With an eye to make proprietary films targeted at the U.S. marketplace, producer Steve Hoban, distribution maven Noah Segal and commercial production executive Philip Mellows have teamed up to create a new feature film production company – 49th Parallel.

49th Parallel [Canada-U.S. border] ‘is, for some people, an ‘unclimbable’ mountain. For us, it’s an invisible line,’ says Segal, who left his position as exec VP worldwide marketing at Lions Gate Films in early August to start up the new Toronto house, which plans to release three features a year.

The company brings Segal’s strength in international marketing and distribution, Hoban’s successful track record as a film producer (Ginger Snaps, Cyberworld, Blood & Donuts) and Mellows’ thriving commercial production house The Players Film Company into a triumvirate of Canadian filmmaking power.

The strategy for the new company is to make commercially viable films without any Canadian government funding.

‘A lot of Canadian production companies in the feature world exist off of the Canadian film financing world. And Steve’s got a completely different way of financing a film,’ says Mellows.

49th Parallel plans to start by approaching international distributors and international sources. The company is more concerned with how they ‘fit the bill’ with the market than how they fit in the Canadian funding system.

Says Hoban: ‘There’s a real danger in limiting the potential of a company by saying it has to be a project that the funding agencies would want to be involved in.’

Segal agrees. ‘I think we’ve created an environment in Canada as producers and distributors where the system is worked against itself and feeds on itself. And I don’t think that’s Telefilm’s intent or anybody else’s.’

A second element of 49th Parallel philosophy is the creation of independent films, ‘not films that are going to compete with Hollywood. Part of the business plan is to enter into arrangements with filmmakers that make them partners. Every film we ever do – the writer, the director, producer – whomever is involved – will all be owners of these products. We’re not talking about guild minimums, we’re talking about making everybody significant partners in what we do,’ Hoban explains.

49th Parallel will not take on any service work, preferring to own a piece of each project so as to ‘leverage that value into having more control over the films we make,’ Hoban says. It will, however, take on coproductions whenever possible, bringing in partners based on relationships cultivated in Segal and Hoban’s previous jobs. The company also has created a development fund that will be fed even before the partners pay themselves.

While the company’s main thrust is independent production, Segal says when the volume is high enough he will consider expanding into distribution.

‘Our main focus is on making really good product – because I think that’s what’s been missing in Canada and in the business in general. Every year, they’re hungry for better product.’

The product itself will be a mix of genres and styles, says Hoban. ‘The marketplace right now has room for basically three things: films driven by specific talent, low-budget stuff that’s off the map and very expensive, heavily laden production stuff. The middle ground is slipping away.’

49th Parallel intends to exploit all three of these market areas. Its first feature project will be Nothing, directed by Vincenzo Natali (Cube). Shooting will get underway when Natali is finished with his most recent film, Company Man.