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Lionsgate Studios Corp.

Film and Television ProductionFounded 1997
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded Lionsgate?

Frank Giustra · Founded 1997 · HQ today: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Santa Monica, California, United States

Who founded Lionsgate?

Lionsgate was founded by Frank Giustra in 1997. It is now led by Jon Feltheimer.

Founders
Frank Giustra
Founded
1997
Headquarters
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Santa Monica, California, United States
Number of founders
1
Current CEO
Jon Feltheimer (since 2000)
Where was Lionsgate founded?
Lionsgate was founded in Santa Monica, California in 1997.
When was Lionsgate founded?
Lionsgate was founded in 1997.
Who started Lionsgate?
Lionsgate was founded by Frank Giustra.
How old is Lionsgate?
Lionsgate is 29 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Frank Giustra, a Vancouver financier, founded Lions Gate Films in 1997 to build a Canadian independent film company. It grew by buying distributors and libraries, including Trimark in 2000 and Artisan Entertainment in 2003, while releases such as American Psycho (2000) gave it a reputation for edgy, lower-budget films that bigger studios passed on.

Frank Giustra

Co-founder 1997

Background

Before Lionsgate, Giustra was a mining financier and led Yorkton Securities in Toronto.

Role at Lionsgate Studios Corp.

Frank Giustra is a Canadian financier who founded Lions Gate Films in Vancouver in 1997. He built the company through acquisitions of production and distribution businesses before Jon Feltheimer and Michael Burns took over management in 2000. He later focused on mining investments and philanthropy, including the Radcliffe Foundation.

Frank Giustra was born in 1957 in Greater Sudbury. Education: Douglas College.

Giustra was born on August 22, 1957. He is a Canadian mining financier and philanthropist, chief executive of the Fiore Group of Companies and co-chair of the International Crisis Group. From 2001 to 2007 he chaired the merchant bank Endeavour Financial.

Lionsgate Studios Corp.: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Jon Feltheimer

Chief Executive Officer

2000 – Present

He built Lionsgate into the largest independent Hollywood studio by combining library acquisitions, owned franchises and selling content to outside networks and streamers.

Frank Giustra

Founder

1997 – 2003

Frank Giustra founded Lionsgate in 1997 in Vancouver. A financier and mining executive, he built the independent studio through a series of rapid strategic acquisitions-including Termite Art Productions, Mandalay Television, and Trimark Pictures-aiming to capitalize on the growing Canadian film industry before eventually selling most of his stake in 2003.

Keep researching Lionsgate

Who Founded Lionsgate? FAQ

Who founded Lionsgate and what was the historical background?

Lionsgate was founded in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Canadian mining financier, investment banker, and philanthropist Frank Giustra, who sought to build a major Canadian-based entertainment leader utilizing Canadian tax credits and local production talent.

What is the origin of the company name 'Lionsgate'?

Founder Frank Giustra named the company after the Lions Gate Bridge, the well-known suspension bridge spanning the Burrard Inlet in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, which itself was named after 'The Lions' twin mountain peaks.

What early acquisitions built Lionsgate's foundation in 1997 to 1999?

In its initial years, Frank Giustra acquired Cinepix Film Productions (CFP), North Shore Studios in North Vancouver, and documentary producer Termite Art Productions, establishing foundational film distribution, studio lot infrastructure, and TV production.

How did Frank Giustra recruit Jon Feltheimer and Michael Burns in 2000?

In 2000, recognizing that Lionsgate needed top Hollywood studio leadership to scale, Giustra recruited former Sony Pictures Television chief Jon Feltheimer as CEO and Wall Street investment banker Michael Burns as Vice Chairman, stepping back into a director and shareholder role.

What was Lionsgate's first major box office breakout film in 2000?

In 2000, Lionsgate released Mary Harron's psychological horror thriller 'American Psycho', starring Christian Bale. Produced on an $7 million budget, the film grossed over $34 million and became an enduring cultural cult classic, putting Lionsgate on the Hollywood map.

What was Frank Giustra's subsequent career and philanthropic work?

After launching Lionsgate, Frank Giustra founded major resource enterprises (Endeavour Mining, Fiore Group) and dedicated himself to global philanthropy, co-founding the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership and establishing the Radcliffe Foundation for refugee relief.

Where were Lionsgate's original film production studios located?

Lionsgate's original production facilities were based at North Shore Studios in North Vancouver, British Columbia (housing major television series like The X-Files), which were later sold as Lionsgate transitioned to an asset-light production model.

What founding vision continues to guide Lionsgate today?

The founding vision was to build an independent, agile entertainment studio that embraces bold, unconventional storytelling, supports filmmakers, and operates with disciplined entrepreneurial financial management.

Who founded Lionsgate?

It was founded by Frank Giustra. Fascinatingly, Giustra made his massive fortune not in Hollywood, but in the highly brutal, high-risk world of mining and natural resource finance in Vancouver. He applied this exact same aggressive, Wall Street-style M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) strategy to the film industry, ruthlessly buying up massive film libraries to generate immediate cash flow.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.