01/10/2012 - Studio to advise on investment opportunities for £25 million film fund

Pinewood Shepperton has signed an agreement to source and advise on film investment opportunities for the £25 million fund established by the Isle of Man Treasury (IOMT) and to monitor and capitalise on UK distribution rights in films and television programmes funded by the IOMT, following negotiations that began in June. Pinewood Film Advisors (PFA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinewood, will advise IOMT. The initial period of the agreement will be five years.

Under the terms of the agreement, PFA will receive an annual management fee, fees on film projects that the IOMT invests in, a proportion of the revenues received from the UK distribution rights for films, and a proportion of the revenue received from the existing library of 97 IOMT funded films as a fee for managing the collection of revenues arising from those films. The IOMT will offer a range of film investment including equity finance, UK distribution and gap financing. On completion of the agreement, Steve Christian, the current Chairman of CinemaNX (the previous advisor to the IOMT), and a core team of four CinemaNX employees will join PFA to provide additional expertise and continuity.

Pinewood CEO Ivan Dunleavy said, “This agreement is a further example of extending the reach of the Pinewood brand and builds on the company’s successful Pinewood Films initiative to play a bigger role in UK independent film and television production. The company’s unique assets in the UK, together with its film financing and strategic international initiatives, mean that it is well placed to cater for the existing and planned global growth in creative content.”