The film Dark Floors is a horror film being produced by Lordi, Finnish rockers that won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. The film is not only being shot in Finland, but also contains a cast that is largely Finnish. The government there has contributed 300,000 euros (over $400,000) towards the overall production cost of 4.2 million euros (over $5.6 million).

This contribution is more than a symbolic gesture, it shows the government’s intent to support local film ventures in Finland. The recent buzz on the film at the Cannes Film Festival only adds to the potential success of the project and growth of the Finnish film industry. Now only if the U.S. government was willing to do the same here!

Get the full story from the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6718257.stm

Contributed by Christina Chen,
UC Berkeley student

As reported in The Independent:

City financiers have begun a European film-funding drive in an attempt to imitate Hollywood’s global blockbuster machine.

…

Early next month Stewart Till, the current chairman of the UK Film Council and former head of United International Pictures and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, will hold talks with bankers from Dresdner Kleinwort. They will discuss the formation of a £100m investment fund, which he would lead, to back the distribution and marketing of UK and European films.

…

“This is not about transplanting the US model. There should be a balance between these culturally significant movies and those that can be globally appealing. We need to be able to match those ideas with the appropriate financing.”

As this press release from 99 Ways Entertainment demonstrates, you have to think creatively if you want to raise film financing.

To get its own stories distributed 99 Ways has brought together a dynamic mix of music and film stars together with creative financing by NBA players, doing an end run around the traditional channel of seeking pick up by a separate film distribution company. Its first feature-length docudrama, Gangstresses, starring singers Mary J. Blige and Lil’ Kim, was produced for $25,000. Released straight-to-video, it spent 12 weeks on Billboard’s Top 40 Video Sales, earning revenues in excess of $1 million and garnering the Independent Film Project (IFP) Best Directorial Debut award for Davis. Six years later the film, which was also featured in pop culture venues such as BET, The Source and Interview Magazine, is still selling in the U.S. and internationally.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070206/nytu064.html?.v=75

What was the most profitable film release of 2006? It all depends on how you measure profit.

As the blog BizofShowbiz reports:

In the category of the most widely released movies for 2006, the most profitable movie of the year was surprisingly “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” which beat out what most thought would be the leader “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”

http://www.bizofshowbiz.com/2007/01/ice_age_most_profitable_film_of_2006.html

This is based on the 2006 Kagan Profitability Report that the Holllywood Reporter’s Paul Bond discusses in his recent article. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070119/media_nm/profits_dc_1

While Kagan does a great job with their profitability index, they exclude several key elements of production cost (because they are extremely difficult to estimate.) Distribution fees, profit participations (points), overhead allocations, and the cost of financing (interest charges) do not make it into Kagan’s calculations.

Based on the gross profit percentage, it is likely that Little Miss Sunshine would take the crown. However, if we look at total profit in dollar terms, I have no doubt that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest would be ranked first. With 15.1 million units of DVD sold and box office of over $400 million in the U.S. alone, the revenues were tremendous. While the participations and residuals were no doubt costly, the profitability of DVD would propel this title ahead of the others.

The truly interesting question is to look at the profitability of a film like this from different perspectives. The profit picture for the studio (Walt Disney Company: DIS), is very different from that of the other profit participants (such as the key talent or the film’s producers.) One difference is that Disney earns a distribution fee and receives the overhead allocations, adding revenues to its coffers. On the other side of the ledger, these items are costs to the profit participants.

Just out of beta, an interesting twist on financing your next film:

FilmTies.com is the world’s first Membership based, Social Network Interactive Film Financing Community. We provide the complete interactive tools to our members who visit the site to socialize, meet friends, classmates, and interact with the film and music industry. FilmTies.com is part of the AdFilmTies Film Finance Model it empowers screenwriters, musicians, actors, directors, producers, sponsors and most importantly the movie watching public.

http://www.filmties.com

Hedge fund money continues to flow to Hollywood. This deal is interesting in that the funding may go to support independent films, as opposed to the mega tentpole releases.

Lionsgate is wrapping up a $210 million slate financing pact led by Goldman Sachs — a sign that hedge funds remain attracted to Hollywood, or at least to particular deals, despite mixed results in 2006.

