Posts Tagged Film Production Funding

Movies that Matter

 

Movies that Matter, an initiative of Amnesty International, wants to open people’s eyes to human rights through film.
Movies that Matter has a strong international focus, resulting in a growing number of international activities. It promotes human rights film screenings worldwide, offers advice and assistance and stimulates the exchange of knowledge and experience. It stresses the use of the power of film to promote the observance of human rights a social change.

Apply for Funding

Movies that Matter offers modest monetary assistance to initiate human rights film festivals and to help circulate and exhibit human rights films in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

Advise, Assistance & Echange

Do you want to organise a film festival or host a screening, but you don’t know where to start? Do you need more information on what films to choose for your project or how to clear the rights? If yes you can refer to Movies that Matter (www.moviesthatmatter.nl)

Source-  http://www.moviesthatmatter.nl/mtm/site/internationaal.vm?gclid=CK3_7OGgnqcCFYEOfAodDz8udA

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Prescience- film production, financing and international sales company

Prescience is a unique, integrated media company focusing on film production, financing and international sales.

Prescience aims to provide the most appropriate financing options to producers. These range from development funding and equity finance through to debt and P&A. Prescience has a specialist management team that spans media banking, corporate finance and the production, marketing, sales and distribution of quality commercial filmed entertainment.

Prescience owns Metropolis International Sales Ltd and managed funds including the Aegis Film Fund. Prescience also has close links with the National Film and Television School and provides student sponsorship each year.

http://www.presciencefilmfinance.co.uk/

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How to Fund Your Film

How to Fund Your Film, the Film Finance Handbook, is the definitive source book for anyone looking to fund a film project – be it script, short, feature or documentary.

It puts in one place for the first time details of over 1,000 funds and tax schemes in some 50 countries, alongside exhaustive and easy to understand explanations of all aspects of indie film financing, from microbudget shorts and docs to multi-million international co-productions.

Over 40 experts from six continents have contributed to this exhaustive 480 page how-to and reference guide for filmmakers, producers, funders and advisers. The new edition features:

• All forms of film finance explained in-depth, including new methods like crowdsourcing and web based micro-finance.

• In depth international incentives (tax breaks and public money) covered for 50 countries (and dozens of states and regions), including the new UK, US federal and German tax incentives, written in collaboration with the legal experts in each country in language accessible for non lawyers.

• Details of 1000 funding awards from over 300 bodies.

• The internet as film studio; how to use the web for fund-raising, marketing and distribution.

Cutting budgets, a guide to microbudget and digital techniques.

• Dozens of new case studies and interviews, including Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor), Jim Gilliam (Brave New Films) – who raised $300,000 via the web, Susan Buice and Arin Crumley, whose produced YouTube’s first feature stream, Roy Disney, Gus van Sant, Nik Powell (head of NFTS and legendary producer), Lance Weiler, Matt Hanosn and Paul Haggis (Crash).

“Film is a tyranny, and the tyrant is money. The great thing is that, in spite of that, impossibly, some people keep on smuggling out messages of hope from the other side, past the tyrant. I mean, there shouldn’t be one good movie made given the way it’s structured, and yet there are many good movies made. That seems to be implausible and marvelous at the same time”

Source-  http://www.fundyourfilm.info/

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Financing Film Productions

Film financing is one of the most difficult and least understood challenges facing a producer and it is fraught with perils for the unwary. Many independent film producers find themselves caught in the problems. Given that most film producers do not want to use their personal assets to fund their films, the most important issue for many producers is how to finance their film project with other people’s money.
The methods of financing film projects are as diverse as the film projects themselves, the most common ways being; “debt” (such as borrowing money); “equity” (such as selling membership interests); or a combination of both (such as a production support agreement). If the producer has a track record of successful film production, then additional sources such as “pre-sale” of film distribution rights or studio financing are available. And there are producers who merely package a project and assign the rights to another, better financed, production company. However, for most independent producers film financing is limited to debt and equity.

The problem with financing a project with debt is that such agreements require the payment of a sum-certain, with interest, on or before a specific date. There is repayment difficulties.

The other major source of funds, equity financing, is problematic because a securities offering memorandum and full disclosure is required under the securities laws and notice filings are required by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) Violations of the SEC requirements and the applicable Blue Sky Laws carry both criminal and civil penalties.

A business plan IS NOT a Private Placement Memorandum. A business plan and a securities offering memo serve very different functions. In order to safely comply with these laws, a producer should work with an attorney who is familiar with both entertainment and securities regulation.

The following is a summary of some of issues that arise when preparing a private placement investment offering under this exemption1. No General Solicitation. 2. Accredited investor requirements. 3. Disclosure requirements. 4. Filings.

As you might expect, an essential part of any request for financing is for the producer to develop a credible budget and production timeline. Without both of these documents, prepared by someone with experience in film production, the producer should not undertake any serious fundraising.

So, how do you solve the Producer’s Paradox? One possibility is to start with a short film and work up to a feature film project. A short is far less expensive, allows you to develop an understanding of the difficulties you will face with a feature film, allows you to develop relationships within the industry and it can become a calling-card for potential sources of funds.

