In the first major deal to be struck at the festival, THINKFilm isbelieved to have paid just under $3m for US rights to Helen Hunt'sdirectorial debut Then She Found Me.

The distributor was among a pack of buyers chasing rights after theKiller Films production's world premiere on Friday, finally closingthe deal at around 4am on Saturday morning following a protracted roundof talks.

THINKFilm's head of theatrical Mark Urman and senior vice president ofacquisitions and business affairs Randy Manis negotiated the deal withCAA.
Yves Dion bought Canadian rights for TVA Films.

At time of writing Grant Gee's documentary Joy Division and ThomasMcCarthy's The Visitor were in play and buyers were awaitingscreenings of George A Romero's Diary Of The Dead, Battle in Seattle,In Bloom, and Nothing Is Private.

Then She Found Me stars Hunt as a schoolteacher who dates the fatherof one of her students while in the throes of a midlife crisis. BetteMidler, Colin Firth and Matthew Broderick also star.

Killer's Pamela Koffler, Katie Roumel, and Christine Vachon producedwith Connie Tavel and Hunt. John Wells served as executive producer.The deal marks the first acquisition by THINKFilm of a Killer film.

The titlefalls outside of the companies' financing and distributionpartnership.'Of course we love THINKfilm, but their swift action and realconnection to and vision for the film is what sealed the deal,'Koffler said.

'We are thrilled to be working with Killer and Helen on thisthoroughly delightful film and look forward to bringing it to thewidest possible audience,' Urman said.Odyssey is handling international sales.