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PREMIERE
CLOSE DEAL ON PERRIER'S BOUNTY
November
2008
Premiere are delighted to
announce along with Parallel Films and Number 9 Films that production
has commenced on Perrier's Bounty, starring Cillian Murphy,
Jim Broadbent and Brendan Gleeson. The film is being directed by
Ian Fitzgibbon (A Film With Me In It) from a script by Mark
O'Rowe (Boy A, Intermission).
Set in contemporary Dublin , Perrier's Bounty is a fast paced comedy-thriller
featuring three unlikely fugitives on the run from gangster supremo,
Perrier, who is desperate to retain his pride and cash after the
accidental murder of one of his loyal gang. With only 24 hours to
escape certain death, the trio must beat the clock, stay awake,
and above all, pay Perrier's bounty.
Murphy (The Edge of Love, The Wind That Shakes the Barley,
Breakfast on Pluto, Red Eye, Batman Begins) is set to
play the lead, with Broadbent (upcoming, Inkheart, Indiana Jones
and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Hot Fuzz, The Chronicles of
Narnia) as his long-lost father. Gleeson (upcoming, Paul Greengrass'
Greenzone, title role in HBO's Churchill, In Bruges, the Harry Potter
films, Gangs of New York, 28 Days Later) will take the role of Perrier.
The film will be produced by Alan Moloney from Parallel Films and
Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen from Number 9 Films, whose
last production How To Lose Friends & Alienate People opened
Number 1 at the box office in UK and Ireland and has grossed
over $7m so far at the box office.
The film started shooting from November 10th on location in Dublin
, London and Louth in Ireland . It will be Ian Fitzgibbon's second
feature following A Film With Me In It, which debuted successfully
this weekend in Ireland .
Perrier's Bounty, a Parallel Films and Number 9 Films production
with the participation of Bord Scannán
na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board , Limelight and Premiere
Picture. Optimum have taken UK and Irish rights. HanWay will handle
worldwide sales at the forthcoming AFM.
HanWay Films' current slate includes ‘Franklyn' starring Eva Green,
Sam Riley and Ryan Phillippe, Terence Davies' Of Time and the City,
in which Premiere was also involved. Upcoming films include ‘Creation'
starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, Scott Hicks' The Boys
Are Back In Town starring Clive Owen, from Tiger Aspect, and
Harry Brown starring Michael Caine, produced by MARV Films.
PREMIERE
PICTURE SLATE EXPANDS – CANNES UPDATE
20
May 2008
UK film finance house Premiere
Picture has reached agreement to provide more than $30 million of
finance to a range of projects, and is looking to add further pictures
to its slate in Cannes .
Newly signed pictures
include “Welcome to the Rileys”, and “The Diary”, in collaboration
with Future Films. “Welcome to the Rileys” is the second feature
to be directed by Jake Scott. Ridley Scott is executive producer,
alongside brother Tony Scott, John Wells and Michael Costigan as
well as Future Films' Stephen Margolis and HandMade's Guy Collins.
Rileys is shooting under a new venture between Scott Free, Future
Films and HandMade Films. “The Diary” is the latest project
from Oscar-winning director Bille August.
Premiere Picture also
said that it is adding broadening the range of funding arrangements
under its unique Sovereign sole trading structure. Said Premiere's
Adam Betteridge: "As well as being attractive to investors,
Sovereign finance offers a number of benefits for producers, normally
providing them with around 10-25% of the unsold territory value
acquired in exchange for a negotiable recoupment corridor. The projects
do not need to be British qualifying but should have strong commercial
elements, and be in the $5-20 million budget range. We also look
at projects with budgets outside this range on a case-by-case basis.”
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SOVEREIGN
SOLE TRADERS CONTINUE TO RIDE HIGH AFTER AUTUMN 2007 PRE-BUDGET
REPORT
Following Chancellor Alistair
Darling's debut pre-Budget report on Tuesday October 9th, the continued
focus by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs on tax avoidance schemes
was one of the less widely reported issues.
Financial advisers, tax
accountants and their clients have seen a number of arrangements
designed to avoid Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax abolished with
immediate effect. It is clear that HMRC are continuing to act swiftly
against tax avoidance schemes notified under the avoidance disclosure
rules.
We are therefore pleased
to advise that our Sovereign film rights trading proposal continues
to remain unaffected, with HMRC fully aware of the tax mitigation
structure we have developed.
Sovereign is a financial
structure in its third successful year of operation which allows
high net worth individuals acting as sole traders to trade film
rights for profit. The structure is one of the few unaffected by
the changes in UK Government treatment of film schemes earlier this
year, largely as it is based on trading rather than tax avoidance.
Premiere Picture Services acts as agent managing the day-today trade,
including sourcing suitable film rights from film producers, arranging
their purchase and their ongoing exploitation.
