Film Production
Lionsgate’s Codeblack Films signs output deal with Eagle Films
MUMBAI: Lionsgate’s Codeblack Films has signed an output deal with Eagle Films, a motion picture producer and distributor based in the Middle East and North Africa.
The agreement marks Codeblack’s second output deal and will enable it to distribute the films it produces or co-produces throughout the region, beginning with Lionsgate/Codeblack’s Addicted.
“Codeblack is expanding its footprint beyond the domestic marketplace. We’re dedicated to providing international growth and visibility for our content partners and look forward to pursuing additional alliances with distributors in markets around the world,” said CodeBlack Entertainment founder, CEO and president Jeff Clanagan.
Eagle Films is one of the largest distributors in Western Asia and Egypt and has released Lionsgate’sThe Hunger Games and Expendables franchises as well as The Wolf of Wall Street in the region.
Codeblack signed its first international output deal with Times Media Films, one of South Africa’s largest distributors, in October 2014. Three months later, Times Media launched Addicted, the first film released under the agreement, to a top 10 box office debut in its opening weekend.
Codeblack Films executive vice president and general manager Quincy Newell is overseeing the company’s international expansion initiative. The Eagle Films output deal was negotiated by Lionsgate executive vice president of international sales Wendy Reeds.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
