Patrice Théroux is used to deep water.

An avid fly-fisherman, the veteran Canadian movie distributor says the sport allows him and his young family a chance to get away on their own from the Big City.

‘I like to find places where there’s no BlackBerry access, and maybe just a satellite phone,’ Théroux says of choice mountainside streams in Montana or his native Quebec that he reaches once or twice a year. But this angler prefers not to draw too many parallels between his casting skills and the cutthroat movie distribution business.

‘Sure, you like to catch fish and be a bit smarter than the wind and conditions and figure out what needs to be done,’ Théroux says of fly-fish strategy, where you forever try to outwit fish that hide from view, or decide whether to fish in a river’s fast water or hit the tail-outs and deep holes.

And the head of the Canadian industry’s powerful number-two distributor knows a thing or two about slipping in deep water.

During his 18 years with Alliance Communications/Alliance Atlantis, Théroux worked his way up to president and CEO of Alliance Motion Picture Distribution LP, only to be ousted along with chairman Victor Loewy amid much corporate drama in 2006. At the time of Théroux’s departure, MPD had grown to $450 million in annual revenues as Canada’s largest indie movie distributor.

Nonetheless, Théroux’s rise from a middle-class book-publishing family to movie-riches entrepreneur started humbly at Alliance, where he was in charge of its home-video division in Quebec.

He reported directly to Loewy, and was personally mentored and molded by the ever-colorful veteran movie distributor, best known for choosing money-making niche films helmed by independents – known and unknown – from around the world, and finessing output deals with former mini-majors in the U.S. Loewy shared his secrets with Théroux, who built a slick reputation of his own for negotiating deals.

Théroux has also cleverly negotiated his own position at Entertainment One, where, as president of filmed entertainment, he has the pivotal behind-the-scenes job of choreographing CEO Darren Throop’s strategy to transform the group from a high-profile but small Canadian distributor into a powerful global entertainment player.

The recent focus on E1’s Canadian rivalry with Alliance Films, a far larger filmed entertainment player, is off base, according to Théroux. He sees E1 and Alliance (headed by Loewy) more likely to do ultimate battle in Europe, where both companies have diversified away from a maturing Canadian market and bought up indie players amid industry consolidation.

‘My brief is to build a robust filmed entertainment business – and not just from growth in Canada, but expansion in the U.K., Belgium and the U.S., where we see an opportunity to grow the video business,’ Théroux explains.

The same holds true with E1’s recent expansion into TV production and distribution.

‘That’s what I’ve been busy with – bringing all this together, making sure we fill the channel of distribution that we’ve developed with content, and making good use of the relationships I made and the training I received at Alliance over 18 years,’ he adds.

It wasn’t long after he left Alliance that Théroux was talking to Throop about a possible tie-up.

‘Obviously I was one of the experts in this country, so we started to have conversations about me joining,’ he recalls.

During a dinner Théroux and Throop shared in summer 2006, both men found common ground over a need for distributors to have greater content ownership and international reach, and to change their capital structures away from operating as publicly traded income trusts.

Théroux suggested British hedge fund Marwyn Investment Management as a potential partner for E1, and recommended Throop to the British firm.

A year later, in August 2007, Théroux resurfaced to head up E1’s filmed entertainment division. After a wave of eight film and television company acquisitions for a total of about $200 million (including Montreal-based theatrical and DVD distributor Seville Pictures), he has to figure out where to find growth for E1.

‘Seville was a $12-million business. I think this year it will come closer to $50 million, and my goal is to bring it somewhere around a $100-million business,’ he says.

But tenfold growth in a business is difficult when you’re up against a market leader like Alliance.

‘The challenges come from different places. Being number one in a market is exciting, but it’s not ultimately the only objective we have. I think steady growth, being profitable, being a good partner to our program suppliers are all objectives that are as important as being number one,’ Théroux explains. So is being sure and steady as an indie player in markets dominated by the six major Hollywood studio distribution machines with far deeper pockets.

Seville scored a home run by releasing Summit Entertainment’s Twilight in Canada (surpassing $10 million at the box office after its first two weekends), and E1’s British distribution arm, Contender Films, will release the vampire picture in Britain on Dec. 19. But Théroux prefers to let the Hollywood giants rush to the headwaters with tentpole releases that require pricey P&A spends.

Théroux insists E1 will get to the top by hitting singles and doubles in the marketplace – a game strategy he learned from his former mentor and biggest rival today.

‘We don’t want a movie to break us or make us,’ says Théroux, as he ponders his next trip to the Big River.