Company: Maple Pictures

Formed: 2005

Bosses: Co-presidents Brad Pelman, Laurie May

Formal relationships: Maple is the exclusive Canadian home video distributor for Lionsgate, which has an unspecified non-controlling interest in Maple. Montreal’s Christal Films also has a reciprocal relationship with Maple, whereby they distribute each other’s products.

Mission statement: ‘We are a genre-savvy independent film company making a mark on the industry through grassroots acquisition, production and distribution of diverse and distinctive filmed entertainment,’ says Pelman.

Recent performance: In February, Maple scored five titles in the Top 20 on the Nielsen VideoScan chart: Saw III (#3), Crank (#7), the non-theatrical kids release Invincible Iron Man (#10), Employee of the Month (#11), and a reissue of Reservoir Dogs (#19).

‘The Saw franchise has performed very well,’ says Pelman. ‘Horror is a genre that we understand.’

Big score: To date, March of the Penguins has been Maple’s biggest release. Asked how many units it has moved, Pelman only replies, ‘a s**tload.’

Disappointment: The indie trailer park drama Dreamland (starring Justin Long, the Apple computer guy in the TV spots) ranks as Maple’s biggest letdown.

‘This is a great film that we picked up last year at Sundance,’ says Pelman. ‘But it got buried in the U.S. Without U.S. home distribution, it couldn’t go anywhere in Canada.’

Top Canadian title: ‘We haven’t had one yet, but we have high hopes for Skinwalkers and Butterfly on a Wheel [with Pierce Brosnan] later this year.’

Annual home video revenues: Won’t say.

Rumor mill: Pelman confirms that Maple had hoped to pick up the Canadian assets of ThinkFilm, which was ultimately purchased by L.A.-based financier and producer David Bergstein.

Coming up: Joshua (another Sundance pickup, starring Sam Rockwell), Butterfly on a Wheel and Rogue (with Jet Li), all to be released – first in theaters – this year.

www.maplepictures.com