Left to right: Michael Paszt, Andrew Hunt, James Fler

By Julianna Cummins and Jordan Pinto

Raven Banner Entertainment has kicked off 2016 with a number of business deals, announcing a new production arm and inking an output deal with Buffalo Gal Pictures.

• The new division, Berserker, kicks off with an agreement to coproduce thriller The Last Step with U.K’s Moviehouse Entertainment and French prodcos Seven 52 and Right 35. The Canada-U.K.-France copro is to be shot in Saskatchewan in fall 2016.

Moviehouse will handle international sales of the film, which will be directed by Frederic Petitjean. Producers on The Last Step are Laurent Tolleron of Seven 52 and Corinne Benichou and Florence Moos of Eight 35. Michael Paszt, James Fler, Andrew Hunt and Mark Montague will serve as producers for Berserker, and Mark Vennis and Gray Phillips will produce for Moviehouse. The film will star Jean Reno and Sarah Lind.

On the distribution side, Raven Banner and Buffalo Gal also announced the two companies have inked an output deal for a slate of genre films. Produced through Buffalo Gals’ genre-focused label Insidious Pictures, the agreement will see Raven Banner handling Canadian distribution and global sales. The films to be developed and produced via the output deal will focus on auteur-driven, elevated genre films made on a modest budget and geared toward domestic and international audiences.

The output deal was negotiated by Buffalo Gal’s VP of sales and marketing Isaac Clements and Raven Banner partners James Fler, Andrew Hunt and Michael Paszt.