A Modern Financing Playbook

PLUS how to stay productive with your projects despite headwinds

Does anyone else feel like we’re in the doldrums of summer? All feels very quiet out there in industry-land but I guess that’s par for the course given the strike and potential strikes happening at the moment. I’ve heard from some execs that they are basically packing it in for the summer and heading out on vacation until all this blows over. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Every day/week I ask myself what I can be doing to stay productive and keep moving projects forward and it feels like a totally different playbook these days given the headwinds.

For starters and like I’ve discussed in the past two newsletters, I’m focusing more on distribution of the completed films in my orbit these days. Working on a back catalogue of films I’ve produced/EP’d and also helping a few new Distribution Clients get their films placed in the lead-up to MIP and AFM in the fall which will be feeding frenzy.

If you want help navigating those distribution waters on your film or series just hit me up at stacey@filmspecific.com with details on your project and a link to the trailer - I’ll let you know if I can help on the consulting side of things and we’ll go from there.

A Modern Financing Playbook

As I alluded to my last newsletter and in the spirit if extreme diversification, we’re also focused on deep development during this ‘quiet’ period.

Layered on top of deep development sits a handful of projects that are further along and either fully packaged or in process - and one thing I’m finding in talking to other Producer friends is that talent outreach/packaging is definitely something to keep working on through the summer months. Keep your packaging efforts front burner - slow and steady wins the race there.

Layered on top of that is getting these projects financed. I’m not going to sugar coat it… it feels especially tough right now. I’ve had multiple equity investors rescind interest in light of the strikes which feels like a major setback. As an alternative, we’re looking to amp up alternative sources from donor models to brand funding and everything in between. If there was ever a time to be creative about where you look for financing, it’s now.

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In short, the usual playbook applies of controlling costs on the budget side of things as much as possible, then attaching the best possible talent you can to increase the marketplace value of your project……. then buttressing it with the highest possible tax credits and soft money (I’m going for 30%-50% out of Europe right now), and getting super creative on the equity piece. Debt is expensive right now but easy to come by if you have these other elements on board and can account for up to 20%-30% of the budget. So I’m focusing on 20%-30% of my budgets in equity in an ideal world which doesn’t always pencil out but I’m doing my best to reach those targets. The cherry on top is if we can get 10% of a budget in pre-sales which feels more realistic these days than previous finance plans where I projected 20%-30%. Somehow, someway, that all has to add up to 100% 🙏

There’s also the idea of just outright funding sub $1 million films with 100% equity (or 80% + tax credits) for a quick distribution ‘flip’ which some people enjoy making but I do not :) Too much work for not enough return unless you hit it big on the long tail back end. And as a Producer, it’s very difficult to get paid on those small films and earn an actual living. But that’s just me - you might find enjoyment and success in that model and there’s certainly a business case for it if packaged well and positioned towards underpriced audiences. (more on that later!)

What’s your financing playbook look like during an economic downturn mixed with industry headwinds and how are you getting creative?

Let’s discuss in the comments section below!

On that note I’ll wrap things up for today. Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and speak again soon…

Stacey

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