Having sold the TV comedy Sophie to ABC Family, Quebec prodco Sphère Média has signed to be represented in the U.S. market by Los Angeles-based APA Talent and Literary Agency.

Montreal-based Sphère, founded in 1997 by former TVA executive Jocelyn Deschênes, aims to get the rest of its French-language TV series catalog licensed as formats stateside following its adaptation of the Radio-Canada series Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin (The Highs and Lows of Sophie Paquin) for the CBC.

Disney’s ABC Family channel bought the first 13 episodes of Sophie, a comedy about a young talent agent whose life is in disarray, amid the recent U.S. writers strike, and has an option for the second season.

ABC Family plans a spring 2009 launch for the Canadian comedy. Season two will air on CBC this fall.

Deschênes also produced an English-language version of the Radio-Canada comedy Rumeurs for CBC as part of a coproduction with Moses Znaimer and Peter Hayman of MZTV Production & Distribution.

‘We both believe that there’s a strong demand in the U.S. marketplace for our offerings, as can be seen by ABC Family’s recent acquisition of our series Sophie. I am confident that we are going to produce some great properties together,’ Deschênes told Playback Daily.

APA will rep Sphère in all areas. Besides format deals, Sphère will also look to produce for the American and international TV market.

Other French-Canadian series in the Sphère catalog are TVA’s Annie et ses hommes (Annie and Her Men) and the Radio-Canada series Le monde de Charlotte (The World of Charlotte).