The key features of Sovereign
are:
- An attractive potential upside from the exploitation of a slate
of film rights with a minimum
- forecast net return of 135% (for 40% taxpayers);
- Downside protection provided by a built-in tax mitigation strategy
enabling individuals to
- shelter income and capital gains tax over a number of years;
- A business proposal in its 3rd consecutive year of operation
and non-disclosable for tax
- purposes;
- Unaffected by recent Government legislation;
- Management of an experienced film team;
- Supporting opinions from leading tax counsel Jonathan Peacock
QC, from legal advisors DLA
- Piper and Howard Kennedy, and from accountants MRI Moores Rowland
(now Mazars LLP).
The present unpredictability
in the financial markets and the continued HMRC moves against tax
avoidance schemes present
much uncertainty for individuals and their advisers.
By contrast, our Sovereign
proposal provides a highly attractive return on capital with the
added benefit of individuals being able to shelter income and capital
gains tax.
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THE
WORKS UK DISTRIBUTION HAS ACQUIRED UK RIGHTS TO RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH'S
'CLOSING THE RING'
Screen
Daily - Wendy
Mitchell in London, 15 Oct 07
The deal was struck with sales company ContentFilm International,
which will announce a US deal for the film soon.
The Works plans a UK and Irish theatrical release on Dec 28. The
film has its UK premiere on Oct 21 a the London Film Festival after
premiering in Toronto .
The film is a love story set in the present day and in World War
II. Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Mischa Barton, Brenda
Fricker, Neve Campbell and Pete Postlethwaite star.
ContentFilm has previously sold Closing the Ring
to territories including Spain (Manga), Japan (Shochiku), Germany
(Telemunchen), Australia (Hopscotch), the Netherlands (A-Film),
and Canada (Odeon).
Mick Southworth, managing director of The Works UK Distribution,
said: It is a great honour to represent this terrific picture from
Lord Attenborough. We expect Closing The Ring
to be particularly successful in cinemas across Ireland where it
was filmed.
Meanwhile, The Works has brought on Mervyn Andrews as head of Irish
distribution, and Closing the Ring will be the
first film release he oversees. The industry veteran has worked
for Walt Disney Productions, PolyGram, Redbus, and Lionsgate.
Southworth said: I have known and worked with Mervyn all my business
life and there is simply no one better in the industry to lead our
distribution activity in Ireland.
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FILM
FINANCIER PREMIERE PICTURE APPOINTS HEAD OF
NEW
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND CLIENT COMPLIANCE
Premiere Picture continues
to extend its operations and has appointed Kevin Williams to head
up new business development and client compliance. Kevin
joins Premiere from the international tax team at Thomas Eggar Solicitors
where he was primarily responsible for practice and business development.
He has wide experience of tax planning for high net worth
individuals, family companies and entrepreneurs both in and outside
the UK, ranging from personal tax planning through to the creation
of offshore private family trusts and tax efficient structures.
Adam Betteridge, Chief
Operating Officer of Premiere Picture, said: “Kevin's extensive
experience in business development and in both financial and tax
planning will help us to fulfil our ambitious growth strategy, building
on the continuing high level of interest in Premiere Picture Sovereign,
our successful sole trader rights trading product. With Sovereign
being one of the few film financing products left standing after
the Chancellor's review earlier this year, we are seeing an exciting
period of company growth, continuing excellent commercial returns
for our clients and the opportunity to back more film projects.”
In addition to pure taxation
advice, Kevin has significant experience of general financial planning,
practice development and has written and provided comment extensively
in the press. Beginning his career with HM Revenue and Customs,
he subsequently moved to Ernst and Young and then KPMG for a combined
period of seven years. To further broaden his experience,
he then worked at a leading financial planning group with responsibility
for business development and clients based in the Far East, and
also with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group providing technical assistance
to the group's Private Banking division.
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PREMIERE
PICTURE EXPANDS OPERATIONS
FOLLOWING MAJOR EQUITY INVESTMENT
Film financier and production
company Premiere Picture is significantly extending its operations
following an equity investment in the group from an offshore private
equity fund. The group’s development plans include expansion
of its sales and production departments, and opening a new London
office which will further strengthen its relationships with the
UK financing and film production community, and with City-based
investors.
Since its foundation in
2002, Premiere Picture has set up and advised on numerous film financing
schemes and products, both in its own right and for other parties,
including several Hollywood studio partnerships. The group
was one of the first to use the sole trader structure, through its
Sovereign product, which was unaffected by the Government’s
clampdown on film financing schemes earlier this year.
Sovereign is a highly
flexible structure, attractive to high net worth individuals, that
can also be used in financing other investments with a similar income
profile, and may lead to diversification of the group’s investment
structures outside the film industry in the future. Sovereign
has recently backed a number of European and US productions, including
Deco Entertainment’s picture, “Gospel Hill”, set
to star Samuel L. Jackson, and has already raised significant funds
for its summer 2007 slate.
As part of the deal, a
new group holding company, Premiere Capital plc, has been formed
and all companies in the group, including producer/financier Great
British Films, will now operate under the Premiere Picture brand.
The new holding structure also enables the introduction of further
capital in the future.
