🎬 Slate Financing | Can a First Time Filmmaker Use It? 🎬

Published: Tue, 09/07/21

Hi ,

What is Slate Financing and is it appropriate for your Indie Film?

What is Slate Financing?

Here is what we say to Film Investors when discussing Slate Financing:

Like investing in any other product, such as stocks and bonds, film investors have the choice of making multiple investments in the projects they like. Because of the large pool of choices available, film finance angel investors have a wider reach and better opportunity to select multiple movies to invest in and create their own slate of films. Rather than putting all their eggs in one basket, this approach allows film investors to diversify their investment, while at the same time, increasing their chances of scoring a hit. Since, as an investor in movies, you can expect to have a few hit and misses along the way, diversifying your film investment portfolio will increase your chances of success while minimizing your losses.

Even if you do invest in a movie that does not do well and give you the expected returns, having a diverse slate of movies that you have invested in will mean that you can make up for your losses whenever you do strike gold with a particular project. Becoming a film investor isn’t rocket science. One of the main things you are going to need is money, and you will want to have enough money left in your pocket after making the investment. You’ll also want to invest in movies and other independent projects that generate a high return on your initial investment.

Do FilmProposals Templates Work for Slate Financing of Multiple Films?

Our Film Investor Financing Templates are designed for individual movies. It’s entirely possible to change them to fit a slate of movies, as they are completely customizable, but the templates “out of the box” are designed to raise funds for one movie. We find most of our clients looking to raise funds on their own, without a tax or legal professional with whom to consult, are usually raising funds for one film at a time.

Raising money for a Slate of Films is extremely difficult and likely not the best scenario for a first time filmmakers. You're talking $million$ to raise, with a ton of associated legal and financial professional services. Few, if any, individuals or hedge funds are going to support a new production company this way. That's not to say you can't do it, but it is a challenge.

The upside is it will mitigate an investor's risk and that's a great case to make in your business plan. The downside is, you need will need to showcase a team of producers, talent and crew that have proven success in the film industry. If you have proof of talent on your side, then it might be a great opportunity to raise funds one time for multiple films and spreading both the investor's and production company's risk across a slate.

Learn More:

More on Slate Financing

"Slate financing is essentially what happens when hedge fund managers figure out how to get into film financing. It’s a form of private equity film financing in which firms will invest money into a studio for not one but several films (a slate of them, if you will). The idea is that a diversified slate of movies mitigates risk and renders the unpredictable entertainment market more attractive to both private investors and those that represent them."

Source: https://www.wrapbook.com/blog/film-financing-essential-guide

"So-called "slate financing" is the hedge funds' approach to risk management and return generation. This approach simply entails investment in a portfolio of films, rather than a single production. Through diversification comes a more proper balance of risk and return. What films are included in the portfolio may be a function of how the fund's co-financing efforts with the production and distribution company work through the film studios. Part of the challenge is untangling opaque financial accounts through due diligence in the quest for greater transparency.

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0512/how-to-invest-in-movies.aspx

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"The resultant projections are what I needed, and the early feedback from the "suits" in this project is that I've presented a clear yet compact overview of the prospects. They were also surprised it could be presented so concisely and without a complex MBA-style model. By the way, in my projections not all the outcomes are golden, and that adds to my respect for the templates."
- TV Producer, now Consultant

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