To see how the Canadian indie distribution scene is changing, look at Brad Pelman.

A lot of Pelman’s former colleagues at Maple Films and Alliance Films set up new Canadian film distribution shingles in recent years, including Laurie May at Elevation Pictures, John Bain at Search Engine Films and Jim Sherry at D Films.

But after leaving Alliance Films following the purchase of Maple Pictures, which he co-founded, Pelman looked beyond the Canadian distribution market to become a global player with his next career move.

“There’s not enough mouths to feed in such a small (Canadian) marketplace,” he told Playback Daily on Tuesday after in recent years running Pelman Corp. Consulting and participating in various start-up digital and traditional content plays.

So Pelman has pacted with U.S. film financiers Demarest Films, co-founded by Sam Englebardt and William D. Johnson, and Kilburn Media, launched by Mark Manuel and run with Ted O’Neal, to make unspecified equity investments in The Fremantle Corp.

And Pelman becomes CEO of the Toronto-based TV distributor, allowing him to carve out the international role he intends to play as a distributor and financing conduit for producer partners.

“Now I’m working for a platform that could benefit from some new capital injections and a reinvigorated management that has more than just Canada to offer,” he explained.

Both new film financiers are expanding their investment portfolios with the Fremantle Corp. tie-up, and getting into the global TV production and distribution businesses.

“They can look at anything they’re investing in for the future and I can be the distributor,” Pelman said.

Next week at MIPCOM, the veteran Canadian distributor will test run his new global distribution role.

“It’s very rare that you can find a platform that has customers and an existing library that you’re selling at 40 to 50 markets that we attend,” Pelman said of Fremantle Corp.

Those overseas sales are welcomed as the company, founded in New York City in 1952 by Paul Talbot as he pioneered the sale of U.S. TV formats worldwide, was acquired in 2006 by Canada’s Kaleidoscope Entertainment.

Fremantle Corp., now based out of Toronto and with Randy Zalken as president, has known better years and fatter distribution fees in Canada when there were more broadcasters to sell product to in a more robust advertising-driven TV market.

Fast-forward to 2014 and Fremantle Corp., now run by Pelman as CEO and Zalken as president, now look to international markets to continue growing.

And Demarest and Kilburn expect to fund further content development as part of their investment deal, and even make movies in Canada.

“With (Mark) Manuel and (Sam) Engelbart, they recognize from a smart business perspective that the Canadian system is the most stable, bankable, and the crews are the most experienced, and if they could produce more content in Canada, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t,” Pelman said.

Kilburn Media already dipped its toe in the Canadian market with its $10 million Edmonton Filmed Entertainment Fund, a partnership between the city of Edmonton via the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation that’s structured as an equity investment fund for pre-sold film projects.

Kilburn has produced a few movies with that fund. Demarest is looking at Canadian locales to produce their own slate of pictures.

And executives from both companies were recently at the Toronto International Film Festival meeting with provincial film commissioners.

Recent Demarest film credits include Anton Corbijn’s adaptation of the John le Carré novel A Most Wanted Man, Kevin Smith’s Tusk, which was shot in Canada and Max Nichols’ romantic comedy Two Night Stand.

Recent Kilburn Media projects include Jon Favreau’s Chef, James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour and Matt Shakman’s Cut Bank.

For Pelman, it’s about a convergence of Canadian, U.S. and other foreign players looking beyond their own home markets to international opportunities.

“It’s just a matter of putting the right pieces together and building a slate, which Fremantle will bring to the international market and sell in a traditional manner or untraditionally in doing Netflix deals across the board,” he explained.