Levelfilm, stylized as levelFILM, was a Canadian film distribution company based in Toronto, Ontario. The company was founded by David Hudakoc and Michael Baker in 2013, and later acquired two other Canadian distribution houses: Search Engine Films in 2018 and KinoSmith in 2021. The company formally ceased operations in June of 2025, with rights for licensed titles reverting to their creators. It released more than 200 titles, with a focus on independent Canadian films.
History
levelFILM was founded by Michael Baker and David Hudakoc in August 2013, who had previously worked together at the U.S. distribution house ThinkFilm. The company's first acquisition, Chen Kaige's Caught in the Web, was announced along with the company's creation.
In 2017, the company sold a majority stake to Laurie Venning, a Canadian investor, entrepreneur, and producer.
At the 2018 Berlin Film Festival levelFILM announced its acquisition of another Canadian distributor, Search Engine Films (SEF). John Bain, the head of SEF at the time, joined as the company's new Head of Distribution. SEF's library was folded into levelFILM's existing catalogue, including titles such as Equals, Kilo Two Bravo, and Mary Shelley.
In 2019, it was announced that levelFILM and U.S.-based distributor Good Deed Entertainment had struck a four-year output deal, ending in 2023.
At the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival levelFILM announced a multi-year output deal with the U.S. company Greenwich Entertainment, beginning with The Capote Tapes. Later in the fall, levelFILM acquired KinoSmith, and folded in its CEO, Robin Smith, as the new Head of Factual. Simultaneously, the company partnered with Smith's other venture, the documentary financing and distribution house Blue Ice Docs, a subsidiary of the Blue Ice Group.
In April 2022 the company was listed at number 9 in The Globe and Mail's list of the 22 most influential people in the Canadian film industry.
During the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival levelFILM signed an exclusive output deal with Bleecker Street. Mafia Mamma, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, is set to be the first release of the deal and is scheduled for April 2023.
In October 2022, levelFILM released Eternal Spring, which was selected to be Canada's official submission to the 95th Academy Awards for the Best International Feature Film category. The film was also eligible for Best Documentary and Best Animated Feature, but did not make the shortlist in either category.
While Level had made it known that the company would be shutting down nearly a year earlier, it formally ceased operations in June of 2025. The stated reason was, "“market realities beyond [its] control,” such as streaming, the recession and industry consolidation putting pressure on smaller distributors."
Released films
List of films released by levelFILMYearCanadian Release DateTitleDirectorGenre 2014 April 11, 2014 That Burning Feeling Jason James Comedy, Romance May 30, 2014 Hotel Congress Michel Kandisky, Nadia Litz Romance, Comedy July 18, 2014 Lawrence & Holloman Matthew Kowalchuk Comedy, Drama November 21, 2014 Rosewater Jon Stewart Drama, Thriller 2015 March 6, 2015 Two Men in Town Rachid Bouchareb Comedy, Drama April 17, 2015 Sunshine on Leith Dexter Fletcher Musical, Drama May 5, 2015 Soul Boys of the Western World George Hencken Documentary, Music May 15, 2015 Wet Bum Lindsay Mackay Drama, Kids & Family August 21, 2015 Bang Bang Baby Jeffrey St. Jules Sci-fi, Romance August 18, 2015 Learning to Drive Isabel Coixet Comedy, Drama September 4, 2015 Before We Go Chris Evans Drama, Romance November 13, 2015 Kilo Two Bravo Paul Katis War, Thriller December 4, 2015 I Smile Back Adam Salky Drama December 11, 2015 People Places Things Jim Strouse Comedy, Romance 2016 January 8, 2016 The Liberator Alberto Arvelo Drama, War March 15, 2016 Glassland Gerard Barrett Drama, Thriller March 18, 2016 Coconut Hero Florian Cossen Comedy, Drama July 15, 2016 Equals Drake Doremus Romance, Sci-fi August 19, 2016 Standing Tall Emmanuelle Bercot Drama September 23, 2016 The Girl King Mika Kaurismaki Drama November 4, 2016 Morris from America Chad Hartigan Comedy, Drama November 11, 2016 Jean of the Joneses Stella Meghie Comedy, Drama November 29, 2016 Dégradé Tarzan and Arab Nasser Drama December 6, 2016 The Great Gilly Hopkins Stephen Herek Kids & Family, Comedy 2017 February 9, 2017 Urban Hymn Michael Caton-Jones Drama, MusicalMay 9, 2017 Sled Dogs Fern Levitt Documentary May 19, 2017 Alone in Berlin Vincent Perez Drama, War August 25, 2017 Bushwick Cary Murnion, Jonathan Milott Action, Adventure September 22, 2017 Don't Talk to Irene Pat Mills Comedy, Drama December 1, 2017 Wexford Plaza Joyce Wong Comedy, Drama December 1, 2017 Suck It Up Jordan Canning Comedy, Drama 2018 January 12, 2018 Never Steady, Never Still Kathleen Hepburn Drama January 16, 2018 The Devout Connor Gaston Drama, Sci-fi March 16, 2018 I Can Only Imagine Andrew Erwin, Jon Erwin Drama March 30, 2018 Journey's End Saul