With headquarters in London and Vancouver, Canoe Film is non-traditional feature film and documentary sales agency. The company was established in 2017 in response to an expressed need by Producers for greater transparency, flexibility, and engagement in the international sales and distribution of their films, and a further desire to access market expertise and industry oversight during the formative stages of development, packaging and financing.
Marketing, Festival and Distribution Strategies; International Sales to Global/Multi-Territory Platforms and Distributors; Domestic Sales and Releasing; Pre-Sales (limited to certain projects); Consultancy, Identification, Outreach, and Negotiation of deals with recommended International Sales Agents; Invoicing and Collections Management; Distribution Management.
Script Coverage; Evaluating and Sharpening the Proposition; Finance Strategies; Consulting on Cast and Packaging; Developing key Pitch Materials, Bibles and Business plans; Internal Valuation; Preparation of Sales Estimates.
Recommendation and Introduction to International Co-production Partners, Studios, and Production/Post Facilities; Expertise in UK and Canadian Financing Sources.
International Film Valuation (for projects in development and completed films).
We’re proud to represent international sales rights to the following films:
Based on the true story of Sandra Perron, Canada’s first female infantry officer. A female infantry officer finds herself at the centre of a relentless military investigation after a disturbing photo of herself unconscious and tied to a tree suddenly surfaces.
Production Company: GPA Films and January Media
Directed by Mélanie Charbonneau
Produced by Marcel Giroux, Julia Rosenberg
Cast: Nina Kiri (The Handmaid’s Tail, The Undertone), Vincent Leclerc, Enrico Colantoni (Veronica Mars), Adrian Walters, Antoine Pilon
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film excluding Canada.
Drama-Thriller / Canada / English / 106 Minutes / 2025
Winner of multiple festival awards and a DGC 2025 Best Director Nomination. Fearing they won’t be believed, two young indigenous women go on the run after one’s defense of the other results in a violent attack against a police officer.
Production Company: Carousel Pictures
Directed by Eva Thomas
Produced by Tyler Levine, Eva Thomas, Katelyn Cursio
Cast: Ellyn Jade, Star Slade, Amanda Brugel, Shawn Doyle, Gail Maurice, Jennifer Podemski
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film excluding Canada.
Drama / Canada / English / 106 Minutes / 2025
Commissioned by ITV and drawing on extensive work by journalist Anouk Curry. Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, dubbed “Britain’s worst child serial killer,” is serving life in prison for the murder of seven newborns and the attempted murder of seven others. But growing doubts based on expert scrutiny into the key scientific and medical evidence used to convict her raise the question: Is she truly guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, or the victim of a catastrophic miscarriage of justice?
Production Company: DM Productions
Directed by Ben Ferguson
Produced by Anouk Curry
Featuring: interviews with close friends and colleagues, international experts, and leading scientists.
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film, excluding the UK.
Documentary / United Kingdom / English / 59 Minutes / 2025
Bring on the Christmas Fear. On Christmas Eve, a mother desperate to reconnect with her estranged family is abducted by a serial killer and forced to help him flee the country. But there’s a twist.
Production Company: Memphis James Pictures, Lock the Tent Productions
Directed by Thomas Pickering
Produced by James Pickerng
Cast: Levi Heaton, Richard Galloway, Isabella Percival, Roger Bingham
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film.
Horror-Thriller / United Kingdom / English / 80 Minutes / 2025
Series debut in North America on Peacock and Amazon. Focusing on New York singles, most of whom identify as trans, non-binary and/or BIPOC, Alphabet Soup reveals the candid thoughts and encounters between those looking to mingle and more. . . .
Production Company: Early Autumn
Directed by Shannon Alexander
Produced by Shannon Alexander
Featuring: Nova StClair, Shalimar, Troy Weekes, Ray-Anthony Chin, Andrea Radix, Saturn, Atari, Cam Kaye, KiyKiy Blac
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the series.
Docuseries / USA / English / 6x26’ / 2025
Nominated for a 2025 Royal Television Society Award and BAFTA. Former child inhabitant Maroesja Perizonius pursues a powerful international investigation into the world’s most influential cult, revealing a system of abuse on an industrial scale. Under its leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the Rajneesh movement attracted tens of thousands of followers to communes in more than 50 countries. There, they created a society with its own moral code.
