Los Angeles-based Premiere Entertainment Group (PEG) has acquired worldwide sales rights to romance murder mystery Nightalk, directed by Canadian filmmaker Donald Shebib (Goin’ Down the Road).

Shebib and Claude Harz wrote the screenplay for the thriller (pictured), produced by Evdon Productions and Emily Andrews for Toronto-based Filmcoop. PEG introduced it to buyers at the recent American Film Market.

Nightalk premiered at September’s Toronto International Film Festival. Carlos Rincon, SVP of acquisitions at PEG, said in a statement that he “immediately knew that Premiere would be the perfect home for the film” when he saw it at TIFF.

levelFILM

Paramount+ has acquired the Canada/France copro Aline, which is inspired by the life of Quebec chanteuse Celine Dion, as an exclusive in Canada.

Written and directed by Valérie Lemercier, who also stars, the film is from Montreal’s Caramel Film and France’s Rectangle Productions and distributed by levelFILM. A spokesperson tells Playback Daily that the deal was brokered by Dave Hudakoc for levelFILM and Stefania Scarfo of Paramount+ Canada.

Aline was among a raft of expanded content offerings Paramount+ announced for Canada earlier this week, with others including Toronto-based Spin Master Entertainment’s PAW Patrol: The Movie.

KO Distribution

KO Distribution has secured several deals for its sketch comedy series format Pillow Talk, which was originally licensed by Bell Media, as well as Perfect Storm, which was originally licensed by tou.tv/ICI Radio-Canada.

Option rights have been signed for the 20 x 30-minute sketch series Pillow Talk for Germany (Warner Bros. ITVP Deutschland GmbH), Norway (The Oslo Company) and Greece (BarkingWell Media), the distribution arm of Montreal prodco KOTV announced in a press release. Meanwhile, Perfect Storm has been picked up in France (CALT Production) and Poland (Polot Media). Both series are from the company’s newly established formats catalogue.

Pillow Talk is an adaptation of Noovo’s original French-language series Entre deux draps and is based on an original idea by Matthieu Pepper. It explores what happens between four diverse couples and a pair of roommates behind closed doors. The executive producers are Alain Chicoine, Louis-Philippe Drolet, Louis Morissette, and Mélanie Viau of KOTV Productions. Produced by KOTV, the 13 x 30-minute Perfect Storm is currently in production on its third season. It takes a humorous look at the life of a single mother.

These are just the initial round of sales to come out of the recent MIPCOM market in France, with additional partners to come, Mia Desroches, VP of global distribution at KO Distribution, said in a statement. Other sales KO Distribution secured at the market include France-based TV5MONDE’s acquisition of doc series Loto-Méno and season two of the scripted 10 x 30-minute comedy series La Maison-Bleue.

Sinking Ship Entertainment

Toronto-based Sinking Ship Entertainment (SSE) and Mango Publishing of Miami, Fla., have teamed up for a Dino Dana Activity Guide. Set for release on Dec. 6, the guide includes educational activities involving experiments, colouring and fun facts on dinosaurs.

The guide is based on the Emmy Award-winning series Dino Dana, created and directed by SSE founding partner J.J. Johnson, and comes after the publication of Volumes One and Two of the Dino Dana Field Guides.

Dino Dana is a follow-up to the Dino Dan series and is produced by SSE, in association with Prime Video and TVOkids. The series premiered in 2017 and spawned the June 2020 theatrical release of Dino Dana The Movie, produced for Prime Video and TVOkids with the participation of Telefilm Canada, Shaw Rocket Fund and Ontario Creates.

Image courtesy of Premiere Entertainment Group