alliance Releasing has finally filled the long-vacant position of senior vp/gm with the appointment of former Miramax vp and general sales manager Jim Sherry.

Also a former New Line exec, Sherry’s expertise has been put to the test immediately with an ambitious August release schedule of seven films that could prove to be one of the most powerful sales periods in Alliance Releasing’s history.

Sherry says the timing of an August release was chosen for the seven films (five of which are commercial properties from New Line or Miramax) to allow the big-budget studio offerings like Armageddon and Lethal Weapon to get out of the way, while still opening in the back half of the lucrative summer season.

‘It’s not anticipated that we’ll see another $80-million to $100-million opening from the studios this summer,’ says Sherry. So the initial target was to move towards the back end and get out of the way of the films that will spend $40 million and $50 million on p&a.’

Alliance will kick off August with H2O: Halloween (Dimension/ Miramax), opening Aug. 5 on between 225 and 275 screens. Both Blade from New Line (opening on Aug. 21) and 54 from Miramax (opening on Aug. 28) will have also have wide releases of roughly 225 to 275 runs.

Two smaller productions will open on 150 screens next month. Air Bud: Golden Receiver (Keystone/ Disney), the sequel to the 1997 Golden Reel Genie winner Air Bud, opens Aug. 14 and Alliance’s own production Strike on Aug. 28.

All of the films will be released on the same day and date in the u.s.

‘It puts a demand on exhibition to cover that kind of quantity from one company, but we think they’ll be okay with it,’ says Sherry of the August release slate.

And while the high-profile American distribution exec brings a wealth of knowledge of the u.s. market to the new position which is responsible for all aspects of domestic theatrical releasing, Sherry says navigating the intricacies and politics of the Canadian market is not without parallels to his previous stints at Miramax and New Line.

When asked how Alliance intends to give its small Canadian features the attention needed to find an audience, while also distributing high-profile commercial films from u.s. suppliers, Sherry says he’s been wrestling with the same question, but in a different form, throughout his career.

‘At Miramax, the question was how do you protect your art films when your commercial endeavors are so ambitious?’ he says. ‘The question is always asked, it’s just phrased in a different way. It doesn’t just apply to Alliance, it applies to everyone. When you’re distributing films you find the balance.’

With Alliance handling close to 80 releases between its output deals, acquisitions and own productions in Canada this year, Sherry says each film must be given the best opportunity at success.

‘You do your best job in marketing, in setting up the film, and in theater selection to afford the film the ability to find its audience,’ says Sherry. ‘As long as you approach it honestly and with integrity, you never get too far off base. You don’t have to worry about cannibalizing yourself. It’s not an issue.’

Sherry says another strategy Alliance is looking to employ through its large product line is to strategically place its allotted two trailers for its own upcoming films with its current theatrical releases.

‘We have this enormous product line, much larger than any other company out there,’ says Sherry. ‘When you consider that you can comfortably put two trailers on the head of that, it gives you the initial appropriate targeting to get out early and do it right. Not to mention our video window.’

Alliance was recently able to run a trailer promoting its production of David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (opening early next year) with Fox’s Canadian release of The X-Files movie. ‘The dailies were so strong and the script so good that we cut a trailer and put it on the head of The X-Files,’ says Sherry, who estimates that 700,000 people saw the eXistenZ trailer just on X-Files’ opening weekend. The trailer will also run on the head of the H20: Halloween release.

While the similarities between selection of product and identifying audience are profound, Sherry says the major difference between the Canadian and u.s. theatrical markets is the number of players in exhibition.

‘More players in the u.s. exhibition side enables a secondary life on a lot of films that just by virtue of population and the number of players in Canada is not offered to you,’ he says.

‘For example, with a limited u.s. release of 500 runs, if the film is disappointing after two weeks you roll it into another 500 locations and you’ll get yourself a seven-week life cycle. With a much lesser exhibition base and less theaters to boot in Canada, you don’t have that opportunity for a second and third rollout.’

Meanwhile, Sherry’s predecessor Tony Cianciotta has expanded the release slate of his Vancouver-based Red Sky Entertainment with an additional 17 feature acquisitions including five films from Strand Releasing and two from Trimark Pictures.

Among the five films in the Strand package are John Maybury’s Love Is The Devil and the Academy Award-nominated, Ayn Rand: A Sense Of Life. Sources indicate that Red Sky is close to signing an output deal with Strand.

Slam, from director Mark Levin, took the Camera d’Or at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and is one of two pictures which Red Sky has acquired from Trimark.

Andy Myers, senior vp and managing director of Behaviour Distribution’s Toronto office, says his company, which has a first-look deal with Trimark, passed on Slam because the asking price to distribute the film in Canada was ‘prohibitive.’

Red Sky will distribute Canadian flick Bad Money, directed by John Hazlett, producer of Kitchen Party and The Suburbanators. Starring Graham Greene, Bad Money is a black comedy currently shooting in Calgary.

Anna Maria Muccilli, vp publicity and promotion, says Red Sky now has roughly 20 to 25 films on its ’98 release slate.