Learn to juggle if you need film finance
When a production by the Future Film Group was almost undone by an investor worried he would lose his shirt, it was saved by an actress all too willing to lose hers.
Stephen Margolis, managing director of the company, was trying to keep the backer onboard for Three, a UK-Luxembourg co-production starring Kelly Brook and Billy Zane. Mr Margolis pointed to a recent copy of Arena magazine. On the cover Ms Brook was quoted saying: “If Arena calls up and says it wants to take some sexy photos then, fuck, yeah. I take my clothes off because I enjoy it.” The investor, won over by the fact the project involved a cover-star actress, stayed involved, proving that it does not always take spreadsheets and sales charts alone to win funding. Nevertheless, whether you are a seasoned producer or a new filmmaker, raising finance for your feature film or production company is no mean feat. Where successful investment in other creative industries may depend on single factors such as the quality of management or a track record of earnings, film projects often succeed or fail on how well they have held together many different elements.
UK producers acquire the money to finance their films through a combination of equity, tax-based finance, pre-sales and distribution deals. To complicate matters further, these rounds of funding do not come in any particular order. So as well as the attitude of the burlesque show, circus skills will also come in handy.
“You need to keep juggling everyone, keep them all believing in you and the project, and as soon as one bites, you hope the others will follow,” says Gina Carter, producer of Bright Young Things and Stephen Fry's partner in Sprout, the production company.
Robert Jones, head of the UK Film Council's Premier Fund, is well aware of the difficult climate producers and filmmakers are operating in. “Making those necessary pre-sales [a deal negotiated by a sales agent with distributors covering the different formats in which a film will be distributed] is getting harder, as competition to get screens for specialised films when you are up against Hollywood pictures is tough. It comes down to persuading the exhibitors that UK films will bring in the audiences.”
Agnieszka Moody heads up the UK Media Desk, representing the European Commission's audiovisual fund Media Plus, which producers can apply to for funding to cover training, project development, distribution and promotion. The programme aims to ease the financial burden of those working in small domestic markets, where the scope for selling a film across a number of European territories is limited.
Ms Moody echoes the need for film applications from independent producers and production companies to have “international appeal” whether in terms of the script, the themes explored, the talent involved or the international pre-sales obtained.
The clear message from the overseers of public funds is that producers need to consider the marketplace in which their films will be sold and seen when applying. Mr Jones is quick to point out, however, that this should not be to the detriment of their creativity or cultural integrity since “cultural films can have a commercial significance”.
Most UK producers will also call on the services of a film-financing specialist. Film-financing houses represent angel, individual and corporate investors, and offer investment in tax-based financing schemes that use sale and leaseback, production partnerships, Enterprise Investment Schemes and venture capital trusts.
Baker Street Media Finance works in collaboration with the City-based stockbroker Teather & Greenwood and receives about 600 enquiries a year from film producers and production companies.
Bill Allan and Keith Evans, directors, both agree that primarily they are looking to deal with people of repute. “It's all about the package that the producer brings to the table. When dealing with a reputable producer, you know that they will have got hold of a good script. What follows is the opportunity to attract credible crews and talent and this will make it an attractive proposition for a distributor to pick up and sell,” says Mr Evans, reflecting the views of many other financing houses.
Along with a distribution deal and the right script, the talent attached to the project is a pre-requisite for investment, as the Kelly Brook example shows.
Peter James, joint managing director of film production and financing fund Movision, takes a strictly commercial view when choosing which projects to invest in. “The independents should be making the kind of movies that the studios cannot make economically,” he says.
Movision offers its investors a broad portfolio of feature films to choose from, from vampire movies to The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino playing Shylock (currently in post-production).
From an investor's point of view it is better to go for a lower reward, as you will have a better chance of recouping your investment, says Mr Margolis of Future Film Group.
The media team at Barclays and the media banking division of Coutts & Co facilitate the majority of film productions in the UK, not through direct investment but via loans. They lend money to a producer to help cash flow during production, but they require strong pre-sales agreements before discounting them against production finance.
For Coutts, in addition to pre-sales, a completion bond and a commercial film make for a promising investment. In reality, however, it is very hard to obtain pre-sales for a film and only those high-budget UK feature films with a top cast and an A-list producer stand any real chance of doing so.
“Distributors feel they do not need to pre-buy at the moment, which leaves the mid-range producer of movies budgeted between ￡2m-￡5m under increasing pressure,” says Mark Vennis, managing director of London-based sales agent Moviehouse Entertainment.
So while you may have ticked many boxes on investors' lists, the end result could still be down to whether a project connects on a personal level with financiers and distributors.
In July 2005, UK producers will also face the impending demise of the section 48 of the finance act, which offers producers of films budgeted under ￡15m ($26.6m) up to 15 per cent tax relief on production expenditure.
Despite rumours that section 48 may be extended to 2006, the most probable outcome is a new 20 per cent tax credit on the production budget with, the industry hopes, relief available on the whole budget and not just the UK expenditure.
The new 20 per cent relief will either be offset against the producer's profits or surrendered to the Treasury for a direct cash repayment.
However, film investor awareness has increased considerably since 1997 when the government introduced the tax shelter initiatives to aid financing in the UK film industry, and as one door shuts on a tax-based scheme another is sure to open on a new finance structure. Certainly, the film industry continues to lobby its case for the importance of UK productions.
For producers, however, whatever the outcome of these arguments, assembling the necessary investment components will continue to test their stamina as well as myriad other skills.
