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November 27, 2014

Lionsgate Founder Frank Giustra on Philanthropy

General

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter

He tells fellow one percenters to stop taking their money “too seriously” and give it away.

Lionsgate founder Frank Giustra is betting on good karma after receiving the Dalai Lama Humanitarian Award from the Tibetan spiritual leader.

“I don’t want to be another rich, dead dude,” Giustra told a CTV morning news show in Vancouver after being honored for his philanthropy. The Canadian power broker made his fortune in mining before launching Lionsgate Entertainment in 1997, and more recently picked up a major stake in Canadian indie producer Thunderbird Films, also Vancouver-based.

But Giustra, who remains a Lionsgate board member, also runs a charitable foundation with former U.S. president Bill Clinton, the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, and has given millions to the Radcliffe Foundation, Street to Home and Boys Club Network.

Now, realizing his riches don’t bring immortality, Giustra wants fellow one percenters to also donate their wealth to do good in this world. “A lot of rich people take themselves too seriously, take their money too seriously,” he told the Canadian morning TV show.

“If you sit down and contemplate the concept of your immortality, or the lack of your immortality, you’ll come to the conclusion that hoarding all that money gives no real result,” he added.

Giustra got back in business with Lionsgate after The Hunger Games studio and Thunderbird Films launched Sea to Sky Entertainment, a TV partnership to produce broadcast and cable fare.

Link to the CTV News interview

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