Montreal: Groupe Rozon and French producer Frederic Marbouef of Nalina Films (Jusqu’au bout de la nuit, Ay Pays des Juliettes) have announced an agreement to coproduce feature film comedies.

Gilles Petit, head of the Juste Pour Rire (Just For Laughs) office in Paris, says part of the motivation for the deal is to develop movie options for artists managed by jfl. Petit points out homegrown comedies are doing well both in Quebec and France.

One of the partnership’s initial projects is Copain, Copine, a sex-crossover concept from French comic Christophe Aleveque. It will be budgeted in the $2.5-million to $3-million range and will be produced sometime next year. The producers say they are looking for Canadian and international coproduction partners and pitches from screenwriters and others.

Rozon produces comedy for tv, notably this year for cbc, Radio-Canada and the bbc, distributes programming in Europe and elsewhere, manages artists, and produces the annual Just For Laughs comedy festival.