Bondit Media Capital + Stage 32 Launch Film Finance Master Class Series

For the last few months I have been proud to work with the CEO over at Bondit Media Capital, Matthew Helderman on a 4-part Film Finance Master Class, which we are now officially launching. Stage 32 and Bondit have partnered to develop a comprehensive series featuring top producers in the industry today including Matthew Helderman, CEO of Bondit Media Capital, Robert Ogden Barnum, Co-Founder of Fortitude International and e2b Capital, Jordan Yale Levin, President of Yale Productions and Elsa Ramo, Founding Partner of Ramo Law. The featured producers have been involved in over two hundred projects and will discuss the evolution of film financing today including everything from pre-sales, packaging, distribution, financing packages, case studies and more.   A special thank you goes out to Screen Daily for covering the launch! READ ABOUT IT HERE   You can find the Stage 32 & Bondit Film Finance Master Class here:  1 - Intro with Matthew Helderman, CEO Bondit Media Capital 2 - Part 1 with Robert Ogden Barnum, Co-Founder Fortitude International & e2b Capital 3 - Part 2 with Jordan Levine, President, Yale Productions 4 - Part 3 with Elsa Ramo, Founding Partner, Ramo Law (Ramo recently packaged Stage 32 members film    L-R (Matthew Helderman, Robert Ogden Barnum, Jordan Yale Levine, Elsa Ramo)    About Matthew Helderman – CEO, Bondit Media Capital Matthew Helderman founded Buffalo 8 Productions in 2012, as a feature film & commercial production company growing to deliver projects to clients such as Sony and Lionsgate. Under Helderman’s leadership, Buffalo 8 has built a full library of content – touting 4 premieres at the 2016 Sundance Festival – a roster of commercial directors, a talent management division and a full post-production facility. In 2013, Helderman co-founded BondIt Media Capital to solve the multitude of financing difficulties found in the entertainment & media business — by 2017 BondIt had participated in the financing over 200 feature film projects ranging from low budgets to studio level productions. Helderman graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy with a minor in English from Lake Forest College. Helderman has been a featured speaker at the Cannes, London, and Bahamas Film Festivals as well as guest speaker at the Chinese US Business Summit.   About Robert Ogden Barnum – President, Fortitude International, Co-Founder e2b Capital Recently recognized as one of Variety's "10 Producers to Watch", Robert Ogden Barnum is an Independent Spirit award-winning feature film producer whose most recent films include Miles Ahead, Don Cheadle's directorial debut about Miles Davis, starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor, Daughter Of God, starring Keanu Reeves, and Elvis & Nixon starring Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey. Other recent projects include Paul Bettany's directorial debut, Shelter, starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie, and Mike Binder's Black and White, starring Kevin Costner, both of which premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival. Barnum is partnered in e2b Capital, with former head of William Morris Independent, Cassian Elwes. e2b Capital represents a variety of financiers for films, actively helping them select investments and overseeing the production and delivery of the films. Additionally, he's a partner in Fortitude International, the foreign sales and finance company that was launched in early 2014 with partners Nadine de Barros and Daniel Wagner.   About Jordan Yale Levine – President, Yale Productions Named as one of Variety's 10 Producers to Watch in 2016, a member of the Producers Guild of America, and the President of Yale Productions, Jordan Yale Levine has made a strong name for himself in the entertainment industry. Jordan has garnered a substantial list of film credits, as well as currently having several projects in various stages of production and development. Jordan is responsible for the producing, financing and/or distribution of over twenty-five feature films. These films include the recently released IFC title, King Cobra, starring James Franco, Christian Slater, Garrett Clayton & Keegan Allen, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, and Jack Goes Home, released through eOne, starring Rory Culkin, Britt Robertson & Lin Shaye, which premiered at SXSW in 2016. Additional films include Petunia, starring Brittany Snow, Thora Birch, and Eddie Kaye Thomas; Addiction: A 60's Love Story, starring Ian Harding, Evanna Lynch, and Carol Kane; Black Limousine, starring David Arquette, Bijou Phillips and Vivica A. Fox; Wreckage, starring Aaron Paul, Scoot McNairy and Cameron Richardson; He's Way More Famous Than You, starring Michael Urie, Jesse Eisenberg, and Ben Stiller; and more.   About Elsa Ramo – Managing Partner, Ramo Law Elsa Ramo was recently named one of Variety’s “Hollywood New Leaders in Legal & Finance”. Elsa is an established entertainment attorney, representing producers, financiers, and production entities in film, television, and digital content. She graduated from University of San Diego School of Law in 2002, and began her career by establishing the Los Angeles office for Davis Dixon Kirby LLP (a royalty litigation firm). After several clients approached her to handle their independent productions, she founded her own firm on the Universal Studios backlot in 2005. Ramo Law PC is now located in Beverly Hills. Her law firm has seven full time attorneys, a packaging and sales executive, and a full staff who provides production, distribution and finance legal services in feature films, documentaries, scripted and unscripted television and digital content. Their television credits include series on Crackle, MTV, Netflix, Hulu, and Bravo. Some recent film credits include: Still Alice (Julianne Moore, 2015 Best Actress Oscar™ Winner), Fury (Brad Pitt), Stanford Prison Experiment (Billy Crudup) which won an award at Sundance this year, Stockholm, Pennsylvania (Saoirse Ronan), and Short Term 12 (Brie Larsen). She represents such producers as: Informant Media (Crazy Heart and Kidnapping Freddy Heineken with Anthony Hopkins), QED International (Fury with Brad Pitt), Scott Mednick (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 300), and Electric City Films (Little Birds and Mississippi Grind).   We are proud to have several Stage 32 member projects being packaged through Ramo Law including the soon to be released What Lies Ahead (starring Rumer Willis and Emmat Dumont) by Stage 32er William J. Viglione, which was found through a Stage 32 pitch session.    Like this blog post? Please share it on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email etc) by using social media buttons at the top of the blog. Or post to your personal blog and anywhere else you feel appropriate. Thank you. As always, we welcome thoughts and remarks on ANY of the content above in the Comments section below...  Read More

