Canadian film distribution veterans Jim Sherry and Tony Cianciotta are launching a new boutique outfit, D Films. Sherry will be president of the company while Cianciotta will be the director of acquisitions.

In a news release, the company is described as a “full-service marketing and distribution company” that will acquire long-term rights to films across all platforms, including the internet.

The executives have a long and often shared history in the business. Most recently, Sherry was co-president of Maple Pictures, where he was instrumental in landing a long-term output deal with Miramax Films. Prior to that he was managing director of MDP, the distribution arm of Alliance Atlantis. He also worked at Miramax in the 1990s.

Cianciotta has worked across the breadth of the film sector, including senior positions in exhibition and distribution. He was previously senior vice-president at Cineplex Odeon, general manager at Twentieth Century Fox Canada as well as a top executive at Alliance in all its iterations over the past 20 years.

Sherry will continue as a consultant to Maple Pictures.