Mark Gill, Andrew Gunn, Guy Botham and Vincent Bruzzese have teamed to launch Solstice Studios, a Los Angeles-based theatrical producer and distributor that will focus on mid-budget movies for wide release.

The company opens its doors today with $400 million in capitalisation, including $150 million through Ingenious Media, and will be involved in fully financing, producing, developing, selling internationally and distributing feature films in the U.S. on a wide-release basis. The plan is for Solstice to produce 3-5 movies a year for a global audience in the $30 million – $80 million range, while acquiring another 2-4 titles a year.

For its productions, Solstice will target movies with global appeal, primarily in the action, thriller and action-comedy space. In the American acquisitions arena, the company will consider any film that merits a wide U.S. release including action, thriller, comedy, romantic comedy, science fiction and horror. Solstice Studios is expected to grow to 65 people in its first year with plans of also launching an in-house foreign sales division.

Between the co-founders they possess a $5 billion production track record. After exiting Millennium Films in January 2017 as president, Gill, the former production chief at Warner Bros Independent and Miramax whose credits includes award-winning hits Pulp Fiction and The English Patient, began putting a plan in place to build a studio over the course of 20 months and reached out to those with whom he had long-standing business relationships. Gill has known Bruzzese –a MarketCast vet, OTX president and former head of STX’s strategy and analytics– since his marketing days at Columbia Pictures, over the last 20 years. Bruzzese will serve as Solstice’s Marketing and Strategy Head.

Botham, who will serve as co-head of production with Gunn, is a leading VFX entrepreneur of 15 years. His credits include Wonder Woman, Avatar, The Social Network, Benjamin Button, Wolverine, The Avengers and The Revenant, and most recently he was the founder and owner of Vitality VFX. Gunn has a 20-year $1.2 billion track record as producer and production executive. He has produced such films as Freaky Friday, The Haunted Mansion and Race to Witch Mountain for Walt Disney Pictures and is a producer on its upcoming Cruella starring Emma Stone.

With such mid-budget features as Warner Bros’ Crazy Rich Asians and New Line’s The Nun excelling at the box office, it’s proof the fare works at the domestic and global box office and that’s where Solstice Studios comes in. “If the movies are good, people will go,” says Gill, who has also had success with mid-budget action fare such as Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen, which together minted close to $400M at the global box office. Over the past 12 years, the number of studios’ wide releases have dwindled by 26%, while the number of mini-major/independent releases have dropped by 42% over the past three years. Meanwhile, the international box office has jumped 72% over the last decade and domestic has hit banner levels north of $11 billion over the last three years. That’s an incredible disconnect between supply and demand, and it serves as perfect timing in the marketplace for Solstice.

“The demand is still there, but the supply has gone down,” says Gill of the bottleneck. “Our focus will be those wide-release films, which U.S. theaters want, Americans still go to see, and which drive international independent distributors’ slates,” he adds.

Ingenious, founded by Patrick McKenna in 1998, has facilitated funding for films including Avatar, Life of Pi and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Said Will Harrison, Managing Director of Ingenious Media: “We couldn’t be happier to be supporting Mark and his team of industry veterans in this enormously exciting production and distribution initiative. The independent feature film space has been increasingly underserved and producers everywhere will be delighted to find a new distribution buyer and production partner in the market. Ingenious has a proud track record of bringing together top creative talent and the very best commercial partners, a tradition which this new venture will help us continue.”

Christopher Milburn and Gareth West curated and brokered the Ingenious funding and will have an ongoing role in sourcing projects and co-financing opportunities at Solstice. The deal was negotiated by Gill and Botham for Solstice and Peter Touche, Ingenious Media’s head of film.

Neil Sacker and David Eisman of Skadden repped the company. Lindsay Conner, partner and Chair of the Media and Entertainment Group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and his partner Sarah Fergusson Chambless represented Solstice’s equity capital and P&A financier, a private U.S. family office. Anders Erdén, Director of Legal and Business Affairs acting for Ingenious.

