Lionsgate & Televisa Launch Pantelion Films

SANTA MONICA/VANCOUVER/MEXICO CITY: Lionsgate, the leading independent studio, and Televisa, the largest Spanish-language media company in the world, have announced Pantelion Films, a joint venture designed to target Hispanic moviegoers in the U.S.

The joint-venture company will release eight to ten films per year, over the next five years, targeted to Latino audiences. In fact, 26 million moviegoers in the U.S. are Hispanic and they represent more than one-fourth of all frequent moviegoers in the country.

The first film, slated for a January 2011 release, will be the comedy From Prada To Nada. In addition, four to five films will be produced in-house each year, and the other four to five films will be acquired.

Pantelion will be headed by chairman Jim McNamara, the head of Panamax Films and former president and CEO of Telemundo, and CEO Paul Presburger, a longtime Lionsgate international executive and architect of the Pantelion deal and strategy.

"Pantelion is unprecedented in terms of the production, distribution and marketing resources we are focusing on the Latino moviegoer in the U.S. and the consistent pipeline of movies we are offering Hispanic audiences," said Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate’s co-chairman and CEO. "We are delighted to launch this partnership with Televisa, the most powerful entertainment brand in the Hispanic world. Televisa’s iconic brand and the support of our theatrical exhibition partners give Pantelion immediate impact in the marketplace. Our Pantelion venture reflects all of our corporate values—entrepreneurial executives, world-class partners, branded content, a targeted audience and a disciplined and focused approach."

"Lionsgate is an ideal partner for extending Televisa’s reputation for original, quality, commercially exciting filmed entertainment to the vast market of Spanish-speaking moviegoers in the U.S.," said Emilio Azcárraga, the chairman and CEO of Grupo Televisa. "Lionsgate has a proven track record of supplying hit movies to large niche audiences that have been underserved in the past, and we believe that the Pantelion brand will reflect the best attributes of its partners and quickly become synonymous with commercially exciting films, entrepreneurial innovation and a consistent presence in the marketplace."

"We are thrilled to have the resources and backing of two global media companies," said McNamara and Presburger. "We look forward to bringing Latino moviegoers in the U.S. a slate of films each year that is unprecedented in its scope and unparalleled in its quality and excitement."