Production Company: DM Productions
Directed by Maroesja Perizonius & Alice McShane
Produced by Ben Ferguson, Victoria Hollingsworth
Executive Produced by David Modell
Canoe co-represents worldwide rights with Magnet Film.
Feature Documentary / UK / English / 75 Minutes / 2024
A Kazakh national residing in Ukraine undertakes a clandestine rescue operation helmed by a Crimean Intelligence Agent. His harrowing work saves hundreds of lives, but when the danger escalates and Intelligence pulls out, he must make a decision that will risk his survival and others. Based on the true story of Konstantin Gudauskas who saved 203 Civilians following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Directed by Stanislav Tiunov
Produced and Written by Oleksandr Shchur
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film excluding Ukraine.
War-Thriller / Ukraine / Ukrainian, Russian / 120 minutes / 2024
A compelling 7-part miniseries based on the true events that inspired Tom Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October. 1975. After an escalating series of events, a Soviet Officer finds himself at the centre of a corrupt regime, prompting him to stage a coup and change the course of history.
Production Company: Cinevilla Pictures
Directed by: Andrejs Ekis
Produced by Dita Cimermane
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the series excluding the Baltic States.
War-Action-Thriller / Latvia / Latvian, / 7x45 minutes / 2024
500 Days In The Wild follows the incredible 6-year 24,000 km cinematic journey of filmmaker Dianne Whelan as she sets out to reconnect with nature and become the first person to travel the longest trail in the world.
Production Company: Rebel Sister Productions
Directed by: Dianne Whelan
Produced by: Betsy Carson
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film (excluding Canada).
Feature Documentary / Canada / English / 124 minutes / 2023
The remarkable authorised story of American country music star, Walker Hayes’ massive rise to fame from the viral TikTok video Walker made with his teenage daughter, to his chart-topping success and stadium tour. Award-winning filmmaker Matt Beurois was granted exclusive access to tour with Walker, his wife Laney, 6 kids, and 2 dogs on the family tour bus.
Production Company: Colorado Studio
Directed by: Matt Beurois
Produced by Auregan
Featuring Walker Hayes, representatives from TikTok, Amazon Music, and Spotify, Applebee's, iHeart Media, Walker’s Manager, friends and family.
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film.
Feature documentary / USA / English / 85 minutes / 2024
On a quest for the truth, a filmmaker sets out on a journey to find out whether the leading arguments facing the vegan movement are justified.
Directed by Thomas Pickering
Produced by James Pickering
Executive Produced by Alicia Silverstone, Peter Egan, Alissa White-Gluz
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film.
Feature Documentary / United Kingdom / English / 95 MINUTES / 2024
A Brooklyn wife and mother of 5 who's been beset by supernatural entities since the age of 11, attempts to rid her house of malevolent spirits now afflicting her children.
Directed by Shannon Alexander
Produced by Shannon Alexander
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film.
Documentary/Horror / US / English / 88 Minutes / 2023
With compelling original interviews and unique access to Chornobyl surveillance camera footage, Chornobyl 2022 tells the incredible story of a small group of men and women who successfully prevented a nuclear catastrophe that had the potential to cause wider devastation than the 1986 disaster. February 24th, 2022. At dawn, night shift workers at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant were put on high alert. The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone had been captured by Russian Armed Forces. It would be another 36 days before the workers would return home to their families.
Directed by Vitalii Dokalenko
Produced by Vitalii Dokalenko and Andrejs Ekis
Canoe represents international rights to the film.
Documentary Series / Ukraine-Latvia / Ukrainian / 4 x 30' / 2023
Everything you want in a family holiday film from car chases and marital disasters to magic and romance! An escaped prisoner in a Santa suit finds his plans thwarted by two children with a scheme of their own.
Directed by Aigars Grauba
Produced by Ivo Baumanis, Aigars Grauba, Marija Grauba and Kristians Alhimionoks
Canoe represents international rights to the film.
Comedy/Adventure/Family / Latvia / 117 Minutes / 2022
Niks Vreemds Aan (Nothing Strange About It) is a remake of Latvian hit comedy (Swingers). Suus loves her husband Mats but the fire in their marriage has been extinguished for some time. To re-ignite the passion, she signs them up for a swingers app. Mats agrees, unaware of what he is being asked to do.
