Starz Entertainment Renews 'Crash'

Starz Entertainment Renews 'Crash'

Co-Produced with Lionsgate, Series Returns to the Air in Fall with Ira Steven Behr as Executive Producer/Showrunner, James DeMonaco as Executive Producer and Todd Harthan as Supervising Producer

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Starz Entertainment has renewed "Crash," its first original drama series, co-produced with Lionsgate, for a second season scheduled to debut in the fall. The announcement was made today by Stephan Shelanski, executive vice president, programming of Starz Entertainment.

Shelanski also disclosed that notable writer/producer Ira Steven Behr ("The 4400," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "The Twilight Zone") has been named executive producer/showrunner for "Crash's" second season, while James DeMonaco ("The Kill Point") and Todd Harthan ("The Kill Point") have been named executive producer and supervising producer, respectively.

The series, from the producers of the Academy Award(R)-winning Best Motion Picture of the same title, is the provocative 13-episode drama that wrapped its inaugural season last month. Set in Los Angeles, "Crash" focuses on a multi-ethnic group of people from different socio-economic backgrounds and their lives as they intertwine and connect and their personal dramas unfold. The program's second season will feature 13 new episodes that will delve deeper into the many emotional and complex layers of life in Los Angeles.

Executive producer/showrunner Ira Steven Behr is heading the production team along with executive producer James DeMonaco and supervising producer Todd Harthan. They will be joining executive producers Paul Haggis and Bob Yari; co-executive producers Bobby Moresco, Don Cheadle, Tom Nunan, Mark R. Harris, Jorg Westerkamp and Thomas Becker; and consulting producer Glen Mazzara.

Regarding the announcement, Shelanski noted, "As our first major dramatic series on Starz, 'Crash' has been, and will be, an important part of our Originals strategy. With Ira, James and Todd on board, we feel it's going to get stronger with each year and keep building on the success we established in the first year."

"'Crash' is an important franchise for Lionsgate and we're delighted about the second season pickup," said Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate's president of television programming and production. "We've enjoyed a great partnership with Starz on the series and look forward to a new chapter of exciting and thought-provoking stories."

Paul Haggis, executive producer of the series said, "I enjoyed my interaction with the creative team last season, and I am really excited about Ira's ideas for re-imagining the series in its second season. Lionsgate and Starz have been great partners; I appreciate their support and can't wait to see what happens next."

About Starz Entertainment

Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz(R) and Encore(R) brands with approximately 17.4 million and 31.6 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HD, Encore HD, Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, MoviePlex On Demand, Starz HD On Demand, Encore HD On Demand, MoviePlex HD On Demand, and Starz Play. Starz Entertainment (www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, and is attributed to Liberty Entertainment Group, a tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation.

About Lionsgate

Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF) is the leading next generation studio with a major presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company has generated more than $400 million at the North American theatrical box office in the past 12 months and has forged strong positions in television and home entertainment with the production of such critically-acclaimed television series as "Weeds" and "Mad Men," the distribution of "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," "Family Feud," "South Park," "Trivial Pursuit" and "The Dead Zone" and nearly 7% market share and the industry's leading box office-to-DVD conversion rate in home entertainment. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with entrepreneurial innovation and original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the globe.

   Contacts:    Steve Belgard                          Chelsye Burrows   Starz                                  Starz   720.852.5843                           720.852.5838   steve.belgard@starz.com                chelsye.burrows@starz.com    Leah Krantzler                         Shannon Sturcken   The Lippin Group for Lionsgate         FerenComm for Starz   323.965.1990                           303.317.5922   lkrantzler@lippingroup.com             shannons@ferencomm.com    Lindsay Gallagher                      Kate Brennan   FerenComm for Starz                    FerenComm for Starz   212.983.9898                           212.983.9898   lindsayg@ferencomm.com                 kateb@ferencomm.com  

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Starz Entertainment, LLC

CONTACT: Steve Belgard, +1-720-852-5843, steve.belgard@starz.com, or
Chelsye Burrows, +1-720-852-5838, chelsye.burrows@starz.com; or Leah Krantzler
of The Lippin Group, +1-323-965-1990, lkrantzler@lippingroup.com, for
Lionsgate; or Shannon Sturcken, +1-303-317-5922, shannons@ferencomm.com, or
Lindsay Gallagher, +1-212-983-9898, lindsayg@ferencomm.com, or Kate Brennan,
+1-212-983-9898, kateb@ferencomm.com, all of FerenComm for Starz

Web Site: http://www.starz.com/

---

Profile: International Entertainment