Montreal: Equinox Entertainment, the film division of La Compagne France Film, has announced a major expansion program. The company says it will announce a theatrical distribution slate of up to 15 films following the Cannes Film Festival, May 10-21, and a first-year film and tv production and coproduction slate of $60 million to $75 million, to be announced as early as next month.

Michael Mosca, head of Equinox, says the company will operate four divisions: theatrical distribution, feature film and tv production, domestic tv distribution, and home video distribution.

Equinox will be split structurally from France Film early this fall. Mosca says an equity offering is a possibility at some point. France Film is a privately held company governed by a five-person board of directors of the J. Alexandre De Seve Foundation, a heritage trust fund.

‘That’s the whole idea – to have another player in Canada,’ says Mosca. ‘I think there is room for us. Alliance Atlantis and Lions Gate are getting bigger, [so] where does the poor independent producer go?’

Equinox plans to produce or coproduce six to eight feature films annually in locations across Canada, as well as provide production services. Three tv series are in development, one of which is ‘close to being financed,’ says Mosca. Production will be primarily financed by international presales, but Mosca says at least one series is being pitched to an English Canadian tv network.

Meanwhile, the company has closed a us$4 million ($6 million) feature film service deal.

Equinox officially opened its Toronto office last week, in the process assembling an experienced production and distribution team.

Veteran Toronto producer Carlo Liconti (Brown Bread Sandwiches, Dead By Monday, Greener Fields) is named exec vp production and Kim Yu is named production supervisor. Former Alliance Releasing and Red Sky promotions executive Anna Maria Muccilli will manage production, theatrical and corporate communications and marketing. Marc Beausejour is named director, home video for Canada.

Equinox Home Video (Kiefer Sutherland’s Break-Up, Big Brass Ring) expects to release close to 50 titles in Canada this year. Lorie Rose is manager, home video in the Toronto office. Former Seville Pictures and ChumCity International sales manager Tara Orme is responsible for tv sales. The company’s l.a. consultant is Peter Wetherell (Gunshy, Flight of Fancy).

The theatrical release slate – 15 English-, French- and foreign-language films – includes the u.s. romantic comedy The Third Wheel, starring Denise Richards and Ben Affleck, picked up in the u.s. by Miramax Films; and the upcoming big-budget, high-seas eco-adventure Ocean Warrior, a GFT Kingsborough Films/GFT Entertainment coproduction in association with Franchise Pictures, picked up in the u.s. by Warner Bros.

Equinox’s (France Film) most recent distribution envelope with Telefilm Canada is in the $850,000 to $1-million range, subject to revision in fiscal 2000/01.

Recent French-track releases under the France Film label include Lea Pool’s award-winning Emporte-moi and Denis Villeneuve’s Un 32 aout sur terre.

Launched in 1932, and headed by president and ceo Pierre Rene, France Film also operates a live-theatre division and a lucrative real estate division. That division recently built the $22-million Quartier Latin multiplex leased to Cineplex Odeon, and is currently building a Silver Screen Theatre for Famous Players near the city’s east end Olympic Stadium.