Vancouver: Tired of persistent rumors that Lions Gate Entertainment is on the block, ceo Frank Giustra strains to be unequivocal. ‘No, the company is not for sale,’ he says. ‘I’m definitely not looking for a bailout. No, I’m not going to go back to the brokerage business ever, ever. Been there, done that.’

Calling the coverage of the rumored sale ‘ridiculous,’ Giustra – one-time chief of brokerage firm Yorkton Securities – attributes any confusion about Lions Gate to an array of factors. Those include the company’s increased business activity, dismal share value and recent disappointing financial results, along with ongoing consolidation trends in Hollywood and the actual sale of Lions Gate Studios, which is listed for $42 million.

He refutes the stories in Hollywood trade papers that peg the value of the company at us$80 million ($118 million) for prospective buyers – a figure that in Canadian dollars is near the company’s current market capitalization.

‘There is nothing out there that isn’t on the public record,’ Giustra insists.

The stock market seems to support his assertions. There has been little action by investors reacting to the rumors of a sale – in whole or in part. On Sept. 14, Lions Gate shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange hovered at $2.55 each, up $0.35 from the 52-week low.

‘There is a lot of activity at our company,’ says Giustra, who owns 10.1% of Lions Gate and is the only disclosed major shareholder. ‘Our television division is ramping up. We have Dogma and Shadow of the Vampire. So we’ve been getting a lot of calls [from prospective business partners]. Everybody’s having conversations – it doesn’t mean you’re actively for sale.’

Evoking the current trends toward consolidation, including the recent merger of cbs and Viacom, he says: ‘I have a responsibility to do anything that will enhance the value of shares. Whether that means mergers or acquisitions, I don’t know. How do we grow in a competitive, consolidating market? We need growth in size and capital.’

On that front, Giustra says revenues were $118 million this year and are on track to reach $240 million next year.

The oft-criticized investment in Mandalay Pictures, meanwhile, is one ‘that has yet to play out,’ he adds, and the sale-leaseback deal proposed for Lions Gate Studios is being discussed with potential buyers.

The Lions Gate chief would rather focus on the company’s output, which is sparking its own controversy and intrigue. On Sept. 8, division Lions Gate Films announced it had acquired the North American rights to Dogma, by director Kevin Smith.

The ‘comic fantasy’ film – which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and features Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, and Smith himself – is about two fallen angels who scheme to re-enter Paradise. Singer Alanis Morrisette plays God, and Harvey and Bob Weinstein are personally backing the film outside of their Miramax offices.

But because of the film’s depiction of Catholicism and its perceived high level of violence, Dogma has been denounced by Catholic groups in North America and, specifically, organizations such as Canadians Concerned About Violence in Entertainment.

‘Everyone is entitled to their opinion,’ says Giustra. ‘We’re excited about the film and we are excited about releasing it. I’m not going to get involved in a debate.’

Dogma will appear on 1,000 screens on Nov. 12.

And on Sept. 14, Lions Gate Films revised its interest in Shadow of the Vampire, stepping down from worldwide rights to hold onto North American rights. The film, coproduced by Nicolas Cage, is directed by Elias Merhige (Begotten) and stars John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe and Carey Elwes.

Vampire is about the eccentric director FW Murnau, who made the film Nosferatu. No release date has been set. And the company is awaiting the release of Sleepy Hollow, Tim Burton’s take on the classic tale that is the first film to come out of Lions Gate’s deal with Mandalay.

On the television side, Lions Gate Television will go into production on Fox Television’s Sole Survivor on Oct. 18 in Vancouver. Based on the novel by Dean Koontz, the four-hour miniseries features Billy Zane (Titanic) as a one-time crime reporter chasing the mystery of a plane that went down with his wife and daughter on board.

And all 22 one-hour episodes of Lions Gate Television’s new series Cliffhangers, which will air on Fox Family Channel, have been purchased by WIC Entertainment and will air in Canada this fall. The two companies have an agreement to develop another series for broadcast in the fall of 2000.

Reminiscent of the old Canadian series Neon Rider, Cliffhangers is about a reformed drug and alcohol addict who dedicates his life to troubled teens. The series stars Joe Lando (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman).