Lionsgate’s Julie Fontaine heads to Netflix
David Farnor | On 26, Jun 2017
Lionsgate VP Julie Fontaine is heading to Netflix this week. The marketing veteran will be heading up the streaming giant’s publicity wing.
The VOD service has been on the hire quite aggressively in the last year, with former Universal chief Scott Stuber joining the tech giant to lead the development and production of its feature projects, and former Universal head Bela Bajaria recruited to push Netflix into the reality TV arena. Now, Lionsgate’s Fontaine is arriving on the team.
Fontaine, who joined Lionsgate in 2011, has held PR positions at Miramax and Cowboy Pictures in the past, as well as working as VP of domestic publicity for Disney Studios. During her time as VP of theatrical publicity for Lionsgate, the studio acquired Summit Entertainment and Starz, the former notably bringing The Twilight Saga into the Lionsgate fold, enabling it top the $1 billion mark in domestic grosses for the first time. Fontaine handled publicity on The Hunger Games and its following sequels, grossing almost $3 billion worldwide, as well as the Oscar-nominated Sicario and Hacksaw Ridge and the Oscar-winning La La Land.
She joins Netflix as the site is stepping up its feature film game significantly, with two movies (Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories and Bong Joon-ho’s Okja) both competing for the Palme d’Or at Cannes last month. Fontaine will report to chief communications officer Jonathan Friedland, reports Variety. A Netflix spokesperson confirmed the news to the publication, simply saying: “She’s a superstar. We are very excited.”