Giustra mines presidential connections

Clinton helps Lionsgate founder cash in

By DADE HAYES

It's one of Hollywood's stranger riddles: What do uranium mining, President Clinton and Lionsgate Films have in common?

The answer: Canadian energy mogul-cum-cinephile Frank Giustra. The man who founded Lionsgate as a Vancouver-based indie in 1997 recently returned to the headlines by virtue of his dealings with the ex-prez.

The two were linked, and not in an altogether positive way, to a deal in Kazakhstan for uranium reserves that could be tapped for nuclear power. Using his Clinton connections, the reports asserted, Giustra elbowed rivals out of the way and landed rich contracts.

Clinton and Giustra deny any favoritism resulting from their teaming. Giustra met Clinton at a benefit for those affected by the Asian tsunami in 2005. He went on to give more than $31 million to the Clinton Foundation.

Networking has always been a Giustra trademark. In the mid-1990s, the one-time investment banker and son of an Ontario nickel miner funneled money into producing films. That introduced him to showbiz figures like exec and producer Peter Strauss, who introduced him to Peter Guber, whose Mandalay film and TV ops merged into what became known as Lions Gate.

Giustra ran the mega-indie as chairman and chief exec until 2000 and then cashed out as chairman in 2003, when he decided to return to the mines. It is instructive, perhaps, that going into mines seemed more appealing to him than making films.