Success Story - Script Picked Up at Higher Purpose Entertainment

Since I've been with Stage 32, I’ve seen hundreds of writers land reads and requests or get signed by agents, managers and attorneys. All of these successes are causes for celebration, but few compare to the feeling we get connecting the perfect screenwriter to the right exec at the ideal time and seeing them sell or option their script! Stage 32 is thrilled to announce Stage 32 Happy Writer Lynne Logan from Orange County, California recently optioned her feature script, A Relative Unknown, to Higher Purpose Entertainment (HPE) after submitting her script to HPE Producer Brad Wilson for Premium Coverage!      Brad is a producer who started his career with Acadaemy Award winning actor Robert Duvall operating Robert Duvall Productions, covering films like Colors (starring Sean Penn), Days of Thunder (starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman), and the CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove. Brad went on to become the Vice President of Production at Greystone Films which produced films including Lunker Lake, Inside Outdoors before co-founding Higher Purpose Entertainment. With HPE he's produced a number of films including Three Blind Saints, Christmas on Salvation Street, My Many Sons, and The Meanest Man in Texas. He also most recently produced The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, which releases this year into 1,100 theaters across the country! Brad is partnered in HIGHER PURPOSE ENTERTAINMENT with Casey Bond. I was lucky enough to watch the process unfold as these two talented individual shared their experience with me. Now they’ve graciously offered to share their experience with the Stage 32 community. With their permission, I'm republishing our written exchanges to share their story in their own words...     Lynne Logan, Screenwriter Brad Wilson, Producer, Higher Purpose Entertainment _____ To: Allen From: Lynne Here's my story. After reading my script, A RELATIVE UNKNOWN through Stage 32 Coverage, producer Brad Wilson asked you to introduce the two of us. That same night, we talked on the phone for over an hour. Brad sent me an email afterward, ”You’ve made my day! It was such a blessing to visit with you. The hour did indeed pass fast! That gives us more to look forward to when we meet! I'm happy you could feel the passion I have for your script.” Next, he asked to set up an in-person meeting to get to know each other a little bit more. A week later, we met for lunch! _____ To: Allen From: Brad  This has been a "red letter day"! I drove down to Orange County and had a great lunch with Lynne Logan!! She is terrific and I think things went very well. I think we are going to proceed down the path to work together and get her film made. I LOVE working with you and meeting all of these amazing writers! Thanks again so much for sending me Lynne Logan's amazing script! _____ To: Allen From: Lynne  A week later, the Option Agreement came in. I talked with my script consultant and an entertainment attorney and we started the process this past Monday, and now on Friday, just four days later, I have an Option Agreement from Higher Purpose Entertainment for my script A RELATIVE UNKNOWN. _____ To: Allen From: Brad We've made our deal with Lynne Logan regarding A RELATIVE UNKNOWN! SO happy about it! She is SO talented and so wonderful. Had it not been for you thinking to introduce me to Lynne's writing none of this would be happening. Always ready to read scripts so keep em' coming! _____ To: Allen From: Lynne I'm still in awe as to how fast this is all happening. It's really a surreal experience. I hope my words speak for themselves. There is no feeling or validation like a producer wanting your script and having the kind of excitement and passion for it that this producer expressed. _____ With the deal signed, Lynne had a moment to reflect on the whole experience. I had the opportunity to ask her what was the best piece of advice she could give to all of the Stage 32 writers.   To: Allen From: Lynne Pay for coverage from a producer in your genre. When you pay for coverage, the person is reading your ENTIRE script and you have a captive audience. If your script is great and the story is the right fit for that producer, at least interest will be stirred. Make sure the producer has similar films as your script. I don't think it matters where you live. If a producer is interested in talking about your script, they will do it via email, phone, Skype or whatever means. So don't let location stop you! This never would have happened without Stage 32. Never. I can't thank all of you enough for opening doors and offering opportunities for writers to network and make contact with "the big guys".   Please join us in congratulating Lynne and Brad on their deal in the comments section below & please share!...    Read More