Victor Loewy’s Alliance Films is bulking up with a deal to release Overture Films titles in Canada through 2010.

The multi-year agreement will see Alliance handle between eight and 12 titles annually from the newly minted studio led by former Disney and MGM executive Chris McGurk, with financial backing from John Malone’s Liberty Media.

‘We’ve known Victor [Loewy] for years. He was our first stop and our last stop,’ McGurk tells Playback Daily of the decision to pact with Alliance after he kicked the tires of most Canadian distributors. McGurk says Alliance offers Overture one-stop shopping by distributing film product via theaters, DVD and Canadian pay-TV channels.

Loewy is equally ecstatic over his partnership with McGurk, who he has known for nearly two decades.

‘[Overture] is a very serious, well-capitalized business, run by a good team,’ Loewy says.

Overture distributes its titles internationally through an agreement with Paramount Vantage and Paramount Pictures International. But Loewy says he hopes to negotiate, where possible, Overture titles for Alliance’s British and Spanish releasing arms.

Overture launched in fall 2006, in part to feed movie product to Liberty Media’s premium pay-TV operation, Starz Entertainment.

The Overture deal is the latest in a fast-changing Canadian distribution sector looking to provide homes for newly emerging U.S. film studios backed by equity investment.

Rival Entertainment One last week reached a multi-year agreement with Summit Entertainment to release its titles in Canada through Seville Entertainment and in Britain via Contender Films. Robert Lantos’ Maximum Films inked output deals with IFC Film and Magnolia Pictures after Alliance let both franchises go.

Besides landing Loewy’s market-leading position, Alliance is also bolstered by output deals with leading Hollywood studios like New Line Cinema, Miramax and Focus Features.

‘There’s no one as talented as Victor. He’s part of the landscape in Canada. There’s no one in his league,’ McGurk says of the Alliance head.

In fact, McGurk and Loewy first talked about partnering at the 2006 Cannes film festival. But no final deal could be hammered out before the recent turmoil — during which Motion Picture Distribution LLP was purchased and relaunched as Alliance Films with new management.

‘We felt that Alliance would have to rebuild under Victor,’ McGurk says, before adding, ‘Now he’s back running the show.’

McGurk reports to Starz chairman and CEO Robert Clasen, who was in Toronto Tuesday to officially open Starz’s 3D animation studio.