Generally, there are few things considered more glamorous than moviemaking and Hollywood, and there are few things considered less glamorous than taxes.
However, Forest Road, a start-up that has already successfully raised over $300 million worth of capital and funded and brokered over 150 film and TV projects through state motion picture tax credits, believes filmmakers should look at how they can both be as alluring as each other.
With the thirst for content unquenched, the quest to find new ways to fund its creation as cost-effectively as possible is fiercer than ever.
Forest Road has adopted a new approach. Essentially, the company lends against tax credits. They’re a full-service provider in the independent film space, with one main goal and that’s to assist filmmakers to compete with major studio films.
The company’s board already boasts former Chief Operating Officer of The Walt Disney Company, Tom Staggs, producer Effie Brown, producer and director Jon Turteltaub, and producer Deborah Oppenheimer among others.
I caught up with Forest Road’s CEO, Zach Tarica, to discuss the model, where it works, where it doesn’t work, and what he considers to be the company’s Achilles heel. See more at Forbes.