Premiere Picture’s
COO Adam Betteridge said: “This injection of capital is a
significant development for Premiere, which allows us to build rapidly
on the unique market position we occupy with Sovereign, one of the
few film investment products left standing after UK Government announcements
earlier this year. We have a strong slate of films going into
production later this year, and our 2006/07 slate is already generating
significant distribution income for our traders.”
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GLOVER,
BASSET, STILES LINE UP TO CLIMB 'GOSPEL HILL'
Jeremy Kay in Los Angeles for Screen Daily
18 Jun 2007 23:46
Danny Glover, Angela Basset,
Julia Stiles, Simon Baker, Adam Baldwin and The RZA have singed
on to the political drama GospelHill
from newly launched Deco Entertainment.
Giancarlo Esposito makes his directorial debut based on a screenplay
he co-wrote with Jeff Stacy and Jeffrey Pratt Gordon. Spain's 6
Sales is handling sales.
The story centres on a former sheriff and former civil rights activist
who are haunted by a man's death 30 years earlier.
When old dangers resurface to threaten their community, the men
embark on a redemptive journey to prevent history from repeating
itself.
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GLOVER,
BASSETT, RZA TOPLINE ‘'GOSPEL HILL'’: Political drama
directed and co-written by Giancarlo Esposito.
(May 21, 2007) www.Eurweb.com
*Danny Glover, Angela
Bassett and rapper RZA have been cast in “Gospel Hill,”
a film from the Los Angeles-based production company Deko Entertainment
that marks the directorial debut of actor Giancarlo Esposito.
Julia Stiles and Simon Baker also star in the political drama, described
by Deko partner Emerson Machtus as a "coming-of-age film for
the civil rights movement and the U.S. in general."
The contemporary story
follows the former sheriff of a southern town dealing with past
sins, and the former civil rights worker withdrawn since the martyrdom
of his brother thirty years before. Their final confrontation comes
when a corporation descends on the town, echoing a struggle some
thirty years old.
Esposito also co-wrote
the screenplay, along with Jeff Stacy and Jeffrey Pratt. Principal
photography is scheduled to begin June 11 in South Carolina.
Twentieth Century Fox acquired North American rights to "Gospel
Hill," the first project from Deko Entertainment.
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FOX
READING 'GOSPEL HILL':
Studio takes North American rights for film
By
JOHN
HOPEWELL
Posted: Fri., May 18, 2007, 4:00pm PT
www.Variety.com
Twentieth Century Fox
has taken North American rights to "Gospel Hill," the
first project from the Los Angeles-based production company Deko
Entertainment.
The deal includes a commitment for a theatrical release, Deko partner
Emerson Machtus said.
Madrid-based sales consortium
6 Sales is handling international.
A political drama, "Gospel Hill" toplines Danny Glover,
Angela Bassett, Julia Stiles, Simon Baker and rapper-actor RZA.
Marking the directorial debut of actor Giancarlo Esposito "Derailed",
"Hill" is the contemporary tale of a former sheriff and
former civil-rights activist who revisit the 30-year-old death of
another rights worker.
From a screenplay by
Esposito, Jeff Stacy and Jeffrey Pratt Gordon, "Hill"
is a "coming-of-age film for the civil rights movement and
the U.S. in general," Machtus said.
It will initiate principal photography June 11 in South Carolina.
Deco Entertainment was
launched in early 2007 by producers Freddy Braidy, who is co-producing
"The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things," and the upcoming
"Blonde Ambition" with Jessica Simpson and Luke Wilson;
BAFTA-winning Cerise Hallam Larkin; and Machtus, who formerly headed
up international acquisitions for Bauer Martinez Intl.
Per Machtus, "We will be making mid-range, normally English-language
projects: sharp material that can attract assets to drive financing."
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PREMIERE
PICTURE SCHEME UNAFFECTED BY CLAMPDOWN
Tim
Adler, Screen Finance March 21st 2007
Premiere Picture Sovereign,
the film investment scheme run by Premiere Picture, has been left
unaffected by the Treasury clampdown.
Accountants and other
observers say that Premiere Picture Sovereign is the “Last
man standing” among the Generally Accepted Accounting Principle
(GAAP) schemes recently outlawed by HM Revenue and Customs. This
is because of its unique structure that differs from other GAAP
schemes put out of business by HMRC earlier this month.
Premiere Picture Sovereign
has invested in conman comedy Save Angel Hope starring Eva Birthistle
and Kill Kill Faster Faster, produced by Carlo Dusi and Kees Kasander.
Premiere Picture has invested
in 32 films in total representing £100 million-worth of production.
Titles include children’s film Tooth, Plots With a View and
Strayed, starring Emmanuelle Beart being sold by Wild Bunch.
Premiere Picture Sovereign
launched in December 2005 with advisors including tax barrister
Jonathan Peacock and legal advice offered by DLA Piper working alongside
Howard Kennedy. Accountancy firm MRI Moores Rowland is handing the
accounting side.
The company has also helped
to develop Richard Attenborough’s new feature Closing the
Ring, a love story set in the Second World War, being sold by Content
Film.
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