A s Matt Johnson’s Canadian-shot feature BlackBerry makes a splash in the film world with acquisitions by Paramount Global Content Distribution and IFC, it also has a broadcast strategy that was an integral part of building the project.

Produced by Niv Fichman, Fraser Ash and Kevin Krikst of Toronto-based Rhombus Media and Matthew Miller of Zapruder Films, the dramatized story of the rise and fall of Canadian company Research In Motion will make its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on Friday (Feb. 17) and is based on the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of Blackberry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff.

The producers tell Playback Daily that CBC initially optioned the novel and approached Rhombus in hopes of a TV series. In turn, Rhombus went to co-writer and producer Miller and director Johnson of Zapruder Films. Together, they created a film that will air as a three-part series on CBC and CBC Gem in early 2024 following a theatrical release this coming April 28, distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures.

“We loved that it was this big, juicy Canadian story,” Miller tells Playback. “There was something about this tech start-up, the attempts to buy an NHL team. Even before we read the book, those headlines were appealing and something we thought we could do in our style. When Rhombus approached us about it, it seemed too good an opportunity to not take seriously.”

Once the partners were on board and Elevation Pictures joined, the team approached funding through a partnership with CBC Films and Telefilm Canada.

“Those two partners were creatively invested,” says Krikst, noting they submitted formal funding requests once they were happy with early scripts. “We finalized their financial commitments to the film and series before the pandemic. From there, the rest of the partners fell in place.”

The crew also secured funding from the Canada Media Fund and Ontario Creates, along with Finland’s IPR.VC. The challenge was to work backward from the CBC broadcast window, which was an essential step in securing IFC, which had been interested since development.

“Rhombus has a long-standing partnership with Elevation Pictures, who is always enthusiastic about our projects, and this one was no exception,” says Rhombus producer Ash. “It was a bit of an unusual setup with the CBC broadcast window, so we had to figure that out.”

“It was all about working with our partners and sales agent XYZ to make sure when we brought an American distributor on board and other partners internationally that everyone understood the windows in Canada and how that would relate to the rest of the world,” says Miller.

Co-financier and international rights holder XYZ Films announced the Paramount deal to debut the film worldwide outside the U.S. on Thursday (Feb. 16).

Previously, IFC Films acquired U.S. rights, while XYZ struck deals with Falcon Films in the Middle East, NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia, and Pasatiempo Pictures for CIS.

Momentum built quickly last September, when BlackBerry was introduced to the market at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The drama wasn’t ready to screen at the fest (the team delivered the final DCP earlier this week), but the filmmakers knew it needed to go to market sooner rather than later, so they put together a sizzle reel for potential buyers at TIFF.

“We sold out the world more or less at TIFF. Paramount came on board, and XYZ sold out a few other territories independent of that. It all happened very quickly,” Miller says. “By the end of September, the world was sold out.”

BlackBerry secured a crew of about 60 and headed to Hamilton, Ont., where they built sets in an old Empire Steel factory. They spent a week grabbing exteriors in Waterloo and London, Ont., approaching the film in three parts that could still exist as a limited series for CBC: 1996, 2003, and 2007.

“It worked well as two separate things,” says Miller. “Even though a feature has its own rhythms and paces, it seems to have worked out really well.”

“The production itself mirrored the Rhombus-Zapruder relationship, where two companies with different experiences met together on this project,” adds Krikst.

“Zapruder brought its core team they’d worked with on previous films, but now with a much bigger infrastructure, which they’ve never had. More resources, but also more limitations when you’re shooting. We found a way to make it work with the two systems we were coming from.”