Toronto producer and distributor CCI Entertainment is looking to re-establish itself as a serious contender in feature film distribution, and has announced plans to expand its acquisitions activity. The word comes amid recent shakeups in the industry following the takeover of Seville Pictures by Entertainment One and the arrival of Robert Lantos’ Maximum Film Distribution.

CCI co-chair Charles Falzon tells Playback Daily he’s happy to be in the mix, adding that the shifting around creates opportunities.

‘It’s encouraging to have strong companies in this country that realize the value of rights and offer Canadian independent producers the ability to negotiate those rights locally,’ he says, adding that the recent events are just a ‘re-shaping of expertise that exists in this business.’

Falzon says CCI’s attention shifted away from movie distribution in recent years due to its full slate of TV series and animation programming — including the popular children’s titles Ghost Trackers, Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, and Frankenstein’s Cat.

‘We put the movie acquisition part of the business on the back-burner without even making that conscious decision,’ he says, adding that the company is looking to increase its library significantly, which includes the MOWs Universal Soldier II and III and the direct-to-home-video title Row Your Boat.

CCI says it will continue to focus its efforts on family entertainment and has plans to acquire a minimum of 10 titles per year.

Falzon says the company will have an active presence at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival with distribution manager Fred Vargas handling the selection process, alongside CCI EVP of distribution Jill Keenleyside.