With a wealthy, vertically integrated, publicly traded parent company loosening up the availability of funds, Lions Gate Films president Jeff Sackman expects his newly renamed production and distribution operation to spend between $35 million and $50 million on the production of seven to 10 films in the next year.

But the new injection of capital won’t significantly alter the game plan of the former cfp. ‘Clearly we’ve merged with an entity that has financial sophistication unavailable to us before,’ says Sackman, referring to last June’s acquisition of cfp by Vancouver-based Lions Gate Entertainment ceo Frank Giustra.

Giustra, a former stockbroker with Vancouver’s Yorkton Securities, purchased cfp for $37 million and later complemented the acquisition by buying Vancouver’s North Shore Studios for $36 million and Peter Guber’s Mandalay Television.

‘It brings more money and more understanding of money and finances. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing with less financial constrictions.’

The newly available funds will allow Lions Gate and its unique u.s. distribution operation to compete for acquisitions on a more level playing field with some of the so-called u.s. ‘mini majors’ like Miramax and October Films.

‘We were constricted somewhat by our lack of available funds,’ says Sackman, who was instrumental in orchestrating the sale of cfp to Lions Gate Entertainment. ‘Now if an opportunity presents itself, we are going to be able to act on that opportunity.’

With the intention of enhancing the number of worldwide rights acquisitions, Sackman expects Lions Gate to acquire u.s. theatrical rights for approximately 12 films this year. It will pick up another 12 for Canada only, leaving Lions Gate distributing about 20 films for Canadian theatrical release this year.

In the video market, Sackman says they’ll be ‘cutting down like everybody else as the market becomes less accepting of lower quality fare.’ However, it will still be releasing 50 to 60 titles in Canada and 12 to 15 in the States in the first year of operation with u.s. video distributor Avalanche Home Entertainment.

Lions Gate currently has 25 projects on its development slate. Sackman contends there isn’t a specific kind of film that the company does, only films that are financially and artistically sensible.

Most productions will fall in the under us$5 million budget range, although that figure could rise for certain projects.

First up is writer Bruce Wagner’s directorial debut of his screenplay based on his novel I’m Losing You. Scheduled to shoot in l.a., David Cronenberg is one of the film’s exec producers.

What percentage of the $50 million in Lions Gate’s production kitty will stay in Canada remains to be seen.

‘Our philosophy on production is that we find the best scripts that we can and we will shoot them wherever they make the most sense with the best cast that we can attract,’ says Sackman. ‘If it happens to be [Canadian] content, that’s great. We look forward to utilizing the same benefits that everyone else does. And if it makes sense to shoot non-Cancon films in Canada because of the dollar like the Americans do, then we will do that too.

‘We want to shed the notion that what we do is somehow dictated because we are in Canada,’ says Sackman from his high-rise downtown Toronto office. ‘The fact that we are in Canada is incidental to our business plan, and yet we recognize that there is a value and responsibility to being a Canadian company.’

Sackman says the company is interested in projects from Canada and elsewhere that are packaged with a solid script, director and recognizable cast.

‘We’ll finance 100% of a film or cause the film to get fully financed, so we don’t have any expectations of people bringing financing to the table. In return for our financing we end up producing the film and/or obtaining worldwide rights.’

While Lions Gate remains active in acquisitions and distribution with separate operations in theatrical and video in Quebec, the rest of Canada and in the u.s., the company has handed over the physical aspects of its English Canada theatrical operation to Cineplex Odeon Films. Columbia TriStar has a similar deal for English Canada video.

‘We acquire all of our films, we do the marketing for all our films, we set the release dates and advertising budgets, and we deliver the ad campaigns that we are satisfied with,’ says Sackman.

‘Based on the realities of the moment we have decided to incorporate our physical aspect of distribution with these partners. Our partners get volume and we feel more in control of our destiny. It’s reflective of today and it’s confusing to people who are comfortable with yesterday.’

Lions Gate has an output deal with l.a.-based Overseas Film Group/First Look Pictures and also receives Canadian theatrical product through its u.s. operations.

Recently completed productions include the New York-based Hi-Life starring Eric Stoltz and Darryl Hannah, and Dog Park, a Cancon film produced with Toronto’s Accent Entertainment starring Janeane Garofalo and Natasha Henstridge, with Bruce McCulloch directing.

Sackman and fellow Lions Gate staffer Joe Drake recently negotiated the sale of u.s. rights for Jerry and Tom to Miramax at the Sundance Film Festival. Jerry and Tom is the directorial debut of Canadian actor Saul Rubinek and stars Joe Mantegna, Sam Rockwell, Charles Durning, Maury Chaykin, Peter Riegert, William H. Macy and Ted Danson. The selling price is rumored to be us$2.75 million.

In a related story, former senior vp of distribution at cfp’s New York operations Adam Rogers died tragically in New York on Jan. 25. The 36-year-old Rogers had been hired by Toronto’s Alliance Communications as senior vp and gm of Alliance Releasing, replacing Tony Cianciotta, who left Alliance in the fall to form Vancouver distribco Red Sky Entertainment.