I’m a writer/director with one indie film under my belt that got a small theatrical release, Netflix and such, with a name actor and decent reviews.
My new script is a contender with a production company that has a partnered deal to produce a few films together. The deal includes financing and distribution, and each film is roughly $2M. There are 2 films left in their deal, so I have a shot with my script, but there’s competition.
In hopes of bringing something else to the table besides my script, I reached out to a very wealthy contact I made awhile back (who made millions in digital technology industry). My pitch to him was to consider coming on as an investor, bumping the budget further, which I could present to the production company.
I let the potential investor know that the amount and terms would be completely up to him (for the sake of discussion, $100-250k wouldn’t dent this him much), but he would receive a producer credit to a film with an existing distribution deal (which is rare), name actors (the other produced films in the deal have names you all know), and an opportunity to recoup, while also having a little pull (i.e., having a friend or loved as an extra).
He’s responded, saying film isn’t really his area of expertise, but he’ll meet me for a conversation. I’m pleased it went this far, but I’m trying to gauge my approach for the meeting. I’m doing research, but as I’m not a producer, does anyone have experience to properly suggest a financial strategy that would make sense to him – considering points, percentages, safety nets, etc? Obviously there are no guarantees when investing (especially in film), but I would want to suggest terms that would be most advantageous to him as well as the production company.
Thanks in advance.
T
My new script is a contender with a production company that has a partnered deal to produce a few films together. The deal includes financing and distribution, and each film is roughly $2M. There are 2 films left in their deal, so I have a shot with my script, but there’s competition.
In hopes of bringing something else to the table besides my script, I reached out to a very wealthy contact I made awhile back (who made millions in digital technology industry). My pitch to him was to consider coming on as an investor, bumping the budget further, which I could present to the production company.
I let the potential investor know that the amount and terms would be completely up to him (for the sake of discussion, $100-250k wouldn’t dent this him much), but he would receive a producer credit to a film with an existing distribution deal (which is rare), name actors (the other produced films in the deal have names you all know), and an opportunity to recoup, while also having a little pull (i.e., having a friend or loved as an extra).
He’s responded, saying film isn’t really his area of expertise, but he’ll meet me for a conversation. I’m pleased it went this far, but I’m trying to gauge my approach for the meeting. I’m doing research, but as I’m not a producer, does anyone have experience to properly suggest a financial strategy that would make sense to him – considering points, percentages, safety nets, etc? Obviously there are no guarantees when investing (especially in film), but I would want to suggest terms that would be most advantageous to him as well as the production company.
Thanks in advance.
T