Catalyst Entertainment has struck a strategic international alliance that will boost its program buying power, distribution and development activities, and its presence in the industry.

The alliance – involving a financial infusion and an agreement to share business expertise – is with The Britt Allcroft Group of Britain, a coproduction partner on the tv series Shining Time Station for over three years. Catalyst president and founder Charles Falzon would not reveal an exact figure, but he did say the investment is in the $10 million range, an amount which accounts for less than one-third of Catalyst’s equity. The plan is for a three-year expansion strategy with most investing up-front.

‘We will gain access to Allcroft’s global licensing power and merchandising strength and they will have access to our broadcast distribution knowledge,’ says Falzon.

Falzon says he wanted to avoid going public in order to retain the same level of control he now has in the company.

The two companies will exchange localized expertise: Southampton-based Allcroft has production and distribution operations in New York and Tokyo, and Toronto-based Catalyst’s studio complex (acquired last year) in Malta is on the verge of benefiting from the first coproduction treaty between Canada and Malta.

Falzon, best known for distributing for such suppliers as Baton, City-tv and countless others from around the world, is talking about producing more tv and possibly some features. Allcroft is part of the big picture: ‘They would like to produce with us, to codevelop (projects) creatively with us.’ Yet Falzon maintains the two companies will be careful to remain separate entities.

New money also means a new image for Catalyst, says Falzon. He has hired a pr firm and is flagging the company’s success in international sales (which extends back 17 years to the days when Falzon sold Beachcombers to Latin America and includes Catalyst’s recent major sales of Canadian cooking titles to Discovery Channel and Lifestyle).

Catalyst’s biggest production coup may be The Martin Short Show, a 13-episode primetime deal for nbc which has WIC Western International Communications holding Canadian broadcast rights and Catalyst International Productions overseeing production in Canada in the 1994/95 season. Production begins at nbc studios in Burbank, California and will move north of the border for the following season.

Although a small company, Catalyst does not want to appear lightweight and is preparing for the prophesied information highway with the development of one cdi and one cd-rom project. Catalyst is producing the content and working with Phillips to develop the technology, as well as looking into versioning product. ‘As distributors, we are trying to control all rights and we are not giving cd-rom rights to anyone. We are looking to partner some rights,’ says Falzon.

Falzon has big plans for the company to expand, but he wants to keep it compact. ‘The one missing ingredient was investment capital,’ he says, ‘and now we have more money than we had ever imagined. But we don’t want to change dramatically. The infrastructure won’t be any different.’

At the investor announcement late last month, Falzon reflected on a statement he made eight years ago (and is still living down) that ‘being Canadian is irrelevant’. The Maltese-born film distributor and producer explains that he was talking about the priorities of the international marketplace, where the product and not its place of origin is the going concern. He stands behind his observation to this day, citing the strategic international alliance between Catalyst and Allcroft as a shining example of his philosophy.