The International Consumer Electronics Show has a special focus on content this year:

Content

Today’s world is a digital one, where content progressively drives consumer technology sales. Music, movies, games. Text, audio files, pictures. Content is any sound or image delivered to an audience through a CE product. It’s at the heart of consumer technology, and CES is at the heart of it all. Content is everywhere at CES. It spans all consumer technology markets, every product, each part of the show floor. Experience the art of content at CES.

Find out what is happening at this year’s show: http://cesweb.org/attendees/markets/content.asp

The show also features the latest installment of Digital Hollywood, seminars on the latest in digital entertainment.

Digital Hollywood

Revolution. Redefinition. Refocus. Those are the themes of this year’s Digital Hollywood sessions, where we’ll examine how the “three Rs” are affecting content, entertainment, social networking, product innovations, the digital home, consumer perceptions and market forces. These are some of the most popular sessions at CES, because they’re jam-packed with up-to-the-second information, insights and predictions. Sign up now before space is gone! Take advantage of the CES Ultimate Pass for a guaranteed seat at every session.

It is not too late to register: Digital Hollywood details.

If you are interested in Children’s toys & entertainment, this free conference at CES also looks extremely interesting:

The Sandbox Summit: A Playdate with Technology

Had enough of the grownup CES stuff? Jump into the world of digital kids at the Sandbox Summit. Kick off the morning at the complimentary power breakfast, where we start th conversaion. Get a handle on the toys, trends and products that are shaping the way kids play today. Join the PLAYOFFS, where digital natives go head to head; then move on to the Sands’ exhibition to test drive the gear that’s defining the next generation.For more information please visit www.SandboxSummit.org.

Great post on Johanna Blakley’s blog over at the Norman Lear Center. She provides an account of the recent AFM Film Financing Conference held in Santa Monica. Some interesting insights into film funding trends:

How do you convince a financer that you’ve got a marketable film?
Once again, financers could care less who’s directing. The real gatekeeper in this business is . . . get this: the sales agent. If you’re a new filmmaker and a credible sales agent has decided to hawk your film, the financing is yours.

Isn’t it hard to get a film financed these days? Why, no! There’s so much “dumb money” out there (read: hedge funds) that the barriers to entry are lower than ever. This may come as a surprise to every indy filmmaking friend you have; their problem is that they probably haven’t made an expensive enough movie. Got a film under a million? Ask grandpa to fund it. Got a film over $10 million? Now you’re talking.

What genres of movies are the easiest to presell (i.e., to sell the rights before the film is made)? According to Nu Image CFO Trevor Short, generally action movies and thrillers are the best bets. Comedy and drama are tough because the quality of the film depends on (get this) the execution.

Get the full story

When it comes to film funding, it is a lot harder to finance your film from jail!

Nov. 9, 2007, 7:17AM

Film producer arrested in Los Angeles in suspected movie-financing scam

From the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A film producer has been arrested on suspicion of using bogus contracts with foreign distributors to help secure more than $35 million in loans to finance movies, federal authorities said Thursday.

Gary Howsam, 56, was taken into custody Monday at Los Angeles International Airport on a criminal complaint accusing him of bank fraud, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

He was released on $500,000 bond and placed under house arrest with an electric monitoring at a friend’s residence in Los Angeles. If convicted, he could face as many as 30 years in federal prison.

There is more to this story on Film Funding at the Sacramento Bee

ENCHANTED ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Photo Credit: BARRY WETCHER/SMPSP SUSAN SARANDON

Although written with a focus on talent endorsements, these guidelines are helpful in leveraging talent as a part of film promotions.

Do’s and Don’ts of Working with Celebrity Talent

By Lou Bortone

Top talent endorsements are a staple in marketing, with more than 20% of advertising today featuring a famous face, voice or likeness. The reason is clear: Celebrities sell. Consumers pay attention to brand-name talent because they are attracted to the familiar. Three ways a star spokesperson can be used by your business include:

1) Advertising – Celebrities can pitch your product via print, television, radio, etc.

2) Appearances and events – Celebrities can make personal appearances for your business at events ranging from charity fundraisers to grand openings.

3) Media opportunities – Your spokesperson can speak on your behalf on TV talks shows, or at press conferences, trade shows or other media events.

Things to keep in mind when hunting for a celebrity spokesperson include:

• Define your objectives

Determine what you expect from your partnership with your spokesperson and how to best utilize their talents. Clarify your needs and expectations from the get-go.

Get-It-Done: Brooks International and Burns are a couple of many agencies who specialize in booking celebrity and sports talent. These talent brokers can help you assess your needs.

• Find the right fit

It’s important that the spokesperson you hire is a good match for your product or service. The clearer the link between your company’s product and your talent, the better the partnership will work. (Think Michael Jordan and Nike!)

Get-It-Done: The Hollywood-Madison Group uses a proprietary database called the “Fame Index” to match businesses with appropriate talent. The Fame Index contains the names of 10,000 stars and uses 250 categories to match talent to businesses and products.

• Plan well in advance

When deciding on a celebrity spokesperson for your business, start early. Make your plans at least 6 months in advance. The bigger the name, the longer the lead time.

Get-It-Done: Celebrity Focus and The Celebrity Source are two talent agencies who can connect your company with talent and help you navigate the celebrity maze.

• Consider the costs

Talent fees and celebrity endorsements run the gamut from a few hundred dollars for a local DJ appearing at a business to literally millions of dollars for an international movie star. Catherine Zeta-Jones’ long-term endorsement deal with T-Mobile was reportedly worth 20 Million, but T-Mobile’s U.S. sales jumped 25% during the campaign.

Get-It-Done: If you’re looking for major star power, you can go with Hollywood biggies like William Morris or PMK/HBH Public Relations. On a smaller scale, many local celebrities can be contacted directly or through their management.