Directed by Andrejs Ekis
Produced by Kristians Alhimionoks and Edvard van't Wout
Canoe represents international rights to the film.
Comedy / Netherlands / Dutch / 87 Minutes / 2021
The poignant story of Ukrainian human rights activist and beloved poet, Vasyl Stus, his rise to prominence in the 1960s and his enduring fight to protect his culture and dignity amid constant Soviet threat and incarceration. Nominated for a Ukrainian Academy Award and winner of the Crystal Prize for best actor at the 2020 Kyiv International Film Festival.
Production Company: UM Group
Directed by Roman Brovko
Produced by Artem Denysov
Canoe represents international rights to the film.
Biopic Drama / Ukraine / 100 Minutes / 2019
The compelling final chapter in the life of notorious literary icon, James Joyce, focussing on Joyce's relationship with his exceptionally talented daughter, a dancer whose declining mental health is making her future uncertain. At its core, James & Lucia is a story of a father and daughter whose bond is so strong that it threatens to unravel the family.
Production Company: Filmtrax
Directed by Robert Mullan
Produced by Gabrielle Whyte Hart, Rupert Hollier, Simon Fawcett, Mark Andrews
Cast: Aidan Gillen (Maze Runner, Bohemian Rhapsody), Eileen O'Higgins (Brooklyn, Mary Queen of Scots), Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting, The Riches), Harry Melling (The Queens Gambit, Harry Potter), Tamzin Merchant (Salem), Alex Pettyfer (I am Number Four), Rhona Mitra, Tchéky Karyo, Alex Kingston, Cary Elwes
Canoe represents international rights to the film.
Drama / UK / 100 Minutes (approx) / 2022
With outstanding access to the world's leading female artists in dance music, 'Underplayed' presents a portrait of the current status of the gender, ethnic, and sexual equality issues in the industry through the lens of the female pioneers, next-generation artists and industry leaders who are championing the change.
Directed by Stacey Lee
Produced by William Crouse
Canoe represents international rights (ex North America) to the film.
DOCUMENTARY / CANADA / ENGLISH / 87 MIN / 2020
Winner of multiple awards including Best Animated Film at the London Independent Film Awards and a Bronze Horse at Stockholm Festival Junior. A young mole with World Cup ambitions becomes an unlikely hero when he faces off against a greedy supervillain bent on taking over the local gold mine.
Production Company: Homesick Angel
Directed by Trevor Hardy
Voice Talent: Ken Stott, Lizzie Waterworth, Dave Mounfield
Canoe represents international rights (ex UK) to the film.
STOP MOTION ANIMATION / UK / ENGLISH / 100 MIN / 2019
Nominated for a 2022 BAFTA
'Keyboard Fantasies' tells the story of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, a black transgender septuagenarian (and musical genius) who finally finds his place in the world. When Glenn receives an unexpected email in 2016 from a record collector in Japan enquiring about copies of his 1986 self-release, Keyboard Fantasies, everything changes. Now signed to a major indie label, and sharing a timely message with the world, Glenn's emergence from obscurity transpires as an intimate coming of age story that spins the pain and suffering of prejudice into rhythm, hope and joy.
Production Company: LUCA
Directed by Posy Dixon
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film.
Documentary / UK / English / 62 and 70 min versions / 2020
'One Man and His Shoes' tells the story of the phenomenon of Air Jordan sneakers showing their social, cultural and racial significance and how ground-breaking marketing strategies created a billion-dollar business. But it is also a story with a dark side – for thirty years people have been willing to kill for a pair of Air Jordans, while manufacturer Nike has turned a blind eye. This film is a parable of America's dark love affair with consumer capitalism and celebrity culture.
Production Company: Break Em Films
Directed by Yemi Bamiro
Canoe represents international rights (ex UK) to the film.
Feature Documentary / UK-US / English / 79 min / 2020
Hillarious and heart-warming in equal parts, 'Iceland Is Best' tells the story of Sigga, a 17 year-old girl trying to leave home in Iceland and make her way to California. Based on true events.
Production Company: No Reservations Entertainment
Directed by Max Newsom
Cast: Helena Mattson, Tom Prior, Tom Maden, Judd Nelson
Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film.
