Elevation Pictures’ EVP and GM Naveen Prasad has stepped down from his post to launch a new production company, in partnership with the Toronto-based producer/distributor.

Prasad’s Impossible Objects, which will be based out of Elevation’s office in Toronto, will be dedicated to packaging and producing feature films and television projects, according to a release announcing the new venture. Writer/director/producer Jamie M. Dagg (River) has joined Prasad as a partner and producer.

Elevation and Impossible Objects have signed a multi-year output agreement that will see Elevation acquire and distribute the company’s film slate in Canada. The companies have also signed a first-look development for all of Impossible Object’s TV projects.

Prasad told Playback Daily that he’s long been interested in the production side of the business, and after four years overseeing distribution at Elevation and helping to expand the company, he felt the time was right to make the leap. “Everyone’s become great executives in their own right. It felt like a good time when I could move forward with something that I really wanted to do, with Elevation’s support, all the while knowing that Elevation and the crew there are set and poised for success.”

He also was eager to team up once again with Dagg, who he’s known since high school (the duo both grew up in Northern Ontario). Prasad produced Dagg’s 2005 short Waiting and his first feature River.

“Jamie’s a phenomenal creative so he’s going to bring a lot to bear as far as working with other filmmakers, helping to read scripts and do coverage and provide creative notes,” said Prasad. “[And now] as he’s writing and directing his own projects, he has a vehicle through which he can produce them.”

He added the duo is also looking to work with other filmmakers and producers to package and produce projects for the Canadian and international marketplace.

Prasad will continue to work with Elevation as a strategic consultant. He joined Elevation in May 2014, just a year after Laurie May launched the company in 2013. Elevation co-president Noah Segal joined the company in March 2014.

During Prasad’s tenure, he oversaw Elevation’s distribution and production activities, including its first release in September 2014, TIFF favourite and Oscar-winning biopic The Imitation Game. He also helped negotiate a production deal for Between, the first Canadian Netflix original series in partnership with Rogers Media and on which he served as an exec producer. Prasad was also an exec producer of Long Time Running, which Elevation distributed last year.

Elevation had a strong 2017 release slate, with its titles receiving eight Golden Globe nominations, including best animated film for The Breadwinner (produced by Toronto’s Aircraft Pictures, Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon and Luxembourg’s Melusine Productions), and best comedy or musical for Lady Bird and The Disaster Artist.