Troll: The Tale of a Tail, a feature-length animated film to be produced by Montreal’s Blue Bug Entertainment, has inked a deal with U.S.-based Global Genesis Group to serve as the film’s worldwide distribution partner.

The film currently has a budget of about $15 million and is in the preproduction stage, with production slated to start in September, said Blue Bug Films producer Jean Aubert. Attached to co-direct the project are L.A.-based Pete Dodd and Norway’s Kristian Kamp. Dodd’s previous credits include work as an animator on features such as Frankenweenie and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Dodd also directed the 2011 Danish animated feature Freddy Frogface.

Kamp, who owns Norway-based Sagatoon AS, created the IP on which the film is based. Kamp via Sagatoon AS will serve as the executive producer on the feature. However, the plan is for all of the animation production work to be done in Montreal, Aubert said.

Thus far, the financing for the film has come from equity investments from financiers in Canada and Norway, as well as applicable tax credits in Canada. The producers are also working with Global Genesis Group, which is also an executive producer and partner on the project, to land pre-sale deals for the film with a theatrical distributor.

Troll will feature 3D stereoscopic animation and will be produced initially in English, Aubert said, with the producers eyeing an international market for this family-friendly feature – a genre Aubret said is in demand.

“The potential is very,very high for the movie,” Aubert said.