Latest in Joe Drake

2nd Update: Part of the Lionsgate reconfiguration means the ending of Lionsgate’s partnership with Jeff Clanagan in Codeblack, the division that generated Kevin Hart’s Let Me Explain, Addicted, and other projects geared toward an urban audience. Said a spokesman: “Codeback has brought us tremendous films and…

Speaking to a crowd of investors this morning, Lionsgate CFO Jimmy Barge predicted a “nice rebound” for the company’s film operation in fiscal 2020, but cautioned, “I’m not doubling down on the film business.” In an appearance at a Deutsche Bank investor conference, Barge said film is a “tough business and it’s…

EXCLUSIVE: Damon Wolf has been set to become president of worldwide marketing for the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. Wolf is the current co-head of marketing at TriStar Pictures, Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. He will make the move January 1, and will replace Tim Palen. Palen, the longtime…

At an elegant soirée on the terraces of the Hotel du Cap on Friday night, Lionsgate bid farewell to its Motion Picture Group co-chairman Patrick Wachsberger, even bagging chanteuse Jane Birkin to provide a melancholy musical send-off. Industry executives and talent poured in to the particularly hot ticket to show…

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate Co-COO and Motion Picture Group Co-President Steve Beeks, who has been at the company for two decades and has been a key strategist in its growth, is exiting at year’s end. However, he will remain as a consultant. With Beeks leaving, there will be one COO with Brian Goldsmith and one Motion…

Joe Drake has returned to Lionsgate as Co-Chair of its Motion Picture Group. He’ll share the title with Patrick Wachsberger, who recently signed a new agreement with the Company, and together they will run Lionsgate's worldwide motion picture operations. Good Universe cofounder and CEO Nathan Kahane will continue to…

EXCLUSIVE: Good Universe has acquired screen rights to Katie Khan’s science fiction novel Hold Back The Stars, and attached Lee Toland Krieger to direct it. 21 Laps' Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen will produce, and Good Universe’s Nathan Kahane, Joe Drake and Erin Westerman will be executive producers. Set in the near…

EXCLUSIVE: Navot Papushado & Aharon Keshales have been set to direct Ambulance, the Good Universe/Mythology Entertainment remake of the 2005 Danish film Ambulancen. The filmmakers, who come from Israel and made their mark with the thrillers Big Bad Wolves and Rabies, will direct a script by Chuck co-creator Chris Fedak…

Lionsgate disclosed the agreement with its former Motion Picture Group president — who helped to shepherd The Hunger Games — this morning in an SEC filing. Along with the $3.4M severance from the separation agreement, reached on April 27, Joe Drake can collect more cash if the blockbuster film and others in the…

Lionsgate announced today that it has nabbed worldwide rights to Patrick Ness’ young-adult novel trilogy Chaos Walking to develop, produce and distribute films based on the series. The books, which won the Carnegie Medal, are set in a dystopian future where humans have colonized another planet and an infection makes…

Lionsgate set the first three films under a new initiative to generate films with budgets under $2 million. The goal for the micro-budget venture is to generate up to 10 films per year, according to Joe Drake, Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group president. The first three films are: Rapturepalooza, with Craig Robinson…

Dealmakers who came into Park City hoping to recapture the acquisitions momentum of last fall’s Toronto Film Festival returned this week with smiles on their faces. And why not? By my count, 38 transactions have been completed on Sundance films so far, with several more coming. Buyers estimate that at least eight of…