Lionsgate and Steven Paul's SP Media Form Joint Venture
Lionsgate and SP Media, the company led by producer Steven Paul, are forming a joint venture, Variety reported on 26 October 2026. Lionsgate will own and control a majority of the new company.
The arrangement sets out a clear division of labour. SP Media will produce independent feature films, and Lionsgate will distribute them. SP Media will also make a significant investment in new initiatives alongside Lionsgate. The amount of that investment has not been disclosed.
Those new initiatives are meant to widen Lionsgate's content business. According to Variety, the money will go into new businesses that expand Lionsgate's content, including a push by 3 Arts Entertainment into sports and influencer content. Moelis, the investment bank, acted as financial adviser to Lionsgate on the deal.
Steven Paul is chief executive of SP Media Group. He is also known in Hollywood for producing the superhero film Ghost Rider, and he manages the actor Jon Voight, according to Reuters. SP Media has a cofinancing deal with Paramount Pictures, as The Hollywood Reporter reported in May 2025. Cofinancing means two companies share the cost of a film and split the risk.
The company has been building its footprint on the production side too. In May 2025, SP Media Group bought Avenue Six Studios in Los Angeles, with the stated aim of boosting local film production. Under Paul's leadership, the comic book publisher Atlas Comics was also relaunched, and it is developing a slate of film and TV projects.
For readers, the practical effect is simple to state. A studio with a large distribution network is teaming up with a producer who makes films and is building a studio base of his own. The films that come out of the venture will take years to reach cinemas, since development, financing and production all come before any release date is set.
