It is a new stage for Quebec comedy and Quebec Metropolis-based leisure agency ComediHa!
A Quebec Superior Court docket decide authorized an settlement Monday that can see the corporate get hold of quite a few belongings from Simply For Laughs, which sought creditor safety in March.
Beneath the phrases of the settlement, ComediHa! is not going to purchase the corporate in its entirety, however take possession of the Juste pour rire, Simply For Laughs, ZooFest, ComedyPro and Gags manufacturers, plus its audiovisual catalogue.
On Tuesday, ComediHa! president and CEO Sylvain Father or mother-Bédard mentioned the acquisition is a dream come true.
“I bear in mind the times I used to return to Simply For Laughs … so right this moment, it is a fantastic day for us. It is the primary day of a brand new period for ComediHa!” he instructed CBC Information.
Father or mother-Bédard says ComediHa! will work to draw worldwide comedy artists to Quebec and assist native comedians make a reputation for themselves internationally.
In a information launch, ComediHa! mentioned it additionally intends to “redefine its improvement plans with the intention to assist development in all of its sectors of exercise, together with festivals, manufacturing of stay exhibits, tv promotion, tour promotion, distribution and monetization of content material.”
The price of the transaction was not disclosed.
Groupe Juste pour rire inc., the mother or father firm of the Only for Laughs Montreal comedy competition and a number of other different comedy-related companies, cancelled this yr’s version of the summer season competition in March.
The corporate cited misplaced revenues throughout two years of the worldwide pandemic and challenges dealing with the media trade, notably lowered budgets at networks and streaming platforms, as causes for restructuring.
A court docket submitting earlier this yr from insolvency trustee PwC mentioned Groupe Juste pour rire booked a web lack of greater than $7.9 million within the first 10 months of 2023. Court docket paperwork filed in March confirmed the corporate behind the comedy competition owed practically $22.5 million to collectors.
Different paperwork launched in the course of the insolvency course of revealed a further $5 million in unpaid money owed owed by the competition and different affiliated companies.
Sustaining Montreal’s repute
Understanding Montrealers’ affection for Only for Laughs, Father or mother-Bédard mentioned his firm will host a smaller “transition competition” this summer season, referred to as ComediHa! salue Montreal, the English portion of which is able to run beneath the Simply For Laughs model and embrace free out of doors exhibits.
However he says the competition that followers know and love — with a broad mixture of French and English worldwide comedy stars — will probably be again.
“It is a model that has been constructed by many individuals … it is crucial to return again because it was once earlier than,” he mentioned.
François Brouard, a professor at Carleton College who researches the comedy trade, is assured ComediHa! will be capable to keep Montreal’s repute as a comedy hub.
“They’ve the experience to do it,” he mentioned, pointing to the success of the firm’s ComediHa! Fest in Quebec Metropolis, which is able to maintain its twenty fifth version from Aug. 1 to 24.
Brouard believes the corporate’s greatest problem will probably be organizing programming for anglophones with the personnel it at the moment has.
Requested if Father or mother-Bédard will convey again any Simply For Laughs staff, the overwhelming majority of whom have been laid off, to assist make the transition smoother, he mentioned his staff is contemplating making some provides to between three to 10 individuals with connections within the English-language comedy world.
“We need to be prudent, we need to go slowly and make the great resolution,” he mentioned.
ComediHa! salue Montreal will run between July 18 to twenty-eight. The lineup for the $10-million Montreal occasion will probably be introduced Wednesday.
