Alliance,

Miramax

do deal

Alliance Releasing has signed a deal with Miramax Films in the u.s. which seals a long-term distribution agreement for theatrical, video and television releases. It’s a two-way agreement, whereby Alliance gets exclusive rights for 50 new films over the next five years and Miramax will release five Alliance films in the u.s. over the same period.

Victor Loewy, president of Alliance Releasing, comments: ‘We wanted to secure an outlet in the States for Canadian product. As part of our strategy, it was part of the overall negotiations.’

The companies have announced two production initiatives as well: to coproduce a number of films and to create a joint development fund for new Canadian production.

Lael McCall, vice-president of feature film development at Alliance, says the initiative came from both companies. As for Miramax investing in the development of Canadian production, McCall pegs it as part and parcel of Miramax’s ‘involvement in some of the finest independent production around the world.’

Details of the fund are not yet available.

The deal, stacked with Alliance’s already coveted Canadian distribution of New Line Cinema/Fine Line features and Goldwyn pictures, places Alliance way out in front as the leading distributor of American independent films in Canada.

‘This could double Alliance’s share in Canadian theatrical and video releasing,’ says Loewy. ‘It’s going to mean a big chunk of the non-major market. It may be somewhere north of 80%, or maybe as high as 100%. It’s hard to quantify since it changes from year to year.’

With the announcement came speculation of what this means for C/FP Distribution, the Canadian distribution company commonly associated with Miramax product. Says c/fp president Jeff Sackman: ‘Last year, for both theatrical and video, Miramax accounted for about 40% of the top line of our product. The deal actually represented a very small amount of our revenue, but theatrically, the number of productions was in excess of 50%.’

Adds Sackman: ‘Contrary to some ideas out there, we did not actively pursue the renewal with Miramax.

‘Miramax has gone in pursuit of bigger films and Alliance was positioned to capitalize on that,’ he says.

This is not the first time Miramax has switched Canadian distributors, nor is it Alliance’s first association with the u.s. company. ‘When they started many years ago, they first did business with us,’ says Loewy. ‘The Secret Policeman’s Ball was their first film and we released it in Canada. They were tiny then. When they became slightly bigger they made a deal with Cineplex. They only went to c/fp three years ago, so it’s not as though it’s an association that has been there for centuries. They were looking for a more permanent type of home.’

Pauline Couture, Alliance director of communications, describes the move as ‘creating a presence almost like that of a studio.’

Miramax was not available for comment on either the deal or the fund.