• Make contact

Talent agencies, entertainment marketing firms and even speakers bureaus can put you in touch with potential celebrity spokespersons. Contacting talent can be easier than you might think.

Get-It-Done: In addition to some of the agencies listed above, the Screen Actors Guild provides an actor-locator service.

Other things to keep in mind when shopping for a celebrity spokesperson include:

• Don’t be afraid to ask. Maybe that certain superstar is not out of your reach or budget.

• Consider “B-List” stars who may be more available and less expensive.

Local talent such as home-town athletes may be your best shot.

• Make sure you have an “out” clause in case your celebrity gets negative press or is involved in a scandal. (Sorry Britney!)

—

Lou Bortone is an award-winning writer, marketer and television producer who spent over 20 years in the television industry, including several years as Senior Vice President of Marketing & Advertising for Fox Family Worldwide in L.A. Today, Lou specializes in helping entrepreneurs create breakthrough video for the Internet. Email Lou at lou@theonlinevideoguy.com or visit http://www.theonlinevideoguy.com .

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

Filmmakers in Ireland received some great news. A local initiative there will provide $1 Million Euros (over $1.4 million U.S. dollars) specifically targeted to short films.

€1m fund for Irish filmmakers launched

Budding filmmakers can now tap into a €1m fund launched today to boost the industry in Ireland.

The Irish Film Board (IFB) confirmed it has committed the cash to launching new projects aimed at promoting short films.

Read more details at Ireland Online

There is more information available from the Irish Film Board:

http://www.irishfilmboard.ie/programmes.php

Now, when will the U.S. government follow suit?

Reuters has posted a short video segment on the Tokyo International Film Festival. Most interesting fact? For the first time in 20 years, local films from Japan beat out U.S. fare at the box office. You can learn more about the festival at their official website: http://www.tiff-jp.net/en/

Looking for innovative ideas to fund your next project? Check out two interesting film funding ideas:

Buy a character

and

Movie ticket pre-sales

For more ideas, also take a look at Carole Dean’s new book The Art of Film Funding:

The terms Gap Financing and SuperGap financing have been getting a lot of play lately. As these concepts are sometimes hard to succinctly define, I was impressed by this pithy description from the Wikipedia:

Gap/SuperGap Financing

 

In motion pictures, Gap/Supergap financing is a form of mezzanine debt financing where the producer wishes to complete their film finance package by procuring a loan that is secured against the film’s unsold territories and rights. Most gap financiers will only lend against the value of unsold foreign (non North American) rights, as domestic (North American: USA & Canadian) rights are seen as a “performance” risk, as opposed to more quantifiable risk that is the foreign market. In short, this means that the foreign value of a film can be ascertained by a Foreign Sales Company/Agent by evaluating the blended value of the quality of the script, its genre, cast, director, producer, as well as whether it has theatrical distribution in the US from a major film studio; all of this is taken into consideration and applied against the historical and current market tastes, trends, and needs of each foreign territory of country. Surprisingly, this is fairly predictable to a certain degree of certainty. Domestic distribution, on the other hand, is very unpredictable and far from ever a sure thing (e.g. just because a film has a big budget and a commercial genre and cast, it could still be unwatchable and thus never receive a theatrical or television release in the US, thus being relegated to being a big budget, direct-to-video film.) So, in as much as there can ever be any certainty in the entertainment business, lending against foreign value estimates is almost always going to be a much better bet than banking on domestic success (comedies and urban films being two notable exceptions: they’re referred to a “domestic pieces” or “domestic plays”.)

 

True to its mezzanine nature, in the pecking order of recoupment of investment, generally, gap (or supergap) loans are subordinate to (recoup after) the senior/bank production loan, but in turn, the gap/supergap loan will be senior to (recoup before) equity financiers.

A gap loan becomes a supergap loan when it extends beyond 10-15% of 100% of the production loan required to shoot the film (or in other words, when the percentage of the gap required to complete the film’s financing package becomes greater than a bank is willing to bear, which is traditionally 10-15%, but can sometime be a flat dollar threshold like USD$1,000,000.)

Gap/Supergap lending is a very risky form of capital investment and accordingly the fees and interest charged reflect that level of risk. But at the same time it’s not unlike buying a house: nobody pays 100% of the purchase price with cash; they pay about 20% in cash and borrow the rest. Supergap financing works by the same principal: put down 20-30% cash/equity and borrow the rest.

Over the years, because of the high risk nature, many supergap companies have come and gone, but a few established players have survived the ups and downs of the markets: Screen Capital International is arguably the gold standard in the industry, with Grosvenor Park, Blue Rider, Newmarket Capital, and 120db also being significant “players” in the debt financing space.

[All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) ]

You can also find some useful reference books at the Writer’s Store: film funding

Australian films are getting a boost of financial support. Already rising in prominence in the United States, Australian filmmakers are poised to take advantage of a new film funding plan that provides the Australian film industry with an additional $283 million dollars to pursue its cinematic ventures.

In addition, the government there will soon introduce a 40% tax rebate to encourage the production of Australian feature films, and a similar tax rebate of 20% for television productions. In addition, the location rebate for foreigners interested in filming in Australia will increase to 15%, thus boosting incentive for producers to fund large-budget overseas projects.

Essentially, the Australian film industry is getting a facelift. In addition to the previously mentioned financial support, the government package also includes the installation of the Australian Screen Authority to replace the previous film funding review groups: Australian Film Commission, Film Finance Corporation and Film Australia.

Through this arts package, the government hopes that this step forward will aid in not only improving the Australian film industry but also contribute to economic and cultural growth.

Get more information from MSN News:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=265777&rss=yes

Contributed by Christina Chen,
UC Berkeley student