Montreal: Prominent industry producer Tom Berry and Coscient Group have agreed in principle to establish a joint-venture production company based in Los Angeles.

Operations are expected to start in the fall.

Berry has a four-year production agreement with both Coscient and member company Allegro. The pact calls for Berry to head a production unit at Allegro as well as assume topper duties as president of the new l.a. company. ‘The parties are agreed in broad strokes or in principle. The details are being finalized at the moment,’ says Berry.

The as-yet-unnamed joint venture will produce non-Canadian content features while Berry’s Allegro unit will continue to produce certified Canadian features and mows.

French producer Jacques Methe, head of Atlantique Productions, a Paris-based company active in both the American and European markets, will ultimately replace Berry as president of Allegro Films.

Methe becomes executive vp at Allegro on June 2 and will be named president of the company by the end of July, says Marie-Christine Dufour, vp communications and public affairs for Coscient.

Berry has played an active role in the industry as chairman of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association and has produced two major feature films with Triumph Pictures, a division of Columbia TriStar, in the past two years.

Yet to be released, The Assignment (working title Jackals) was shot here and abroad last year on a budget of $22 million. Screamers was shot in ’95 on a budget of $15 million. Both films were directed by Christian Duguay.

In his new position, Berry will commute regularly between Montreal and l.a., much as he has done since 1993.

Coscient acquired Allegro in March 1994.