Dibb War, Drama June 22, 2018 Hearts Beat Loud Brett Haley Music, Drama June 22, 2018 Octavio Is Dead! Sook-Yin Lee Drama, Thriller July 6, 2018 22 Chaser Rafal Sokolowski Drama, Action July 13, 2018 Mary Shelley Haifaa Al-Mansour Drama, Romance August 24, 2018 Madeline's Madeline Josephine Decker Drama September 4, 2018 The Night Eats the World Dominique Rocher Thriller October 5, 2018 Transformer Michael Del Monte Documentary October 16, 2018 After Everything Hannah Marks, Joey Power Drama, Romance November 30, 2018 Dead in a Week (or Your Money Back) Tom Edmunds Thriller, Comedy December 14, 2018 Blaze Ethan Hawke Drama, Music 2019 January 15, 2019 The Bookshop Isabel Coixet Drama February 26, 2019 Salt and Fire Werner Herzog Thriller, Drama March 15, 2019 To Dust Shawn Snyder Comedy March 29, 2019 Firecrackers Jasmin Mozaffari Drama May 3, 2019 Tell It to the Bees Annabel Jankel Romance, Drama May 7, 2019 Maze Stephen Burke Adventure, Action, History May 24, 2019 I'm Going to Break Your Heart Jim Morrison, Annie Bradley Documentary, Music June 7, 2019 Mouthpiece Patricia Rozema Drama, Comedy July 2, 2019 Storm Boy Shawn Seet Kids &Family, Adventure, Drama July 5, 2019 The Last Black Man in San Francisco Joe Talbot Drama, Adventure July 23, 2019 The Delinquent Season Mark O'Rowe Romance, Drama August 23, 2019 Angelique's Isle Michelle Derosier, Marie-Hélène Cousineau Drama, History August 23, 2019 The Peanut Butter Falcon Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz Adventure, Comedy, Drama September 13, 2019 Riot Girls Jovanka Vuckovic Action, Sci-Fi, Drama November 1, 2019 The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Kathleen Hepburn, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Drama December 6, 2019 Brotherhood Richard Bell Drama, History 2020 January 17, 2020 Les Misérables Ladj Ly Drama, Action February 7, 2020 The Assistant Kitty Green Drama February 21, 2020 Ordinary Love Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn Drama, Romance February 28, 2020 The Jesus Rolls John Turturro Comedy, Action March 13, 2020 Hope Gap William Nicholson Drama March 20, 2020 The Rest of Us Aisling Chin-Yee Drama, Comedt April 17, 2020 White Lie Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas Drama May 8, 2020 Fisherman's Friends Chris Foggin Comedy, Drama, Music May 19, 2020 The Roads Not Taken Sally Potter Drama May 22, 2020 Military Wives Peter Cattaneo Music, Drama, Comedy June 5, 2020 2040 Damon Gameau Documentary June 16, 2020 You Don't Nomi Jeffrey McHale Documentary July 31, 2020 Summerland Jessica Swale Drama, War September 4, 2020 Feels Good Man Arthur Jones Documentary September 18, 2020 Blackbird Roger Michell Drama September 18, 2020 Nadia, Butterfly Pascal Plante Drama, Sports October 2, 2020 The Glorias Julie Taymor Drama, History November 6, 2020 The Kid Detective Evan Morgan Drama, Comedy, Thriller 2021 March 3, 2021 The World to Come Mona Fastvold Drama, Romance March 8, 2021 Underplayed Stacey Lee Documentary March 9, 2021 Jump, Darling Phil Connell Drama April 2, 2021 No Ordinary Man Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt Documentary April 6, 2021 Sugar Daddy Wendy Morgan Drama, Music May 4, 2021 I Am Syd Stone Denis Theriault Drama May 7, 2021 Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street Marilyn Agrelo Documentary May 11, 2021 Together Together Nikole Beckwith Comedy, Drama June 15, 2021 Akilla's Escape Charles Officer Thriller, Drama August 13, 2021 Naked Singularity Chase Palmer Thriller, Action, Drama October 21, 2021 Sin La Habana Kaveh Nabatian Drama, Romance December 3, 2021 The Souvenir Part II Joanna Hogg Drama, Comedy 2022 January 7, 2022 See For Me Randall Okita Thriller, Horror January 28, 2022 Aline Valérie Lemercier Drama, Musical February 25, 2022 Scarborough Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson Drama March 11, 2022 Donkeyhead Agam Darshi Drama, Comedy March 18, 2022 A Small Fortune Adam Perry Thriller, Crime, Drama March 25, 2022 Run Woman Run Zoe Leigh Hopkins Comedy, Drama April 8, 2022 Night Blooms Stephanie Joline Drama April 8, 2022 Sundown Michel Franco Drama April 15, 2022 Kicking Blood Blaine Thurier Fantasy, Romance, Horror April 29, 2022 Quickening Haya Waseem Drama May 6, 2022 Stanleyville Maxwell McCabe-Lokos Comedy May 27, 2022 The Middle Man Bent Hamer Drama, Crime, Comedy May 27, 2022 Benediction Terence Davies Drama, Comedy, Romance July 1, 2022 Mr. Malcolm's List Emma Holly Jones Romance, Drama, Comedy August 12, 2022 Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon Richard Claus, José Zelada Animated, Kids & Family September 23, 2022 Eternal Spring Jason Loftus Documentary, Animated October 14, 2022 Drinkwater Stephen Campanelli Comedy October 21, 2022 Drop the Needle Rob Freeman Documentary, Music November 4, 2022 The Swearing Jar Lindsay MacKay Drama, Romance, Musical December 2, 2022 The Inspection Elegance Bratton Drama 2024 TBA The Invisibles Andrew Currie Science fiction
References
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