Lionsgate agreement covers 23 films, excluding the “Saw” movie franchise and pics from Tyler Perry of “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” and “Madea’s Family Reunion” fame. Perry’s next is “Daddy’s Little Girl,” due out in February.

Lionsgate will receive a distribution fee of 15% — on the high side for slate deals — showing just how the mini-studio has impressed Wall Street with its track record and its model of modestly priced pics.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957559.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Latest data from Hitwise, as presented by CNET:

http://news.com.com/YouTube+rivals+look+for+answers/2100-1025_3-6149004.html?tag=html.alert

Want to create media for the small screen?

A national Call for Entries for the Institute will be announced at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Through the Institute, eight production teams of up to 3 people each will be selected to come to BAVC’s San Francisco facility for ten days. Producers will participate in high-level industry roundtables, intense one-on-one project development with technical mentors, new media storytelling workshops, and hands-on prototyping of their ideas. The participants will be adapting and developing award-winning film and video content for delivery using interactive formats, including video game applications, interactive, web-based experiences, mobile streaming, multi-user communities, and new educational software. They may choose a range of delivery strategies, including cell phones, other hand-held devices, set-tops, Internet, portable software and more.

“The Producer’s Institute intends to provide a first-of-its kind incubator for independent filmmakers in new media technologies, and a unique opportunity for industry to greenlight innovative content for these new distribution models,” says Wendy Levy, BAVC’s Director of Media Arts and Education, who will oversee the Institute. The Institute will take place June 1 – 10, 2007 at BAVC in San Francisco. Applications will be available online beginning January 15th, with a February 15th deadline to apply. Institute participants will be notified by March 1st.

More info available at BAVC:
http://www.bavc.org/meet/news/e_news/010107/events/index.htm

Image from BAVC eNews January 2007, bavc.org

“Notwithstanding last year’s disparaging headlines regarding declining box office and DVD sales, 2006 ticket sales and DVD purchases proved that the public actively enjoys movie-going and the in-home DVD experience, despite the proliferation of other entertainment alternatives,” Genius Products CEO Trevor Drinkwater said.

Much of the cheery-eyed optimism floating around the studio DVD divisions stems from the fact that the industry has just come off an exceptionally strong fourth quarter. Things got off to a good start when 20th Century Fox’s X-Men: The Last Stand and Buena Vista’s The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition generated $80 million in consumer spending in a single day. Further triumphs came as the quarter progressed, culminating this month when Buena Vista’sPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest sold 10.5 million DVDs its first week in stores, putting it on track to become the top-selling live-action DVD ever.

“A couple of interesting things happened in the fourth quarter,” Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders said. “You had some very strong theatricals that performed very well across the board, and you also had the additional benefit of TV-DVD continuing to have a huge upside, year-over-year. All of this pointed to a very healthy category.”

Visit BrandWeek for more information:

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/sportsent/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003525962

Pay Television licensing is a key element in studio “greenlight” models. (Greenlight models are the financial calculations that the studios develop and analyze in deciding which pictures to produce or acquire. Sharp Angle also utilizes this methodology in the film business plan work we do for clients.)

As this article from Variety indicates, deal terms in this area may be changing:

Some of the major studios’ deals at HBO, Showtime and Starz expire in 2008 and ‘09, and the three networks are seriously weighing whether they want to renew.

If they decide to tear up their current theatrical contracts, which ensure a multimillion-dollar payday for each movie, Hollywood would be forced to rethink some of its economics.

The pay cablers’ money makes the difference between profit and loss for many theatricals. And, just as crucially, any potential loss of pay TV money would affect studios’ decisions on what future films get made.

The 2008-09 expiration dates may seem a long way off, but as studios develop movie scripts years in advance, they automatically build in the anticipated pay TV revenues. But some of those far-off projects could be scrapped if there’s any prospect the pay TV dollars will go away or be drastically reduced.

“You’re effectively planning to greenlight movies based on deals that are expiring,” says a studio exec.

Especially at risk are low to midrange films. A loss of a few million bucks could mean these films won’t get made.

“If you have a big hit, a movie makes money everywhere, but if you have average box office on a movie, your profit is going to be in the pay deal,” says one studio chief.

For years, virtually every studio release was included in lucrative long-term output deals with HBO, Showtime and Starz.

Daily Variety, December 31, 2006. Daily Variety