing in an enthusiastic crowd to their films,” says CEO and co-founder Gregg Schwenk. 

Jim Packer isn’t leaving Lionsgate any time soon.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor CANNES — International TV sales veteran Jim Packer has set a multi-year deal with Lionsgate that will keep him on the senior management team as president of worldwide TV distribution. News of his contract extension was revealed Oct. 17, just as the Mipcom content marketplace kicks off this week in Cannes, bringing the global TV community together for the first full time in three years. Packer has been with Lionsgate since 2011. The news that he has re-upped comes at a time of uncertainty for the studio. Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer has said the company, which is home to the Lionsgate studio and Starz pay TV platform, is considering options for separating those assets, possibly by selling off the studio to focus on building up Starz.

The 66th London Film Festival closed Sunday with a lively screening of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.  

The mammoth cast of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, sidestepped spoilers and jumped over plot lines as they presented their film Sunday morning at a London Film Festival press conference.

Nick Cave has named the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde his favourite film of all time.The musician, who composed the score for the Netflix film with Warren Ellis, was asked to name his favourite film ever by a fan on his newsletter The Red Hand Files.In response to the question, Cave simply wrote: “Blonde. Love, Nick.”Directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Ana de Armas, Blonde is based on a novel by Joyce Carol Oates and is described as a “reimagining” of Monroe’s life.A synopsis reads: “Blonde boldly reimagines the life of one Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Marilyn Monroe.

The Banshees of Inisherin and the bawdy Weird Al Yankovic biopic Weird will open the fest on Saturday, Oct. 22.

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

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.”

Nick Clement Celebrating its 10th year as a major east coast destination for cinema lovers, the Middleburg Film Festival, held in scenic Middleburg, Virginia from October 13th to 16th, continues to highlight an outstanding selection of titles while presenting informative special events and forums. “We’re extremely excited because this year is a true milestone, and it’s a chance to celebrate how far we’ve come as a group, and to celebrate all of the filmmakers who have helped to make the festival a success. We cater to true cinephiles, so it’s not unusual for people to see 10 films over the course of the weekend. And because the festival draws a great mix of Washington DC influencers and people in the film industry, there’s lots of tremendous insight being shared before and after screenings,” says Susan Koch, Executive Director.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Don’t expect any drive-inscreenings, virtual screenings, mask mandates or reduced capacity theaters at the 30th annual Hamptons Intl. Film Festival. This year’s edition will look and feel as it did way back in 2019. The Long Island-based fest, which runs Oct. 7-16, will screen 69 feature films and 51 shorts that are 54% female-directed and represent 34 countries from around the world. Also back at HIFF are a bevy of fancy cocktail hours and the fest’s Rowdy Talks series, which will include a conversation with director, screenwriter and producer Chris Columbus.

The stars are stepping out for the Louis Vuitton Fashion Show!

Film Fest 919 in Chapel Hill, N.C., will open its fifth edition with the screening of action-drama “Devotion,” starring Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell, on Oct. 19. Along with the opening night screening, FF919 will also honor “Devotion” director J.D. Dillard with the New Horizon Award. Set during the Korean War, “Devotion” follows the U.S. Navy’s first Black aviator and his wingman, both of whom confront geopolitical uncertainty and racist hostility. The screening will be followed by a moderated conversation with Dillard. This year’s festival will close with the screening of Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” on Sunday, Oct. 23. Set at a private estate on a Greek island, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns to solve another murder mystery in the upcoming whodunit sequel.

Kevin Beggs is sticking around Lionsgate.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Lionsgate Television Group chairman and chief content integration officer Kevin Beggs has signed a multi-year renewal of his contract. “Kevin and his team have done a great job in building Lionsgate Television into a world-class supplier of valuable premium content to buyers throughout the ecosystem,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “Kevin is a trusted partner whose entrepreneurial, innovative and collaborative approach reflects our culture at its best. Under his leadership, our television business is positioned to continue growing its profitability and strengthening its respected brand.” Under Beggs, Lionsgate’s current roster of scripted series include three broadcast TV shows — “Home Economics” at ABC, “Welcome to Flatch” at Fox, and the breakout hit “Ghosts” at CBS. The studio also picked up a series order at NBC recently for an untitled multi-cam from Mike O’Malley with Jon Cryer starring.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The family of John Prine has signed a partnership deal with RadicalMedia (“Summer of Soul”) to develop two documentaries about the life and work about the life and work of the late singer-songwriter, the company has announced. Filming will be well underway this weekend as RadicalMedia plans to shoot the week-long series of tribute concerts taking place in Nashville under the banner of “You Got Gold,” including shows at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Saturday and at the Ryman Auditorium Sunday and Monday. The all-star lineup for these shows is not being publicly revealed in advance. Footage for the “You Got Gold” concerts is being directed by Michael John Warren, who recently helmed the HBO documentary “Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known” for RadicalMedia.

Planned Parenthood hit out against the Ana de Armas film "Blonde," claiming it contributes to "anti-abortion propaganda" for the way it portrays a talking fetus. In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Planned Parenthood official Caren Spruch said the creators of "Blonde" "contribute to anti-abortion propaganda and stigmatize people’s health care decisions instead."  In "Blonde," Marilyn Monroe is shown having two abortions against her will, and they are dramatized by a CGI-rendered fetus.

Ellise Shafer “Blonde” author Joyce Carol Oates, who penned the biographical fiction novel that the Netflix film is based on, has weighed in on the discourse surrounding Andrew Dominik’s controversial portrait of Marilyn Monroe. On Friday, Oates answered some burning questions from fans via Twitter, including about backlash the film has received that it exploits Monroe’s trauma. Dubbed a fictionalized retelling of the movie star’s life and untimely death, “Blonde” loosely recreates several tragedies during the life of Monroe (Ana de Armas), including the abuse she endured from her mother and the sexual assaults she experienced in Hollywood. In addition to fan outrage on social media, the movie has also been panned by several film critics, including The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis, who wrote in her review: “Given all the indignities and horrors that Marilyn Monroe endured during her 36 years, it is a relief that she didn’t have to suffer through the vulgarities of ‘Blonde,’ the latest necrophiliac entertainment to exploit her.”