Ron & Aussie Productions Signs Three-Picture Deal with Launch North, First Film Set for Toronto This Fall
Ron & Aussie Productions, the company founded by film-makers Ron Dias and Joanne Jansen, has signed a three-picture co-production deal with Launch North, the Toronto-based Canadian arm of Los Angeles media company The Launch Company. All three features will be co-produced by the two companies, with Dias directing and co-writing alongside Jansen. Deadline
The first film under the deal is set to begin production this autumn in Toronto. Four cast members are already attached: Lovell Adams-Gray, Kiana Madeira, Joanne Jansen and Orville Cummings. The remaining two titles and further slate details are scheduled to be announced on 11 September 2026, during the Toronto International Film Festival event Big Day Out, presented by Big Picture. Deadline
The pact builds on a track record that began with Morningside, a 2025 independent film directed by Dias and written and produced by the Dias-Jansen partnership, which received a theatrical release in Canada. That film drew cast including Kiana Madeira, Brandon McKnight and Fefe Dobson, with Lovell Adams-Gray also teaming up with Ron & Aussie on the project, according to a November 2023 report from Deadline. Morningside charted personal struggles, relationships and societal challenges.
The path to this deal was not a smooth one. Dias and Jansen's struggles with Morningside — and the film's eventual success — inspired them to move into the distribution business, as reported by Playback in November 2025. Jansen serves as CEO and co-founder of Ron & Aussie Productions, and is credited as an actress, producer and writer on the company's own site. Ron & Aussie Productions
Behind the Launch North side sits Chris K. Daniels, founder of The Launch Company, the Los Angeles parent that established the Toronto arm. Deadline
For audiences, the deal means a pipeline of three Dias-Jansen features moving through Toronto production over the coming months and years, with the first cameras rolling this autumn. TIFF attendees will get the next round of details at Big Day Out on 11 September.
