Montreal: Equinox Entertainment is delivering on its promise to raise its industry profile in Canada.

The integrated production and distribution company has announced two important subdistribution deals for the Quebec market: an exclusive output deal for all English- and French-language releases from Paramount Classics, and the renewal of its service agreement with Buena Vista Pictures, which includes product from Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures.

Additionally, Equinox head Michael Mosca says the company has scheduled another 15 Canadian and international titles in the year ahead, including new Canadian or Canadian coproduced films from John Badham, Celine Baril, Clement Virgo and Leonard Farlinger.

The agreement with Paramount Classics, a first for Equinox, is open-ended. ‘We’ll do it as long as they are happy with us,’ says Mosca. The deal with Buena Vista is for two years. Financial terms of the agreements were not released.

Promising output deals are tricky to come by. Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution has most of the action in Canada, with agreements with Miramax, New Line/Fine Line, Artisan Entertainment and others, including a service arrangement with Columbia TriStar. Blackwatch Releasing recently signed an output deal with Sony Pictures Classics and TVA International (aka Motion International) has a service arrangement with the big DreamWorks skg studio.

‘Basically, these agreements give us a lot of respectability in terms of our power to program, at least in the Quebec market,’ says Mosca. ‘Where people didn’t know us before, they are now looking at us servicing Buena Vista, and you pretty much have to know what you’re doing in order to contract with a major studio of that stature.’

Equinox anticipates about 25 releases during the balance of 2000 – 14 from Disney, five or six from Paramount Classics and five from the company’s own slate.

The full 2001 slate for Quebec releases is in the order of 35 theatrical films. The English-Canadian slate for theatrical in 2001 will be about 10 films.

‘Obviously I’ll be pursuing an output deal of some sort to increase our English theatrical release slate,’ says Mosca. Prospects include two or three New York and Los Angeles-based distribs looking for partners in Canada, he adds.

Equinox slate

Canadian and international releases from Equinox include:

* Cannes festival premier Les Fantomes des trois Madeleine from director Guylaine Dionne, produced in Montreal by Filmo and France Film;

* the high-profile romance comedy The Third Wheel, picked up in the u.s. by Miramax;

* the high-seas adventure Ocean Warrior, an international coproduction from GFT Kingsborough Films and GFT Entertainment, acquired by Warner Bros.;

* Leonard Farlinger’s feature debut The Perfect Son, a drama starring Colm Feore and David Cubitt and produced by Jennifer Jonas of New Real Films;

* the new Clement Virgo urban drama Love Come Down, starring recording artist Deborah Cox and coproduced by Damon D’Oliveira.

Equinox is also releasing Celine Baril’s teenage love story L’Instant fatale, produced by Serge Noel and starring Karine Vanesse (Emporte-moi), and another high-profile release, mvp (Most Valuable Primate), a Keystone International tale of chimps on ice. The film is a fully shared release between Equinox and Red Sky Entertainment of Vancouver.

Output slate

The Paramount slate opens in late May and early June with Sofia Coppola’s surreal and disturbing feature debut, The Virgins Suicides, followed by Alain Berliner’s new romantic drama Passion of Mind.

Also slated are the Cold War romp Company Man; the southern thriller The Gift, directed by Sam Raimi; and My First Mister, Christine Lahti’s directorial debut, starring Albert Brooks and Leelee Sobieski.

Buena Vista/Disney source releases include the special effects blockbuster Dinosaur, the year’s highest opening film with three-day ‘domestic’ (North American) receipts of more than us$38 million; the Jackie Chan chopsocky western Shanghai Noon; the crime drama Gone in 60 Seconds, starring Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie; The Kid, a comedy strarring Bruce Willis and Lily Tomlin; and the comedy sequel 102 Dalmatians, featuring Glenn Close as the puppy-hating, ex-con Cruella.

Mosca says he’ll hire theatrical managers for both the Montreal and Toronto offices, the latter following interviews slated for July or August. Equinox is the filmed entertainment division of Compagnie France Film.