Source- http://saperlaw.com/blog/2007/06/18/film-production-financing-and-investment-issues/ By Saper Law

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Multimillion Joint Venture between Providence Film Group, LLC and Hamershlag Entertainment Ventures

Providence Films and Hamershlag Entertainment Ventures a private Investment Banking firm jointly invested $50 million to produce its slate of feature film and television projects. Hamershlag Entertainment Ventures (HEV) provided funding through a secured credit facility and will assist with obtaining avenues for distribution of the projects.

The financing entity, HEV, is an investment banking firm whose central business holdings are in oil and hotels valued at over $300 million. The deal was completed between HEV Chief Executive Officer and majority holder, Mychal Jefferson III, and Providence Films attorney Igbo Obioha of Obioha and Associates.

Providence Films is chaired by director/producer Xavier “X” Mitchell. Mitchell says, “Hamershlag has been resourcefully gracious to us in arranging and providing our financing”. Providence wishes to produce thought-provoking original content with an innovative edge and mass appeal

Xavier “X” Mitchell is widely respected and extensively experienced in the entertainment industry for over 15 years developing, producing and directing music videos, commercials, film and television such as Laugh at LA.

Jefferson feels pleased to work with X.

The first film from the venture is “THE BELLE STARS FRIENDLY” Belle Stars Friendly tells the story about a group of prostitutes in urban Guatemala who came to organize a soccer team that went on to challenge one of the top private clubs in the country to what was billed as a ‘friendly’ contest.

Providence Films has produced projects such as, Fathers of the Sport, Harlem Tigerman, Laugh at LA and Next Up. New projects which will be announced in the near future and is currently accepting submissions.

Hamershlag Sulzberger and Borg Mergers provide is investment banking firm offering clients wide range of financial services.
Providence Films is a Los Angeles based entertainment studio whose industry offerings service the multi-billion dollar motion picture, television and music industries. Providence Films foci consist of motion picture production, television production, music video production, online production, home video acquisition and distribution, and the development of new entertainment opportunities in an innovative and targeted style.

For information regarding Providence Film Group, LLC and film production visit
www.providencefilmgroup.com or email provfilmgroup yahoo.com

 

Source-  http://www.prurgent.com/2010-04-07/pressrelease88105.htm

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Film investment record in UK for 2010

 Investment in new UK film production hit £1.16 billion ($1.85 billion) in 2010, a record for the British film industry, new figures showed.
Data from the UK Film Council showed that inward investment from international filmmakers, typically major Hollywood studios locating productions in Britain, reached £929 million, an increase of 15% over 2009.
These films included Captain America: The First Avenger, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two and John Carter of Mars.
Spending on domestic feature films in 2010 fell to £174 million, however, compared with £224 million the previous year.
Box office takings in the UK and Ireland rose two percent from 2009 to £1.08 billion, with Toy Story 3 in the top slot with earnings of 74 million pounds, ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One at 51 million.
The Film Council did not provide admission figures.
The market share of British films, including UK-US productions), hit 23% in 2010, up from 17% the year before. 3D films grossed £237 million last year, a 24% market share up from 16% in 2009.
Tim Cagney, managing director of the UK Film Council, said the figures underlined the importance of the movie business to the British economy. The council is being abolished as part of government cuts aimed at reducing the budget deficit.
“The figures … show how difficult it is to raise finance for making independent British films and, with four of the top 10 grossing UK independent films funded by the UK Film Council, the ongoing value of public investment in new British films and talent,” he said in a statement.

Source- http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_uk-film-investment-at-record-in-2010-box-office-up_1497034

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Film Production Funding

 

“The movie business now. It’s always on the lookout for new investors to help finance the growing cost of big-budget films and now there’s a new idea floating through the studios getting Wall Street hedge funds to finance an entire year’s worth of movies. Hedge funds are private, unregulated and often risky investment schemes, but they can bring in loads of cash. Edward J. Epstein writes about the business of Hollywood for our partner at the online magazine, Slate.”

“And hedge funds, I should say, have, according to The Wall Street Journal, $1 trillion under management. The hedge funds would buy the entire year’s portfolio, or a percentage of the films, and have no control whatsoever. It wouldn’t show up on the books of the movie studios, and it would basically simply be capital they could use and don’t have to show that they’re using the capital.”

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Film Production Funding

“As a non correlated asset class, films and film finance has outperformed every non correlated asset class in the world”, states Yuri Rutman, head of media finance and consulting firm Noci Pictures ( www.noci.com ). “If you look at the more than $6 billion dollars poured into motion picture finance deals in the last 3 years, the IRR across the spectrum for both studios and independents are resilient to global economic declines in other industries.”

 “The reason Wall Street, Silicon Valley, the Middle East, Asia, or European investors are all secretly wanting to be in the film business is that there is an exponential growth in terms of distribution channels. With digital cinemas on the rise, digital print costs minimal, the evolution of same day theatrical and video on demand releases, as well as leveraging global social media and marketing for lower cost advertising and word of mouth branding, filmed entertainment will always have revenue streams.”

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