Drama-Comedy / UK-Iceland / English / 90 min / 2020
Autumn, 1830. West Point military Cadet Edgar Allan Poe and four other cadets on a training exercise in upstate New York come upon a man eviscerated on a bizarre wooden rack. His dying words direct them to a forgotten community, which they believe is guarding sinister secrets. Enthralled by the Innkeeper's beautiful and mysterious daughter Charlotte, and fuelled by the town residents’ refusal to speak to the murder, Poe determines to uncover the truth. Risking his life and more, Poe ultimately comes face to face with the terrifying creature that will haunt him forever.
Production Company: Raven’s Hollow LTD
Directed by Christopher Hatton
Produced by Caroline Stern, Andrejs Ekis, Todd Lundbohm
Cast: William Moseley (Chronicles of Narnia, Friend Request), Melanie Zanetti (Love and Monsters), Kate Dickie (The Witch, Game of Thrones, The Green Knight), David Hayman, Oberon K.A. Adjepong, Callum Woodhouse
Canoe’s Caroline Stern produced and Canoe represents worldwide rights to the film.
SUPERNATURAL THRILLER / UK / 98 MINUTES / 2022
Twins Elise and Alfie embark on a magical Christmas Eve journey led by a mysterious Wish Collector who takes them to a mythical island where their wishes come true. Only, they find out that the rules of the island are more complicated than anticipated. Having each followed their own desires, they find themselves separated and faced with multiple dangers as they try and find their way back to one another.
Produced by Tony Nottage (Saving Santa), Nigel Hardwidge (WALLE, Finding Nemo), Francesca Longrigg
Cast : Ewan McGreggor, Helena Bonham Carter, Terry Jones, David Walliams
Canoe represents international rights to the film on behalf of the Land of Sometimes Ltd.
Feature Animation / UK / Pre-production
13th Century. On his deathbed, the King of Semigallia bestows power to an unexpected heir who must accept his responsibility and win the confidence of his people in order to defend their freedom against violent crusades.
Production Company: Cinevilla Studios, Platforma
Directed by Aigars Grauba
Canoe represents international rights to the film.
Action-Drama / UK-Latvia / English / 110 min / 2018
The true story of the Iraqi National Boxing Team and their amazing journey from desperation to the edge of an historical qualification.
Production Company: Robusto Films
Directed by Riccardo Romani; Executive Produced by Alfonso Cuaron
Canoe represents international rights to the film on behalf of Robusto.
DOCUMENTARY / UK / ARABIC / 85 MIN / 2018
The story of a little known Cardiologist in Capetown who changed medical history and became an overnight global celebrity when he performed the world’s first successful human heart transplant.
Production Company: Welela Studios
Directed by Byron Davis
DOCUMENTARY / SOUTH AFRICA / ENGLISH / 58 MIN / 2017
Part music documentary, part unflinching character study, part a punk version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ - I Get Knocked Down is the funny, surreal and deeply human story of the most audacious anarchist music experiment of all time and a call to arms to those who think activism is best undertaken by someone else.
Production Company: So&So Pictures
Directed by Sophie Robinson and Dunstan Bruce
Documentary/ UK / English / 88 Minutes / 2021
Two Ordinary Couples. One Extraordinary Threesome. (And a record-breaking comedy film).
Production Company: Sia Platforma
Directed by Andrejs Ekis
Canoe is engaged in the licensing and co-production of local language remake rights to the film. Presentation upon request.
Comedy / Latvia / Latvian / 95 min / 2016Our latest posts and whereabouts.
EXCLUSIVE: Nina Kiri stars in the true story of Sandra Perron, Canada’s first female infantry officer who finds herself at the centre of a complex investigation.
To express interest in this or any of the other news items featured, please use the contact form below.
Ellyn Jade and Star Slade get their Thelma and Louise on in Eva Thomas’ feminist crime thriller set to screen at the Toronto Film Festival – The Hollywood Reporter
EXCLUSIVE: The company will continue operating out of both London and Vancouver to better serve producers in each region.
The Pickering Brothers first horror feature premieres in the First Blood section.
Season 2 is currently filming.
