James Myers and Meredith Wieck Promoted, Brady Fujikawa Returns as Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Announces Promotions and Hires

01/11/2022 02:00 PM

After ramping up production on 16 films during the coronavirus pandemic, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group has a raft of new hires and promotions, the studio announced on Tuesday. Here’s the list as provided in the announcement, made by Lionsgate president of production Erin Westerman: James Myers has renewed his contract with the studio as executive vice president and will be taking on an increased leadership position at the studio, with an expanded strategic management role within the department alongside his growing slate of movies. His most recent projects include Borderlands, an adaptation of the bestselling videogame, starring Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jack Black; The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, starring Nicolas Cage in the role of Nicolas Cage; Shotgun Wedding, starring Jennifer Lopez; White Bird: A Wonder Story, a companion film to the 2017 hit, which Myers also oversaw, and About My Father, which stars comedian Sebastian Maniscalco alongside screen legend Robert De Niro.    Returning to Lionsgate as executive vice president of production is Brady Fujikawa, who most recently served as head of development at BRON Studios. In his previous position at Lionsgate, Fujikawa championed several projects that are now some of the studio’s most highly anticipated, including The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, starring Nicolas Cage; and London, based on a Jo Nesbø story, with Oscar Isaac attached to star and Ben Stiller attached to direct.    Meredith Wieck has been promoted to senior vice president. She oversees some of the studio’s highest priority projects, currently guiding The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (the Hunger Games prequel), Now You See Me 3 with a draft being written by Academy Award-nominated writer Eric Warren Singer, a Dirty Dancing sequel, and Fascinating Rhythm, directed by John Carney and produced by Irwin Winkler and Martin Scorsese. Her most recent projects include overseeing the development and production of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the long-awaited adaptation of the Judy Blume classic, with Kelly Fremon Craig adapting and directing and James L. Brooks producing through his Gracie Films banner; the Erwin brothers’ The Unbreakable Boy, starring Zachary Levi; and the untitled Adele Lim/Point Grey project, which she developed and recently wrapped production.    Aaron Edmonds has been promoted to vice president. Edmonds was a key executive championing The 1619 Project, a portfolio of film, TV and multi-media programming that will be produced by Lionsgate, The New York Times & Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films. He oversaw Antebellum starring Janelle Monáe and, with Wieck, he oversaw production on The Valet, a comedy starring Eugenio Derbez that will premiere on Hulu. He is also overseeing 48 Hours in Las Vegas, the upcoming Dennis Rodman project from Lord Miller and Shadow Force, to star Kerry Washington.  He is equally adept with tentpole titles, working on Borderlands and White Bird: A Wonder Story. Chelsea Kujawa has been promoted to vice president. During her Lionsgate tenure, she has overseen American Underdog, a biopic about the rise of NFL legend Kurt Warner from supermarket stocker to Super Bowl MVP, starring Zachary Levi; John Wick 4, which continues with Chad Stahelski at the helm; Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret from director Kelly Fremon Craig, starring Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates; and About My Father starring Robert De Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco, among others. She was previously an executive at Paramount.   Joining the studio as director of development is Jorge Alfaro. With a background in banking and finance, Alfaro joins Lionsgate from El Estudio, a pan-regional production company operating out of Los Angeles, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Madrid, where he was director, Creative Affairs, overseeing their entire Feature Film pipeline; he was previously a development and production manager at Eugenio Derbez’s 3Pas Studios. His current projects include 48 Hours in Vegas, the upcoming Dennis Rodman project from Lord Miller, West Pointer from writer-director Rod Lurie with KJ Apa attached to star, and Shadow Force, to star Kerry Washington.    Said Westerman in the statement, “We have an exceptionally talented and versatile development and production team. They have ramped up 16 films since the pandemic began. As we expand our department we are promoting from within, while also hiring some familiar faces and recognizing the outstanding contributions and dedication of our incredible team. It is always a special thrill to reward the hard work of those who have earned their promotions. James, Meredith Aaron and Chelsea have been superstars throughout their careers and its exciting to be reuniting with Brady and to be welcoming Jorge to our team.”  .aspect-ratio-box { height: 0; overflow: hidden; padding-top: calc(720 / 1280 * 100%); background: #f9f9f9; position: relative; margin-bottom:30px; } .aspect-ratio-box-inside { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }