Lionsgate President of Music and Publishing Jay Faires Re-Ups With Studio Under Four-Year Agreement

Lionsgate President of Music and Publishing Jay Faires Re-Ups With Studio Under Four-Year Agreement

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF), the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, and Jay Faires, the studio's President of Music and Publishing, have agreed to the material terms of a new employment agreement that will extend Faires' term for another four years. The announcement was made by Lionsgate's Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns.

As President of Music and Publishing, Faires oversees music supervision, organization of existing catalogues, and implementing new strategies for using music in promotion and exploitation of Lionsgate's film projects. Faires and his team oversee music for the company's film production and acquisition slate, television, theatrical marketing, home video and international.

Said Burns and Feltheimer, "Jay has made tremendous contributions to Lionsgate, having grown the music division in ways we could scarcely have imagined before his arrival, just two years ago. He has made music publishing and licensing a dynamic and lucrative force within the company while bringing great music to all our projects. As technology continues to change the way music gets to listeners, Jay's expertise will ensure that Lionsgate remains ahead of the curve in terms of reaching end users."

As Faires identified and exploited new licensing opportunities on behalf of his former Mammoth Records' artists, his acumen, diligence and taste brought him to the attention of Lionsgate executives. He joined the company in 2004 as a music consultant, and in 2005 was appointed President of Music and Publishing. During his tenure, Faires has overhauled Lionsgate's music division and built the company infrastructure with agreements with RED Distribution for soundtracks; with New York-based digital distributor The Orchard for digital marketing and distribution of soundtracks and scores; and with Fintage Music for music sub-publishing outside of North America, resulting in a doubling of the company's net publisher's share in fiscal '07.

As a publisher and film and television producer, Lionsgate's current sixteen films and ten television shows represent a pipeline that averages over 1,000 total synchs yearly. Recent notable projects have included Best Song Oscar(R)-nominated "In the Deep," from Lionsgate's 2005 Best Picture winner CRASH; the performing appearance of Snoop Dogg on "Weeds," and the multiple re-castings of the "Weeds" opening theme "Little Boxes" by Elvis Costello, Death Cab for Cutie, Regina Spektor and others. Faires was the first to put James Blunt on camera, in the Lionsgate program "Wildfire" on ABC Family Channel, and also brought critical early exposure to such artists as Jem. He was instrumental in developing unique music marketing cross-promotions for AKEELAH AND THE BEE and EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH.

Faires oversaw all the music for upcoming Lionsgate films including PRIDE (Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac), with the classic Philadelphia soul anthems by Gamble and Huff and a new song by John Legend; ROGUE (Jet Li, Jason Statham); DELTA FARCE (Larry the Cable Guy) with a new song by Los Lonely Boys; and GOOD LUCK CHUCK (Jessica Alba, Dane Cook). He is music supervisor for Lionsgate's upcoming BUG (Ashley Judd), with new songs by Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell and System of A Down's Serj Tankian.

One of the most respected and innovative figures in the contemporary music industry, Jay Faires began his career as a vinyl-obsessed youngster booking bands to play at his high school. During his final year as an M.B.A. student at Duke University, Faires created his own curriculum to research and build his own start-up label. Launched in 1988 out of Faires' North Carolina apartment, Mammoth Records became a huge success both critically and commercially and was home to such artists as Australian pop band Frente!, the swing band Squirrel Nut Zippers, Florida rockers Seven Mary Three, the distinguished singer/songwriters Juliana Hatfield, Victoria Williams and Joe Henry, rock band Jason and the Scorchers, Machines of Loving Grace, and the Melvins. In addition, Faires pioneered street and lifestyle marketing in the music industry by launching Hi Frequency Marketing, which played a key role in the early successes of Limp Bizkit, Everclear, A Tribe Called Quest, Avril Lavigne and Norah Jones. He also created a branded wireless company that acquired digital rights for Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Britney Spears and others, which is now owned by Zelnick Media Group.

Faires sold Mammoth to the Walt Disney Company in its ninth year, for an amount that represented a 64-fold return for his original investors. Faires retained his publishing interests apart from the Disney acquisition, and his skilled and effective management of his catalogue and songwriters resulted in high-profile licenses in film (REALITY BITES, THE CROW, THE WATERBOY) and television ("Sex and the City") as well as calls for commercial work (Intel, Mitsubishi).

ABOUT LIONSGATE

Lionsgate is the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, winning this year's Best Picture Academy Award(R) for CRASH, generating two consecutive years of $300 million-plus domestic theatrical box office, operating a $500 million-plus home entertainment business and producing a broad slate of prime time television series for fiscal 2007. It is 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 10,000 titles 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.

For further information, contact:

Sarah Greenberg
310-255-3856
sgreenberg@lionsgate.com

Ron Shapiro
Plan A Media
212-337 2034
ronshapiro@ronshapiro.com

Patti Conte
Plan A Media
212-337-1406
patticonte@nyc.rr.com

For corporate inquiries:
Peter Wilkes
310-255-3726
pwilkes@lionsgate.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: ajackson@lionsgate.com

Source: Lionsgate

CONTACT: Sarah Greenberg, +1-310-255-3856, sgreenberg@lionsgate.com, or
Corporate Inquiries, Peter Wilkes, +1-310-255-3726, pwilkes@lionsgate.com,
both of Lionsgate; or Ron Shapiro, +1-212-337-2034, ronshapiro@ronshapiro.com,
or Patti Conte, +1-212-337-1406, patticonte@nyc.rr.com, both of Plan A Media,
for Lionsgate

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