A new film fund launched by a local investment manager is believed to be the first investment fund established in Guernsey to specifically invest in film production, marketing and distribution.
Confiance Fund Services has worked closely with UK-based investment adviser High Fliers Film and local law firm AO Hall as legal adviser to launch Confiance Film Products PCC which will invest in both big budget and small budget movies.
“Financing films is always a delicate balance between the various parties involved in making the film and bringing it successfully to its target audience. You need to work with people who understand the film industry and have the relevant experience,” says Richard Garrod, director of Confiance Fund Services.
High Fliers has over 20 years of experience and a catalogue of films starring Richard Gere, Forest Whitaker, Samuel L. Jackson, Carey Mulligan, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Pierce Brosnan, Robert Carlyle, Claire Danes and Tommy Lee Jones.
The first fund of the PCC aims to invest in a mix of films with different genres and budgets, preferably with an A-list director and an A-list lead actor or actress, to acquire the distribution rights to those films and then distribute those films through cinema, DVD, video-on-demand, TV and other auxiliary formats such as the internet and airline entertainment systems.
Future funds will also invest in film production and marketing which will give investors the ability to invest in a full range of film financing opportunities in Guernsey. It is proposed that future cells may also list on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange with Newhaven Trust Company (Channel Islands) acting as the listing sponsor.
AO Hall’s group partner Sam Shires and associate Stephen Ozanne both worked closely with Confiance and High Fliers Film.
“It’s always good to see Guernsey’s fund expertise being used for new asset classes, and at the same time promote the continued flexibility and popularity of the Guernsey protected cell company product,” says Shires.
