Sierra nets key sales on Cannes market hit Catfish

Meyer came on board shortly before Cannes as the international sales agent excluding the UK for Catfish and inspired a strong response on the Croisette.

Deals closed with Hopscotch for Australia and New Zealand, A-Film for Benelux, Audiovisual for Greece and Eagle for the Middle East.

Acquisitions teams from France and Germany are circling Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s film, which follows a young New York photographer as he embarks on an online relationship with a Michigan girl that veers into strange and suspenseful territory.

Relativity acquired North American and UK rights in a deal brokered by CAA after the world premiere in Utah and its Rogue division will release in those territories through Universal. The US release is set for September 17.

Brett Ratner, Meyer’s partner in the genre label White Knuckle who championed Catfish, serves as executive producer alongside Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh and Tucker Tooley. Joost produced with Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling.

Meanwhile Meyer confirmed that he has all but sold out the action film Shark Night 3D, with only Latin America, Spain, Italy and Scandinavia still on the table.

David Ellis of Snakes On A Plane fame is directing. Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs and Lynette Howell are producing and WME Global represents North American rights.

“Buyers are focused on what they believe is viable theatrical programming for their territories,” said Meyer, who has worked closely with Sierra Pictures COO and CFO Marc Shaberg to build the company since it launched last year. “We have positioned ourselves within a year to be one of those suppliers.”