LIONSGATE ACQUIRES WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO COLLECTIVE DIGITAL STUDIO'S NATURAL BORN PRANKSTERS MOVIE STARRING VITALYzdTV, ROMAN ATWOOD AND DENNIS ROADY

Dave England and Jenna Marbles Featured in Cameos

SANTA MONICA, Calif. and VANCOUVER, Nov. 6, 2015 /CNW/ -- Reflecting the continued growth of its in-house digital studio, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a premier next generation global content leader, today announced the acquisition of distribution rights for Natural Born Pranksters, a movie starring YouTube's top pranksters VitalyzdTV, Roman Atwood and Dennis Roady, who collectively have amassed more than 25 million subscribers and over three billion views.

Collective Digital Studio (CDS) financed and produced the film which features the trio executing their most epic pranks and badass stunts. Natural Born Pranksters was directed by Roman Atwood and Ben Pluimer. The film will be released day-and-date in theatres, electronic sell through and video on demand in early 2016.

VitalyzdTV is currently the #1 prank channel with close to nine million subscribers, and Roman Atwood Vlogs did over 100 million monthly views. Vitaly and Atwood are behind two of the most viral pranks in history—Vitaly's "Gold Digger," which has almost 44 million views, and Atwood's "Anniversary Prank Backfires," currently at more than 71 million views. Pranks have now generated over 13 billion views worldwide on the YouTube platform alone.

Natural Born Pranksters chronicles the merry band of YouTube pranksters descending on Hollywood and turning it into Prankwood. The film's marketing campaign was launched into the mainstream when Vitaly rushed the field during the 2014 Men's World Cup Finals with the words "Natural Born Pranksters" written across his chest. The prank garnered worldwide attention and buzz across mainstream and social media including a shout out from LeBron James.

"We're excited to bring the kings of prank to a wide audience, and Lionsgate is the perfect partner.  Based on our early screenings, we're extremely optimistic," said Gary Binkow, Chief Content Officer, CDS.

"We're delighted to partner with the CDS team on a film that reflects our commitment to serve consumers with original, exciting digital content built around the superstars of social media," said Lionsgate President of Worldwide Television & Digital Distribution Jim Packer. "Vitaly, Roman and Dennis have built a massive YouTube following, and this is a great opportunity to bring their trademark stunts and humor to an even bigger audience."

The film features an array of social media superstars including: Jenna Marbles, Furious Pete, Jukka Hilden, KC James, Kevin Brueck, Tom Mabe, and Peter Vass. Radio DJ Big Boy and Dave England are also featured. 

Natural Born Pranksters was produced by Collective Digital Studio. Executive producers include Vitaly, Atwood and Roady. Binkow and John Fitzpatrick are producers. VitalyzdTV, Roman Atwood and Dennis Roady are all part of the Collective Digital Studio multi-channel network, which delivers over 2.5 billion views a month.

As part of its growing in-house digital studio, Lionsgate has already announced the development of a film featuring YouTube superstars The Janoskians, online sensation Freddie Wong's first original RocketJump series for Hulu and the acquisition of the digital feature film Dirty Thirty starring YouTube phenoms Grace Helbig and Mamrie and Hannah Hart.

About Collective Digital Studio

Collective Digital Studio (CDS), founded by Michael Green, Reza Izad, Gary Binkow and Dan Weinstein, is a multi-platform digital entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes original entertainment programming. One of the leading YouTube multichannel networks with over 1000 channels delivering more than 2.5 billion views a month, CDS was founded in 2011. In July 2015, CDS merged with ProSiebenSat.1's Studio 71 to create Collective Studio 71, a global multi-channel network. CDS is distinguished for its ability to produce, distribute and market intellectual property across digital and traditional platforms, having pioneered the distribution of premium digital content to television. The company is best known for producing hit web series Video Game High School as well as TV shows for Epic Meal Time and FЯED. CDS boasts an unparalleled track record for delivering highly successful branded content initiatives for Fortune 200 brands, including Verizon, Dodge, Estee Lauder, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Sony PlayStation, and many more. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CDS also has offices in New York, Detroit, San Francisco and Toronto.

ABOUT LIONSGATE

Lionsgate is a premier next generation global content leader with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, digital distribution, new channel platforms, video games and international distribution and sales. Lionsgate currently has more than 30 television shows on over 20 different networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses, including the critically-acclaimed hit series Orange is the New Black, the multiple Emmy Award-winning drama Mad Men, the hit broadcast network series Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show, the acclaimed drama Manhattan and the breakout series The Royals.

Its feature film business has been fueled by such successes as the blockbuster first three installments of The Hunger Games franchise, the first two installments of the Divergent franchise, Sicario, The Age of Adaline, CBS/Lionsgate's The DUFF, John Wick, Now You See Me, Roadside Attractions' Love & Mercy and Mr. Holmes,Lionsgate/Codeblack Films' Addicted and Pantelion Films' Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.

Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 16,000 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 and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world. www.lionsgate.com

For further information, please contact:

Peter Wilkes
Lionsgate
310-255-3726
[email protected]

Karlyn Nelson/Rachel McCallister
MPRM for Collective Digital Studio
323-933-3399
[email protected]/[email protected]

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SOURCE Lionsgate