France's Le Studio Canal Plus has caught the deal-making fever present among international buyers at this year's Sundance, snapping up multiple territory rights on Jenniphr Goodman's The Tao Of Steve from Good Machine International.

Le Studio has acquired rights for France, Germany, Spain, Benelux and Switzerland to the film, a competition title that attracted early heat here at Sundance. In France the picture will be distributed by Bac Distribution, the recently created venture between Le Studio and Jean Labadie.

Among those understood to be interested in acquiring the film for the world is Fox Searchlight, although it is thought that Good Machine preferred to sell domestic and international rights separately.

The Tao Of Steve follows a group of friends living in Santa Fe, New Mexico who use the philosophies of Lao-Tzu, Keirkegaard and Marx to create a fool-proof theory of dating. It is produced by Anthony Bregman and executive produced by Good Machine's Ted Hope.

Le Studio and Good Machine are already collaborating on Human Nature - the directorial debut of Being John Malkovich screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Le Studio is fully financing Human Nature, set to star Patricia Arquette, with Good Machine producing alongside Kaufman and Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze. Canal Plus International will handle all overseas sales while Good Machine will work in tandem with the UTA talent agency in securing North American distribution on behalf of Canal Plus.