FAQs
As with any financial investment, there is always an element of risk and it is very important that you do not invest what you cannot afford to lose.
Whilst it is not possible to guarantee the commercial success of any film project, we do our best to mitigate any risk by due diligence and recommending only quality projects with professional and experienced production teams behind them.
We also recommend that a Bond company is engaged to add additional protection for investors.
As an equity investor, you sit in the recoupment waterfall, usually below senior debt. However, depending on how much you are looking to invest, recoupment position in the waterfall can be negotiated which would help mitigate any risk and speed up payment of premiums.
There are tax relief schemes through EIS and SEIS, but this is only up to a limited level of investment and generally applies across multiple projects as opposed to a single film.
We do not normally focus in this area.
They are no best films in which to invest as it is whatever proves to be a commercial success. Traditionally horror films show a greater return on investment as they tend to be lower budget productions, and have a captive, albeit limited audience.
The potential success of any film relies on a number of factors, including script, cast and then the critical reviews and marketing spend by the distributors.
Ideally an investor should invest in a slate of features covering different genres and budget levels, to maximise the prospects of a healthy return.
We would suggest that funds should be invested in a film for 18 months to 3 years for a single project and 3-5 years for a slate of films.
These time frames can of course change, but investments should be considered on a medium to long term basis.
Film financing professionals help clients invest and earn potential profits throughout movie distribution. Private equity film financing investors are involved in various phases of movie production. With their multi-phase approach to investing, private equity financial professionals can earn potential profits from multiple stages of production and fund involvement.
Depending on their investment structure, financial companies can remain heavily involved in stages like distribution, films reaching cinemas, DVD distribution, and TV production.
Private equity film funding investors invest in specific stages of film to increase the opportunities available.
IFMA is currently only involved in funding feature films. There is a different funding model for television series which is based on cash-flowing a production once it has been commissioned by a broadcaster. However, we are currently exploring this avenue as a number of our producer clients are re-imagining their feature films as TV series.
