More MIP sales

Notes on a few more sales and sellers of note from mip-tv, which ended April 20 in Cannes.

Catalyst Distribution’s Jill Keenleyside reports the market was Catalyst’s busiest ever with lots of action and interest for all the City-tv product Catalyst distributes. She says interested territories include the u.k., Scandinavia, the Far East (including two satellite services), Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

Keenleyside says Ooh La La especially was a ‘huge success,’ both among broadcasters already airing predecessor FashionTelevision and for those whose competitors run ft and who want to fight back with Ooh La La. Off the fashion front, Catalyst found City’s MovieTelevision moving briskly, adding that its success makes the newer program MediaTelevision that much more attractive.

Keenleyside also reports sales of The Waterville Gang, a children’s half-hour, to Israel, as well as a Norway home video deal and a sale to the Philippines for Shining Time Station, and says three new territories bought the tv movie The Little Kidnappers. She also noted that sales to airlines are becoming a factor for Catalyst and says coproduction news will be forthcoming soon.

One of the deals Nelvana concluded at mip involved the sale of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, 13 half-hours in all, to BMG Video International for video distribution throughout Eastern and Western Europe and the u.k. Nelvana’s director of coproduction, David Ferguson, says the program’s target audience of teenage comic book fans drew bmg to the property. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is based on the comic book Xenozoic Tales and is set 600 years in the future.

Alliance picks up Lumiere rights

Alliance Communications has picked up all television and some video distribution rights to the Paris-based Lumiere Catalogue for Canada. Weintraub Entertainment of Los Angeles and Initial Group titles are included.

Alliance Releasing, the company’s distribution arm, will handle the 1,500 Lumiere titles – including All Creatures Great and Small, the Carry On series and several Luis Bunuel films – for Canadian specialty channels, broadcasters and cable services. The collection is the latest addition to Alliance’s growing library, which recently expanded by 200 titles of Samuel Goldwyn product.

Competing in Cannes

Atom Egoyan’s Exotica will be in official competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Egoyan has twice been featured in the Director’s Fortnight (for The Adjuster and Speaking Parts), but this is his first entry in competition. ‘This is a really different category so it’s a bit nerve-racking,’ says Egoyan. ‘A whole new audience will be seeing the film.’

Off Key, a short film from Vancouver-based Big Nose Pictures, has been selected for the Critics Week. The 22-minute drama was directed by first-time filmmaker Karethe Linnae and produced by Wade Ferley.

Exotica is the fourth Canadian feature film to be in competition at Cannes. The jury is headed by Clint Eastwood. The festival runs May 12-23.