In a deal that appears to please all the players involved, including culture watchdog Industry Canada, the former Cineplex Odeon Films will now operate as a separate entity to its new 75% owner Alliance Communications, while a triumvirate of film training institutions will share the remaining 25% of the renamed Odeon Films.

Adding to the good news was the $3,750,000 Cineplex Odeon Feature Film Marketing Fund, created to help Canadian distributors market Canadian feature films.

Toronto-based Alliance and Cineplex Odeon Canada confirmed in late May that Alliance has bought a 75% stake in the distribution operation for approximately $5 million.

As part of the deal, Alliance obtains all Canadian media rights to roughly 275 films including The Hanging Garden and Sex, Lies and Videotape as well as worldwide rights to Cineplex Odeon’s u.s. affiliate library of about 10 titles including Talk Radio, The Glass Menagerie and Madame Sousatzka and the North American rights to the HandMade Films productions Five Corners and Withnail and I.

‘Its a good deal for our company,’ says Alliance executive vp George Burger, ‘but at the end of the day, it allows Canadian producers, who might otherwise have sold strictly Canadian rights to Odeon Films, to now deal with people on the basis of selling worldwide rights, and I think there is a great advantage to that.’

Upcoming releases of Canadian films affected by the deal include the Rhombus Media productions of Don McKellar’s directorial debut and Prix de la Jeunesse winning Last Night and the English Canada release of Francois Girard’s highly anticipated The Red Violin, for which Film Tonic has Quebec rights.

The remaining 25% of Odeon Films, worth roughly $1 million, will be donated in trust to a foundation of three Canadian film institutions: the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto, the National Screen Institute in Edmonton and Montreal’s Institut national de l’image et du son.

Cineplex Odeon Canada chairman and ceo Allen Karp says the cfc will be given the largest portion of money, with the nsi and inis receiving portions in accordance to their size. Karp also says the institutions will have the option to sell their respective stakes in Odeon after three years.

As reported in Playback, Odeon will operate as a separate entity, providing Alliance a parallel distribution track. Odeon will handle the recently secured output slate of approximately 10 to 12 films from u.s. indie October Films as well as Canadian and international independent films.

Odeon will remain at Cineplex’s Yonge Street offices in Toronto. cof senior vp of distribution Bryan Gliserman has been named president of Odeon and no immediate changes to the 25 cof staff are expected.

‘The focus at Odeon Films will largely be on Canadian films, which has certainly been a specialty of theirs,’ says Burger. October films and specialty art house movies will be handled as well.

When asked if Odeon will be able to acquire Canadian rights to films on its own, Burger answered, ‘Absolutely,’ noting that the company’s current slate will most likely increase under its new ownership.

The deal includes the assets of Quebec distributor Les Films Cineplex Odeon, being sold to Alliance Vivafilm, with Les Films Cineplex Odeon also operating as a separate entity.

Cineplex Odeon Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of the recently merged exhibition giant Loews Cineplex Entertainment, had to sell at least 51% of cof to Canadian interests as per Industry Canada regulations regarding the merger and Canadian distribution ownership.

In a move that Karp calls ‘the right thing to do and not at the behest of Industry Canada, although it will please them,’ Cineplex Odeon Canada announced a five-year, $3,750,000 fund available to Canadian distributors for the marketing of Canadian feature films.

One industry insider notes that Famous Players also created a film marketing fund when it was bought out by Viacom, and comments that in the current political climate of exhibitors under pressure from Heritage’s feature film policy review, ‘the game that’s normally played is that you pre-empt anyone asking by making the offer.’

Details and logistics of the fund are still sketchy, but Karp says Michael Kennedy, who will remain senior vp of film at Cineplex Odeon Canada, will most likely administer the fund. Cineplex says more details regarding distribution of the $3,750,000 fund will be available within 90 days.

Motion International vp of distribution and marketing Dan Lyon says his company welcomes the fund. ‘We, at various times, place pictures with both Famous Players and Cineplex, so definitely once we know what the rules and guidelines are, we’d be very happy to make use of the new fund.’

Lyon says Motion has accessed the Famous Players grant for the special marketing of Canadian features in the past, averaging one or two films a year.

Karp, who will sit on Odeon’s board, along with three Alliance senior execs, also says Odeon will sponsor training programs and provide marketing assistance to the three foundation participants.

Four Canadians, including filmmaker Norman Jewison, and three u.s. senior officers of Loews Cineplex will sit on Cineplex Odeon Canada’s new board of directors, chaired by Karp.

Cineplex Odeon Canada’s new senior management team will consist of Jim Vassos, senior vp and cfo; Michael Kennedy, senior vp film; Marci Davies, senior vp marketing and communications; Dan McGrath, senior vp, operations; Sam DiMichele, senior vp, real estate.