In pictures: Future of financing roundtable with Centtrip, Screen International | Promotion
From escrow to Oscar: it is a journey most producers and film financiers hope to take — but it remains a challenging one. A Screen International roundtable in Cannes, titled ‘Managing the realities of global film finance’, brought together producers, bankers, bond guarantors, lawyers and funders to explore ways the film-financing process could be made more efficient. The event was hosted by financial management platform Centtrip.
Bafta-winning producer Oliver Roskill of Record Player Films kicked things off with a vivid account of the challenges currently facing independent producers when trying to close financing on a new project.
“Any producer will tell you the run-up to closing is unbelievably stressful,” said the London-based executive, sharing a recent experience of sudden swings in foreign exchange that saw the budget for his project rise and fall in alarming fashion. “Also, just in terms of simplicity, everything is so laborious. You are pulling things in from so many different areas… When I get into a film, I have 25 different departments asking me about 25 different things.”
Ease the pressure
Like many others around the table, Roskill called for “simplification” of the closing process. “If it gives me 10 more minutes when I can put my head somewhere else, I’ll take it.”
“The whole thing is almost intolerably stressful for the producer,” agreed Ellen Fraser, director of EF Business Affairs.
Bonding expert Huw Penallt Jones of Media Guarantors said that, because of outstanding contractual obligations, there were times when he was not able to release the money even on films that were fully funded. The result is that projects often collapse over technicalities — and even when they do not, producers may have to sacrifice their own fees to keep shooting.
Mark Williams of Zero Gravity Management, creator of Ozark and producer of The Accountant and its recent sequel, cited the potential of Centtrip’s film finance platform to ease the strain for producers working in different currencies.
Sarah Gooding, chief product officer of Centtrip, said: “Ensuring there are multi-currency accounts available, with the necessary security that lenders and financiers require, is one part of what we offer.”
Centtrip is positioned as a single platform for film and TV producers, giving them oversight and control of the financing process. “The platform enables full oversight and control of the complex financial structure that a film or TV production requires — from escrow to Oscars,’’ explained Centtrip CEO Jane Turner. “There is a massive benefit in having a single end-to-end provider. It is faster and much more financially efficient.”
The platform enables producers to have control over the cost of moving money at the right time in multiple currencies. It also enables them to hedge against volatile exchange rates. There are plans to include a collection account management element to the business in the near future.
“Rather than dealing with a number of different entities, you’re dealing with one entity,” said Gooding.
At the roundtable, the attendees also shared other key challenges around film financing. Putting together finance plans is akin to playing three-dimensional chess, when even seemingly straightforward projects might have dollar distribution minimum guarantees, two tax credits across different currencies as well as dollar and sterling equity.
Another factor is cultural and business differences between co-producing partners. UK and US banks invariably have different lending requirements to their French counterparts.
Many around the table agreed there is a need for “openness” between producers and financiers in an increasingly internationalised industry. Juliana Lubin, VP of Investments at Ashland Hill Media Finance, said that when problems arise, “We need to know as soon as possible so we can work through the issues together.”
Ashland Hill prioritises financial transparency with producers, Lubin added, so that both parties remain aligned. “We finance a project because we truly believe in it, so it’s in our best interest for everything to go as smoothly as possible.”