电影融资需要十八般武艺
由于一位投资者担心会“输个精光”，未来电影集团(Future Film Group)的一部作品险些搁浅，后因女主演愿意脱衣的而得救。
这部名为Three的影片由英国与卢森堡联合制作，凯莉?布鲁克(Kelly Brook)和比利?泽纳(Billy Zane)出任主演。总经理斯蒂芬?马尔戈利斯(Stephen Margolis)指着最近一期《竞技场》(Arena)杂志，解释化险为夷的过程。杂志封面上印着凯莉的话：“如果《竞技场》打电话约我拍性感照片，我马上就脱衣服，因为我喜欢这样。”由于女主演上了杂志封面，投资者同意继续投资，可见，有时候仅仅靠数据和销售图表是吸引不到投资的。无论你是经验丰富的制作人还是拍片新手，为故事片或制片公司筹集资金都是件难事。投资其它创意行业，成功与否可能仅仅取决于管理层质量或销售业绩等单一因素，但电影制作的成败常常取决于多种因素的结合情况。
英国制片人为影片融资的手段，有发行股票、银行贷款、预售和签署发行协议等几种。更复杂的是，不同渠道资金的获得没有一定的顺序。因此，十八般武艺，融资人样样都要掌握。
《少年壮志莫言愁》(Bright Young Things)的制片人吉娜?卡特(Gina Carter)解释说：“你要跟所有人打交道，让他们对你和项目有信心，一旦有一个人上钩，你就希望其他人也能跟着投钱。”吉娜还是斯蒂芬?弗里(Stephen Fry)《新芽》(Sprout)制片公司的合伙人。
英国电影协会主要资金负责人罗伯特?琼斯(Robert Jones)非常清楚制片人和摄制者的艰难处境。“由于好莱坞电影势头强劲，签订预售协议这一必要手续（此协议由销售代理和发行商协商签订，涉及不同发行渠道）也变得愈发困难。归根到底，关键是要让投资商相信英国电影会有观众。”
阿格尼斯卡?穆迪(Agnieszka Moody)是英国媒体部(UK Media Desk)的负责人，该部门是欧盟视听资金项目Media Plus的代表机构，制片人可向其申请资金，用于支付培训、项目开发、发行和市场推广等费用。该项目旨在减轻欧洲各国制片公司的财政负担，目前欧洲跨国发行电影的规模还较为有限。
穆迪反复强调，从剧本、选材、演员或国际预售协议等各角度考虑，都有必要鼓励申请资金的独立制片人和制片公司制作具有“国际吸引力”的作品。
公共资金监督机构的态度非常明确：申请资金时，制片人需要考虑电影销售和上映地区的市场状况。当然，琼斯同时指出，创造性及文化完整性不能因此受到影响，因为“文化片也可以具有商业意义。”
大多数英国制片人都会聘请电影融资专家。电影融资公司代表个人、企业及天使投资者，提供贷款策略，具体计划包括销售和售后回租、制片合伙人、企业投资方案和创业资本信托。
贝克街媒体金融公司(Baker Street Media Finance)与位于伦敦金融区的股票经纪商蒂瑟及格林伍德(Teather Greenwood)合作，每年收到大约600项来自电影制片人和制片公司的询问。
比尔?艾伦(Bill Allan)和基思?埃文斯(Keith Evans)两位导演都表示，他们主要与名声好的人打交道。“关键要看制片人在谈判桌上提出的全套方案。与名声好的制片人打交道时，你便不用担心剧本的质量。接下来便是招兵买马，吸引摄制组和演出人员，这些因素能够吸引发行商参与投资和销售。”埃文斯的一席话代表其他众多融资公司的观点。
除了签署发行协议和寻找适合的剧本，能否吸引到优秀演员也是投资的先决条件，上述凯莉?布鲁克一例就可见一斑。
彼得?詹姆斯(Peter James)是电影制片和融资基金公司Movision的联合董事总经理。他选择投资项目完全从商业角度出发。他解释说：“拍摄独立影片对制片厂来讲通常都不太划算。”
Movision公司有众多故事片供投资者选择：从吸血鬼电影到艾尔帕西诺出演夏洛克的《威尼斯商人》（正处于后期制作阶段）。
未来电影集团的马尔戈利斯表示，从投资者角度看，回报较低的电影是更好的选择，因为收回成本的机会比较大。
Barclays公司的媒体小组和库茨公司(Coutts Co)的媒体银行业务部门为英国大多数电影制作提供援助，方法往往是通过贷款而非直接投资。他们将钱借给制片人作为资金周转之用，但若想获得折扣，制片人必须提供强有力的预售协议。
对库茨而言，除了预售协议之外，成功的投资还需要履约保证和商业片两大要素。然而，预售协议很难签得，除非是那些演员和制片人阵容强大且制作预算高的大片。
伦敦销售代理商Moviehouse Entertainment公司的董事总经理马克?文尼斯(Mark Vennis)说：“发行商觉得没有必要在此时预付资金，于是中型制片人便只能在日益增长的压力下将预算定在200至500万英镑之间。”
因此，就算你满足投资方的种种要求，最终还是要看你和那些投资机构和发行商的私人关系。
2005年1月，英国制片人还将面临一个变化，即金融法案第48条例将被废除，根据该条例，预算低于1500万英镑（2660万美元）影片的制作开支可以减免15%的税额。
尽管有传言说此条例的有效期可能会延至2006年，但制作预算方面极可能会出台20%的税收减免政策，业界希望此政策能适用于制片整体预算，而不仅限于英国境内的开支。
20%的税收减免额将抵进制片收益，或由财政部直接返款。
1997年，政府推出税收庇护行动，以吸引投资人目光，帮助英国电影进行融资。如果拿不到贷款，肯定会有新的融资方式出现。当然，电影界还会继续进行游说，强调英国本土作品的重要性。
不管形势如何，为了能够有效组合多种融资要素，制片人的耐力和种种技能都将受到进一步的考验
