Two veterans of the New Yorkindependent scene - Liz Manne andCatherine Tait - have teamed up to form Duopoly, a production andstrategy company which will executive produce "entertainment properties"as well as providing strategic services to production companies.

Manne was most recentlyexecutive vice president, programming & marketing, for The Sundance Channelwhere she rebranded the channel and introduced original programming. She hadpreviously co-founded Fine Line Features with Ira Deutchmann and served as thecompany's executive vice president, marketing. She began her career as astagehand for the San Francisco-based rock'n'roll promoter BillGraham.

Tait was most recentlypresident and COO of Salter Street Films, the Canadian TV production and distributionoutfit which she took public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1997 and whosesale she oversaw to Alliance Atlantis Communications in 2000. Prior to SalterStreet, she was executive director of the Independent Feature Project (IFP) inNew York, worked in policy and planning for Telefilm Canada and wasCanada's cultural attache to France.

The idea of Duopoly was tocombine their experience - which incorporates finance, production,marketing and management. Initial projects include Chilly Beach, a 26-episode flash animation teen comedy seriesbeing produced for Canadian public broadcaster CBC, a new IMAX documentary fromdirector George Butler (The Endurance) currently in development and business strategy projects for CowboyPictuers and Topsail Entertainment.

Manne and Tait are alsoadvertising that they offer business and strategic development services,production financing for Canada-US co-ventures and consultation on filmfestival, marketing and distribution strategies.