Noah Segal, co-founder and co-president of Canadian indie powerhouse Elevation Pictures, is taking meetings in Berlin as the company ramps up an ambitious production slate to make between three to five features and one series a year.
The slate is led by Jordan Tannahill’s Canadian-UK medieval horror Rapture, set in a remote English monastery and ready to shoot later this year with a significant portion of production taking place in Hungary. It is being made with US outfit 2AM, producer of Babygirl and Past Lives, both of which Elevation distributed in Canada.
Backed by Teddy Schwarzman’s Black Bear, Elevation has built a reputation as one of Canada’s leading independent distributors. Recent successes include Conclave and Anora, both of which grossed well over the typical 7-8% share of US box office, earning CAD $4.2m (approximately USD $2.9m) for 13% share and CAD $1.6m (approximately USD $1.1m) for 10% share, respectively.
Prior producer and co-producer credits include French Girl acquired by Paramount, and body horror Infinity Pool at Neon and Focus Features.
“We’ve shown proof of concept quietly for some time, doing three films a year, and the aim is to be more ambitious and be more internationally minded,” says Segal.
“We’re going to be the envy of some of the American producers because they can’t take advantage of [Canadian] subsidies, and we’re going to be the envy of some of the international producers because as Canadians, we basically walk, talk and think like Americans. Effectively, we can make American-style movies with international benefits.”
Titles in the Elevation production pipeline include Sheri Elwood’s Canadian-UK ensemble comedy Heather Of The Valley, set between present day Los Angeles and 18th century Scotland, which is described as “Bridesmaids meets Outlander”. Production will take place this summer in the UK with Dan Hine of Who’s On First as the UK partner.
A project is in the works with Final Destination: Bloodlines co-directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, while Elevation is deep into production with White Horse Pictures on Ally Pankiw’s Lilith Fair, a documentary about the all-women music festival co-founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, which is being produced by Dan Levy.
While the Canadian outfit likes to work with the Black Bear suite of companies including John Friedberg’s sales operation, it is not beholden to them. At the EFM, Segal is an executive producer on the upcoming Dave Bautista dystopian thriller Dreadnought, which WME Independent is selling.
“If you’re not a US mini-major like A24 or Neon, how do you flourish in a world that has changed dramatically?” Segal says. “You have to think outside the box. We’re uniquely positioned to activate all sorts of subsidies, both here and abroad, to create commercial-centric films that we can produce and take to market.”
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