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Joe Drake is founder and CEO of Mandate Pictures, an independent entertainment company dedicated to the self-financing, development and production of filmed entertainment. Drake has been the driving force since launching the company (previously Senator International) in 2005, which aims to deliver broad-appeal films to studios and major independents worldwide.
Upon the company’s acquisition by Lionsgate, Joe Drake recently returned to his old stomping grounds (he previously served as president of Lionsgate International) as co-chief operating officer and president of Lionsgate’s motion picture group, with oversight of all areas of the company’s theatrical production, distribution, marketing, acquisition and international theatrical operations.
Completed projects awaiting distribution include the magical family film Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Jason Bateman; Jason Reitman’s Juno, which screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and stars Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman and will be distributed through Fox Searchlight; the crime thriller Horsemen, starring Dennis Quaid and Ziyi Zhang; the New Line Cinema comedy sequel Harold & Kumar 2, which features the directorial debut of the films’ writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg; and Strangers, starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman for Universal’s Rogue Pictures.
In the company’s recent years, Drake greenlit Marc Forster’s Stranger Than Fiction and launched the successful horror label Ghost House Pictures with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, which produced box office hits such as the $188 million box office worldwide hit The Grudge as well as its sequel The Grudge 2 which opened # 1 in the US, along with other #1 box office titles including Boogeyman and The Messengers directed by Danny & Oxide Pang and the upcoming 30 Days of Night for Sony Pictures.
Formerly president of Lionsgate International, Drake established the division as a premier supplier of theatrical feature films to the independent world. He oversaw worldwide sales and distribution of Lionsgate’s international programming and championed such projects as Nicolas Cage’s Shadow of The Vampire, the highly controversial American Psycho and the Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Amores Perros. Before joining Lionsgate, Drake served as senior vice president of international theatrical at Rysher Entertainment and also held positions at Moviestore Entertainment. | 