eOne, 1984 Private Defense Contractors sign first-look deal

eOne will distribute 1984 films in Canada, the UK, Benelux, Spain and Australia while eOne Films International will handle sales for the rest of the world. 1984’s longtime representatives CAA will handle US rights.

1984 has backed The Grey, Killing Them Softly, Dredd 3D, Machine Gun Preacher and Broken City.

“We’re thrilled to partner with pioneers Adi, Spencer and the 1984 team,” said Patrice Théroux [pictured], who heads eOne’s global film business. “It’s incredibly rewarding to attach the industry’s most sought-after independent producers to our multi-territory infrastructure and finance projects in new and resourceful ways that largely contribute to the making of great pictures. It’s always very exciting for our teams to add highly commercial crowd pleasers to the slate in our territories and for sale to our partners around the globe.” 

“We are honoured to formalise our relationship with the world’s preeminent distributor of independent film,” said Silna. “There is a great sense of integrity to this partnership in that our companies have an aligned focus on quality, culturally resonant film. We feel very lucky to have found such an extraordinary core team with whom to share our vision.”

“Spencer and I have dreamed of having a studio first-look deal since the day we started our shingle four years ago,” said Shankar. “We’re particularly happy to have our home at eOne, as it provides us with [not only] robust studio-level distribution, but the flexibility of an independent company. This partnership allows us to quickly green-light films while circumventing the byzantine juggling act of traditional indie tentpole filmmaking.” 

Benedict Carver and Lara Thompson will oversee the deal for eOne. The deal builds on eOne’s pre-existing relationship with Shankar involving TV dramas and reality projects. 

eOne’s Nelson Kuo-Lee and Dina Appleton negotiated the deal with Robb Klein of Sheppard Mullin on behalf of 1984.