Two months after announcing for all intents and purposes the closure of Seville Films, businessman Patrick Roy is once again embarking on film distribution. He will lead a new company, the name of which is not yet known, and which has received financial support from public institutions.
Patrick Roy made the announcement in a press release sent late Friday afternoon. We can read there that Investissement Québec and the Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises (SODEC) have chosen to support the new project of the former strongman of film distribution in Quebec.
Until last June, Patrick Roy ran Seville Films, by far the largest distributor of Quebec films. The company had a rich catalog, which included among others Good Cop, Bad Cop, The great seduction Fires or Starbucks. Part of the filmography of Xavier Dolan and Denys Arcand was also in the hands of Seville Films.
By announcing the end of its theatrical distribution activities in Canada on June 29, the company created quite a surprise in the Quebec film industry. Especially since the announcement came the day after the premiere of the dramatic comedy vanishing lines, which Seville was to distribute.
Appalled by this news, several big names in the world of cinema expressed their concern at the idea that Americans would take over the rights to the Seville Films catalog. The company was sold in 2007 to the Toronto group Entertainment One, says eOne. Then, the American giant Hasbro had in turn swallowed eOne in 2019.
Despite the shock caused by the end of the theatrical activities of Seville Films, Patrick Roy is still convinced that he has the confidence of the community. “I’ve been in contact with people in the community a lot in the last few months and I felt that confidence. Many have supported me and this is something that has been decisive in my desire to move forward,” he said in an interview with the To have to.
The new box should announce in the coming weeks films for which it will assume theatrical distribution.