Jim Packer isn’t leaving Lionsgate any time soon.
Lionsgate’s President of Worldwide Television Distribution is in Cannes at Mipcom this morning having signed a long-term extension to his employment agreement.
During Packer’s tenure, Lionsgate has nearly doubled the revenues from its film and television library to reach almost $800M last year. He joined from MGM, where he was President of Worldwide Television and Digital Operations, in 2011.
This year, Lionsgate has struck several high-profile licensing deals, including selling John Wick TV origin story The Continental to Peacock, breakout hit comedy Ghosts to Paramount+ and Schitt’s Creek to Hulu, among many others. The company also licenses around 40 to 50 feature films annually.
“Jim and his team have built Lionsgate into a global licensing powerhouse whose content touches virtually every platform in the world,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “He is a world-class executive, a respected leader and a trusted partner whose entrepreneurial drive and knowledge of the changing face of the content business will continue to be an important part of moving our company forward.”
The news comes soon after it emerged international streaming service Starzplay was rebranding as Lionsgate+ internationally, and as Lionsgate mulls whether to spin off the Lionsgate studio.