November 30, 2007

DELUXE TO ACQUIRE RAINMAKER FACILITIES

Rainmaker is a 28-year-old company that’s one of the largest visual effects and animation facilities in Canada. The sale to Deluxe will allow Rainmaker Entertainment to concentrate solely on CG animation and content ownership. Rainmaker is in production on Escape From Planet Earth, a theatrical feature film for The Weinstein Company, and in development on a 3D stereoscopic feature film trilogy based on ReBoot, the studio’s own classic television series.
  
Deluxe, a provider of a broad range of entertainment services and technologies to the film industry, has been strategically adding to its slate of companies worldwide. Extending its laboratory, post production and visual effects capabilities to Vancouver and expanding to high-end visual effects resources in London is what the company feels is the next logical step.

“We are excited to be acquiring one of Canada's leading postp roduction facilities,” says Cyril Drabinsky, CEO and president of Deluxe. “Entering the Vancouver market is a natural extension for us and who better to do it with than Rainmaker. Clients shooting in Vancouver will now have the choice of processing or digitizing their dailies locally with Deluxe before completing their projects through any one of Deluxe’s film and digital finishing facilities worldwide.”

”Rainmaker is a perfect fit for Deluxe,” adds Warren Franklin, CEO of Rainmaker. “This acquisition will only enhance the stature of the industry in Vancouver. The completion of the sale to Deluxe will allow Rainmaker Entertainment to fully focus on becoming a world leader in computer animated films and to accelerate the development of its own film properties. Vancouver, with its strong talent pool, excellent training facilities and robust industry incentives is poised to be at the forefront of digital technology and creative growth.”     

The transaction is expected to be completed on December 31, 2007.