Max Lucado’s Bestselling Brand to Have Fresh Design, Packaging and New DVD Pricing

(Nashville, Tenn.) – With more than 5.5 million units sold in the Max Lucado’s Hermie & Friends™ line, Max Lucado’s beloved book and DVD brand is planning to refresh and re-launch in the fall of 2011. The re-launch that includes board books, a hardcover level two reader, and DVD’s, will release on October 4th, 2011 with the new everyday value DVD pricing starting in September. A second new hardcover level two reader is set to release in spring of 2012.

The new Max Lucado’s Hermie & Friends™ will include a fresh design with bright, colorful new art, and will feature a mix of classic and new stories for kids of all ages. The hardcover Level Two Readers have been designed for kids starting to read on their own. They will feature basic vocabulary words and simple sentences. The Little Hermie board books will include sweet, soft art and simple rhyming text that explains basic Christian concepts for toddlers. New design, packaging, brand new books, and lower DVD pricing all help busy families bring faith into their daily lives affordably.

The beloved DVD line, produced by GlueWorks Animation, will have a new lower retail price and a larger emphasis on felt needs for children. The new DVD pricing for the Hermie brand will include $12.99 for a two-episode classic DVD pack and $9.99 for a classic single episode package, adding more value for the consumers than the previous $15 single episode packages. The two-episode DVD packs will include two classic Hermie episodes based on a Christian felt-need message.

“The Hermie brand is very special to me”, says author Max Lucado about Hermie & Friends™. “We’ve all come to love this little caterpillar and consider him our friend in helping us give parents tools for teaching the importance of prayer and for learning how to live as Jesus would. The relaunch is the beginning of a new era for Hermie—the illustrations are warmer, more inviting and childlike. I think Hermie lovers and new fans of Hermie will be as happy as I am with the latest design.”

The Max Lucado’s Hermie & Friends™ relaunch will include upcoming releases of DVD and book titles including:

DVDs
• I Won’t Be Afraid, God Is Always With Me (DVD)
• A Fruitcake Christmas (DVD)
• I am Special, God Loves Me (DVD)

BOOKS
• Thank You, God, For Loving Me (brand new board book introducing Little Hermie)
• Thank You, God, For Blessing Me (Little Hermie board book #2)
• Hermie, a Common Caterpillar (level 2 reader)

“Hermie has helped so many children come to know the love of God”, says Laura Minchew, Vice President & Publisher Children and Gift Books. “How exciting that Max can share these faith messages so that kids can read for themselves the Level 2 Reader and through the precious Little Hermie board books.”

About Max Lucado:
Max Lucado’s works have appeared on every major national bestseller list including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and Christian Booksellers Association. He has been featured in countless media outlets and national broadcasts. Max’s writings have been published in a wide array of formats including adult books, gift books, children’s titles, Bibles, commentaries, calendars and devotionals. Max Lucado is the Minister of Preaching at the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, where he has served since 1988. He has been married to Denalyn Lucado since 1981, and they have three grown daughters—Jenna, Andrea and Sara—and one son-in-law, Brett. More on Max Lucado can be found at http://www.MaxLucado.com.

About GlueWorks Animation:
GlueWorks Animation has been a leader in all aspects of animation since 1999 including entertainment production, corporate branding, intellectual property development and feature film special effects. Its management team has worked with the leaders in the entertainment field including NBC, Twentieth Century Fox, universal and Disney as well as major Fortune 500 companies such as Bank of America, General Electric and Microsoft. GlueWorks Animation has Co-Executive Produced each Max Lucado’s Hermie & Friends™ DVD title to date. More on GlueWorks Animation can be found at http://www.glueworksanimation.com/.

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Tommy Nelson, the children’s division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., was created to place into the hands of children a wide variety of high quality, enjoyable products that are consistent with the teachings found in the Bible. For more information, visit our website www.tommynelson.com.