Alphabet Soup is messy, wild, and absolutely captivating
– Film
Threat
Totally Unmissable - Queerguru
Canoe Film is a London-based company launched in 2017 in response to an expressed need by Producers for greater transparency, flexibility, and engagement in the international sales and distribution of their films, and a further desire to access market expertise and industry oversight during the formative stages of development, packaging and financing.
Canoe’s business model is based on the idea of bringing the
distribution function “in-house” to experienced Producing teams.
Canoe collaborates with Producers to help shape film and
television projects for the domestic and global markets from the
outset, optimising their financing and distribution potential,
and ensuring that decisions made throughout the process serve to
enhance the value of the completed property.
The company also provides consultancy services to funders,
vetting key elements of project packages and providing creative
and commercial assessments.
Canoe works primarily with Producers and Financiers of feature
films and feature documentaries in the UK, the US, Canada and
Europe.
It serves Producers and Rightsholders by identifying the range
of opportunities available to them in a continually evolving
distribution landscape, assessing commercial potential and
compatibility, and structuring sales and license agreements on
terms that are fair.
A cheeky reference to its founder’s Canadian origins, the idea
behind canoe lays in the firm belief that film production and
distribution must be a collaborative process. It requires
several people to come together, each with a function, and to
agree on a direction or path. Success lies in finding the right
team and working with that team to generate something that would
be impossible with only one person.
In actuality, the symbol has evoked many more associations and
metaphors from the idea of exploration to the need for hard
persistent work to the idea of independence.
With over eighteen years of senior executive experience running
International Film and Television sales companies, Caroline has
developed exceptional oversight of the film and television
industry and has been at the forefront of developing
entertainment patterns.
Initially hired to manage the operations of a boutique sales
agency in Vancouver in 2001, she became an integral part of its
growth, eventually heading sales and acquisitions for the
company. In 2008, her career took her to Toronto and ultimately,
to London, where she established the international sales
division for UK independent distributor, Kaleidoscope, which she
subsequently oversaw for seven years.
In 2017, amidst an evolving international landscape in the film
and television industry, Caroline set up her own consultancy
business, Canoe Film, to bring project development, finance
strategy, and distribution expertise in-house to Producers.
Throughout her career, Caroline has worked extensively on the
distribution and international sales of over 250 titles
including Hideo Nakata’s The Ring and Dark Water, Steve
Buscemi’s Interview, Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much
Ado About Nothing, and Bobcat Goldthwaite’s Willow
Creek. Seminal documentaries include the multi-award
winning Sharkwater, David Attenborough’s The Penguin
King, and Ice T’s The Art of Rap.
Caroline has also Executive Produced several very commercially
successful films including A Streetcat Named Bob and Interview
with a Hitman. She is currently executive producing a
series of local language remakes and attached as a Producer on
two projects set to shoot in 2020: an Adventure Fantasy and a
Gothic Sci Fi based on Edgar Allan Poe’s early life.
Nice things our clients say.
Riccardo RomaniFounder, Creative Director
RobustoFilms
When we first met, it took me only a few minutes to realise I wanted to work with Caroline. Her contagious sensibility and dedication to her work makes my life easier. When I decided to create RobustoFilms, I began looking for someone who could share the same artistic values and bring complimentary experience from the field. Caroline was the perfect fit. Providing a variety of connections all over the world, Caroline is poised to give my projects the right positioning, while offering valuable advice on the production side. Working with Canoe Film gives me the perception I am putting my projects in a tailor’s hands. From financing to distribution, every phase of the process is handled with professionalism and pragmatism. I hope my collaboration with Caroline’s Canoe Film will last long, my business will definitely profit from it, and the pleasure of working with someone I highly respect, will make the experience fulfilling.
Nick HamsonCEO, Producer
Studio Soho
Canoe Film, through Caroline has demonstrated tremendous value across the Studio Soho slate of projects and has become an indispensable part of our organisation. Personable, professional and incredibly loyal and a great ambassador for our future.
Verity WislockiOwner, Producer
Wislocki Films
Caroline Stern as Canoe Film has helped and advised us on the distribution of our documentary feature Another News Story. She has been tremendously helpful in enabling us to navigate a largely unknown and very scary terrain! She has provided clarity and a workable strategy amidst a very daunting landscape where one decision affects so many other elements. She’s also very well connected and an incredibly lovely person to work with!
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