Transplanted Canuck producer Joel Roodman, together with production partners in New York, has announced the creation of a $10 million funding pool available to independent feature filmmakers.

Up and running Aug. 1, Ark Pictures is mandated to identify, develop, produce, and sell five to seven independent feature films, all with budgets in the us$2 million to us$3 million range. Canadian producers need apply and creative control is a core part of the deal, says Roodman.

‘I want to find projects out of Canada. Given the way the funding situation is changing, this kind of money is more and more necessary,’ says Roodman. ‘It’s my personal feeling that independent filmmakers need the finances and the creative freedom we’re offering here to make the film they want.’

Roodman, a former Ottawa and Toronto resident, has been based in New York since Miramax International lured him south in the early ’90s. In 1995, Roodman and Miramax colleague Patrick McDarrah started the Gotham Entertainment Group, focusing on packaging, production and international distribution, and moved into shared space with Kardana Films, which develops, finances and produces independent films (Safe, Drunks, Office Killer, Kiss Me Guido).

Film investment angel Patricia Kluge came to the table earlier this year, leading to the triumvirate forming Ark.

Ark is prepared to get involved from the script stage, and although the success prototype for independent features stems from the likes of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, the fund isn’t limited to any specific genre, says Roodman.

‘Finished scripts are ideal, and we see then putting together director-driven projects where they maintain creative control, which is different than going to the big studios. If someone is already attached, we’ll look at that too. There are no walls, no specific category of film. What we’re looking for is high-quality creative with commercial potential.’

Kluge, president and ceo of Kluge Investments, an investment company operating in the u.s. and Europe, is a founder and board member of the Virginia Festival of American Film, and unlike most equity investors, will play an active role in project development. The fund will be managed by a committee of the principals from Gotham, Kardana and Kluge Investments.

Two projects already greenlit are expected to be announced by the end of August, although this doesn’t necessarily mean the fund is drying up, says Roodman. ‘This is phase one and the partnership is structured so that there are checks and balances along the way. If we produce the kind of work we want, then we’ll go to the next phase. Right now we have clear boundaries of five to seven films with this fund over the next 12 to 18 months.’

Gotham has several features under its distribution belt including Kids, Unzipped and Blue in the Face, the latter two for Miramax. On the production side, September will kick in two features: Goodbye, Lover, a $10 million copro with Regency Vision directed by Roland Joffe, will begin shooting in Los Angeles, and Wrinkles, budgeted at $1.5 million and starring Florence Henderson, will go into prepro next month, with parts of the film slated to shoot in Canada.

Pitches need apply to Ark at //gothamcity.com