Barna-Alper is getting into the releasing game and, at this month’s MIPTV, will unveil the four-title catalogue of its new distribution wing – looking to sell the recent BA titles Show Me Yours, Mega Builders, Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story and Shania: A Life in Eight Albums.

The new outfit is headed by CEO Laszlo Barna, CFO & COO Margaret O’Brien and newly hired director of sales Melanie Meurehg.

‘It’s time for us to expand,’ says Meurehg, formerly of Spectra International. ‘The [production] company is very successful in Canada and we have a lot of programming that has been very successful in the world.’

Barna-Alper Releasing is handling BA titles for now, but may expand to outside shows and feature films in the future. Older BA titles such as Da Vinci’s Inquest and Frontiers of Construction are still handled by their original distributors. Barna’s latest miniseries, the South Africa-shot Whiskey Echo, is distributed by THA.

Da Vinci’s is enjoying brisk sales in the U.S. via distribs Program Partners and Thunderbird Films, going to local markets including New York, L.A., Boston and Seattle. The series is carried elsewhere by Alliance Atlantis.

-www.barnaalper.com