Film pro's £20m fund      (Industrie -Film)

(L-R) Michael Cowan (Stealth), Sean O’Kelly (Stealth), David Rogers (Premiere), Kevin Williams (Premiere).

International film financier, Premiere Picture has announced a joint venture, Media Pro, with the recently formed Stealth Media Group (SMG). Abigail Parkin (4 Nov'09)

Premiere Picture specialises in raising equity funds for the film business in the UK and it has raised over £100M in the last few years. The company has financed a range of films of different genres including Meet The Jones starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny, The Ward directed by horror legend John Carpenter starring Amber Heard and Danielle Panabaker, and most recently the £5M Stephen Woolley produced, Perrier’s Bounty starring Cillian Murphy, Jim Broadbent and Brendan Gleeson, directed by Ian Fitzgibbon.

SMG, an all rights UK Film Distributor and International Film and TV sales company, was formed in November 2008 by Sean O’Kelly, founder of film distributor Go For It Entertainment, along with film producers Michael L Cowan and Jason Piette of Spice Factory, one of Europe’s most dynamic independent production companies involved in production and structured film financing.

Media Pro is an equity fund run by Premiere Picture for its investors with equity invested in commercial film and television production projects via Stealth Media Group. This will be in the form of Minimum Guarantees against world rights on a last in and first out basis. 

Completion money can also be earmarked by Media Pro for projects via Stealth Media Group. Offices in the UK and LA mean European and Hollywood coverage, where Jason Piette heads SMG in the USA.

One of the first projects recently closed through the joint venture was Pimp, the latest British indie picture starring Danny Dyer and Billy Boyd. The film is currently in post production and it charts a week in the life of a Soho pimp with inevitable brutality. Dyer has sold over four million DVDs to date in the UK and his films reportedly generate an average of 200,000 DVDs each.

Media Pro and Stealth will be announcing further films that are in production at the American Film Market (AFM) this month.

What they said:         

“Kevin Williams, head of Premiere’s marketing, and I, are thrilled with the setting up of Media Pro which will focus on film and television. It’s very exciting for Premiere to be involved with Michael, Jason and Sean and the experience and dynamic entrepreneurism that they bring to the business.” David Rogers - Premiere Picture

“We believe that one does not need to have hundreds of millions of pounds to build a strong, well integrated film and TV business. We have the experience and management to make successful commercial decisions which is essential, particularly now that funding to the industry is not so readily available. We believe that Stealth and Premiere with Media Pro have the ability to generate good returns for its investors.”                 Michael L Cowan Joint CEO – Stealth Media Group

“The Media Pro and Stealth Media Group joint venture is a natural progression for both companies, and makes the perfect addition to Stealth’s growth. This deal puts us in a very exciting position to harness great film and TV projects for international sales and allows Media Pro to realise strong commercial returns and opportunities for their investments.” Sean O’Kelly Joint CEO - Stealth Media Group

Related screenings:

Boat that Rocked premiere         Venice Film Festival