Citing continued growth of its home entertainment business, Lionsgate has signed Ron Schwartz to a new long-term agreement as president of Lionsgate Worldwide Home Entertainment.
The deal was announced Tuesday by Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman Joe Drake.
Schwartz will oversee the nearly $1 billion-a-year worldwide home entertainment operations, including the domestic and international home entertainment sales of Lionsgate’s feature film slate, a nearly 17,000-title film and television library, and a slate of Starz programming. Additionally, he assumes the expanded responsibility for the home entertainment digital transactional business.
Lionsgate said he will work closely with Jim Packer, president of worldwide television and digital distribution, on all home entertainment initiatives. He will also continue to shepherd Lionsgate’s $400 million-a-year multiplatform releasing and specialty acquisitions business, including titles for Grindstone Entertainment and Premiere, sister company Roadside Attractions and third-party partners.
“In today’s fast-changing environment, we’re always looking for ways to connect our artists and content with consumers across an ever-expanding array of platforms,” said Drake. “Ron’s great talent relationships, business acumen and strategic vision have helped position Lionsgate as a global home entertainment powerhouse and an innovator in the media space.”
Schwartz served as president and general manager of Lionsgate Home Entertainment Sales and Distribution before being promoted to head the worldwide home entertainment group in 2014. Schwartz joined Lionsgate through the company’s merger with Trimark in 2000 and was inducted into the Variety Home Entertainment & Digital Hall of Fame in 2015.