For more on Tommy Nelson – find us online at
Facebook.com/TommyNelsonKids
Twitter.com/TommyNelson

For More information please contact:

Julie Solomon Backman
Publicist, Thomas Nelson
615-902-1722
jbackman@thomasnelson.com

Rick Eldridge
GlueWorks Animation
704-375-4321
rick@reelworks.net

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — LIONSGATE(R) (NYSE: LGF), the leading next generation studio, announced today that it has acquired the North American home entertainment distribution rights to NO GREATER LOVE, a touching story about faith and love. Under the terms of the arrangement, Lionsgate obtains the rights to distribute the title on DVD, VOD and EST. Scheduled for a first quarter 2010 release, the movie will be distributed in the Christian marketplace by Thomas Nelson — the world’s largest Christian book publisher and Lionsgate’s exclusive distributor to the Christian market.

The announcement was made by Anne Parducci, Lionsgate Executive Vice President of Marketing & Family Entertainment, Dan Lynch, Vice President of Family Entertainment for Thomas Nelson, and Russ Rice, President of Coram Deo Studios, Inc. in association with Chris Bueno and Larry Frenzel of Carmel Entertainment. Carmel Entertainment has also been associated with leading Christian films such as Facing the Giants and Fireproof. The deal was negotiated by Wendy Jaffe, Lionsgate Executive Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs, Acquisitions and Co-Productions, and Larry Frenzel, CEO of Carmel Entertainment.

“NO GREATER LOVE is a beautiful story about the universal themes of faith, love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The subject matter of the movie is something that anyone can appreciate and relate to,” said Parducci. “While this movie will certainly perform in the Christian outlets, it is also just the type of faith-based title that we look for to deliver to a wider audience.”

“When I saw this film I knew it would be very successful in the Christian bookstore market. The film has a strong message about forgiveness, faith and marriage. Each person who watches NO GREATER LOVE tends to see themselves in one of the characters. We’re very excited to be partnering with Lionsgate to bring this film to market,” said Lynch.

“We made this film believing it would touch many lives and are so pleased that Lionsgate and Thomas Nelson share this vision,” said Rice. “We could not be more thrilled to have them as our partners in distributing NO GREATER LOVE.”

NO GREATER LOVE is the latest faith-based acquisition for Lionsgate. The studio continues to increase its presence in Christian retail by utilizing its relationship with Thomas Nelson to gain leverage for its existing library of product as well as inspirational theatrical titles. In recent years, Lionsgate has released high-profile faith-based titles including Bella, Erwin McManus’s Crave, Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker’s House, and The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith and the upcoming The Case for a Creator, the DVD documentaries based on the best-selling books by leading Christian non-fiction author Lee Strobel, among others.

ABOUT NO GREATER LOVE
Executive produced by Russ Rice of Coram Deo Studios in association with Carmel Entertainment Group, and directed by Brad Silverman, NO GREATER LOVE tells a moving story of forgiveness, reconciliation, and the irresistible grace of God.

Jeff and Heather were the “lucky ones.” Best friends from childhood, high school sweethearts, and married by 22. They were inseparable soul mates. Jeff’s world is dramatically rocked when Heather disappears after the birth of their son. Heather shockingly reappears ten years later in the most unusual place.

About Lionsgate
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) is the leading next generation studio with a strong and diversified 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 built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury, reality programming through its joint venture with ISH Entertainment and an array of channel platform assets. Its feature film business achieved a record box office performance in the recent January-March 2009 quarter, driven by the success of “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail,” “My Bloody Valentine 3-D” and “The Haunting In Connecticut.” The Company’s home entertainment business has grown to more than 7% market share and leads the industry in its box office-to-DVD revenue conversion rate. 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 remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world. www.lionsgate.com.

About Thomas Nelson
Thomas Nelson is a leading provider of Bibles, products, and live events emphasizing Christian, inspirational and family value themes. For more information, visit our website www.thomasnelson.com.

About Coram Deo Studios, Inc.
Founded in 2007, Coram Deo Studios has burst into the faith-based market with their debut feature, NO GREATER LOVE. Sharing a distinctly Biblical worldview, the core team members consist of diverse industry professionals with a wide range of complimentary skills. Coram Deo currently has two additional films in the works. For more information visit www.coramdeostudios.com.

For Press Inquiries Contact:
Lionsgate
Jodie Magid/Jennifer Sandler
212-386-6885/ 310-255-4072
Jmagid@lionsgate.com/jsandler@lionsgate.com

Thomas Nelson
Jackie Johnston
615-902-1722
JJohnston@ThomasNelson.com