JFL Distribution Continues to Offer Feel-Good Content for Global Buyers

Alex Avon, chief marketing and strategy officer at Just For Laughs Distribution, shares the company’s strategy for delivering a curated, high-quality supply of feel-good comedy titles to audiences worldwide.

About a year and a half on from Amuz Distribution’s rebrand to Just For Laughs Distribution, the company remains focused on bringing feel-good comedy titles to the world. “We are extremely pleased to continue finding how widely known and loved the Just For Laughs brand is around the world,” says Avon.

Among the titles it is bringing to MIPCOM under the Just For Laughs banner are the classic hits Gags and LOL, which have maintained their success over many years. The former is now in its 26th season while the latter is in its 12th, and the episodes continue to find buyers around the world.

“These two non-verbal shows employ universal themes that everyone, anywhere can relate to—pranks and candid camera-like situations,” Avon explains. “We film around the world as well, and those episodes resonate even better with local audiences.”

Just For Laughs Distribution is also presenting its first international film acquisition—the French WWII comedy Le Jour J, directed by Claude Zidi Jr. and produced by Firstep Production and Radar Films. Starring Kev Adams, Brahim Bouhlel and Marie Parisot, the comedy follows two unlikely heroes who turn the greatest invasion of all time into a funny mistake.

The distributor also has a slew of content on offer from its Just For Laughs Festivals, which took place this summer in Montreal and Toronto. A lineup of top stand-up comedians were filmed as they performed their sets for international distribution.

As such, “we have hundreds of hours of hysterical stand-up comedy, both in English and French, and are curating the best of the best in time for MIPCOM,” Avon says. “We will package some of the content for our French-speaking audiences and aim to have several shows ready for MIPCOM and other fall markets such as MIP Cancun and Asia TV Forum, where we are launching the first Singapore Just For Laughs Festival this November and December.”

Beyond the Just For Laughs-branded content, the distributor has a range of dramedies available as well. “We present humor in a variety of situations,” Avon explains. “Our multi-award-winning dramedy About Antoine is, at its core, a family show with heartfelt and often amusing situations.”

Based on a true story, About Antoine was filmed in Quebec in French, but Just For Laughs Distribution is now presenting a version fully dubbed in English to extend the title’s reach.

Read more in Just For Laughs Distribution’s Showcase here.