Christal Films gets bankruptcy protection

May 19, 2008 Christal Films Distribution, a movie releasing partnership between Montreal's Christal Films, Lionsgate and Maple Pictures, has secured bankruptcy protection under Canada's Creditors Arrangement Act. When Maple Pictures shifted its own and Lionsgate titles to rival Quebec distributor Seville Pictures, Christal Films Distribution lost much of its bank financing as Lionsgate titles stopped coming its way. Also, Alliance Films is close to signing a deal to release Relativity Media titles in Canada as the country's largest indie movie distributor attempts to pivot away from long-standing output deals with New Line Cinema and Miramax that it is set to lose.

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