Joining the four co-founders on the Solstice team include Physical Production Head Rene Besson (Driven, The Expendables); Head of Distribution Elliot Slutzky, most recently from Open Road; SVP and CTO Ed Churchward, formerly of Vitality VFX; SVP Strategy Miriam Brin, formerly of STX and OTX; and SVP Production & Development Beth Bruckner O’Brien, who was formerly with Millennium as VP Production where she worked on such movies as Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen, the Expendables franchise and Hitman’s Bodyguard.

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We were delighted to recently attend the annual Script to Screen conference in Toronto. Each year, host Winston Baker brings together hundreds of directors, producers and film industry experts to provide delegates with a step-by-step guide to the filmmaking process as well as discussing the various paths and avenues to film funding.

From the creative aspects involved in finding the perfect script, to packaging talent that appeals to producers, the Script to Screen summit shows budding filmmakers how to navigate the complexities of the film industry.

Ingenious Media investment director Andrea Scarso attended the event and appeared on a co-production discussion panel where he gave his knowledge and expertise of film finance.

Following the event, Andrea commented: “I was delighted to be given the opportunity to attend this summit, which is now in its tenth year. The film industry is a multi-faceted business; a hugely daunting prospect for anyone starting out, so I was thrilled to share my experience and understanding on one aspect of a hugely elaborate process.

Conferences like these can provide aspiring filmmakers and screenwriters with a unique opportunity to develop their knowledge of the film industry, and I believe they play a crucial role in helping artistic talent to realise their creative ambitions

Andrea Scarso

Managing Director at Ingenious

The taxpayer-funded Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) council have announced they are to fund nine new university-led creative clusters along with an associated Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) for the cultural and creative industries.

This commitment to a creative industries clusters programme forms part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy and specifically part of the ‘sector deal’ announced earlier this year.

We’re delighted with this news and welcome the commitment. We’re also pleased to make our own contribution to the pursuit of knowledge in the creative sector by part-funding Michael Franklin’s post-doctoral research on examining the understanding and management of risk in the film industry in collaboration with the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE) at Goldsmiths in the University of London.

Michael’s research enquires into the need for new digital-business models in the film industry: it is commercially focused but also academically rigorous. It serves as a model for the kind of industrially focused and commercially aware R&D work the new Policy and Evidence Centre should undertake on behalf of the sector.

At Venice, both Dragged Across Concrete, starring Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn, and Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate, starring Willem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh, are having their worldwide premieres. 

Meanwhile at Toronto, Hotel Mumbai, The Wedding Guest and Out of Blueare premiering, while Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy has been selected as the closing night film.

I am thrilled to see the quality of film being put forward by Ingenious at this year’s festivals and the critical acclaim that they have already received. Ingenious continues to be at the forefront of cutting edge independent film. These latest offerings, some of which may never have come to screen without independent finance, reinforce Ingenious’ unique place within the creative industries.

Will Harrison

Managing Director & Head of Media

The NFTS has been given the prestigious prize in recognition of the role it has played developing British creative talent for nearly 50 years. It is the first time an educational institution has been given the award.

In addition, our students did us proud by winning their fifth consecutive British Short Animation BAFTA with Poles Apart directed by Paloma Baeza and produced by Ser En Low.

Paloma Baeza and Ser En Low

If that wasn’t enough, Producing MA graduate, Emily Morgan along with the film’s director and writer, Rungano Nyoni won Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer for I Am Not A Witch. And NFTS Cinematography graduate, Roger Deakins clocked up his fourth BAFTA winning the Cinematography award for Blade Runner 2049.

Roger Deakins, NFTS Cinematography Graduate

NFTS Director Jon Wardle and Former NFTS Director Nik Powell collected the Oustanding British Contribution to Cinema BAFTA from award-winning actress Celia Imrie. Jon delivered a powerful speech describing how for almost five decades the NFTS “has been at the forefront of developing film, television and now games makers who are not only highly valued members of the industry widely in demand, but who also have the skills, talent and social conscious to lead it.” Jon paid tribute to NFTS founder Colin Young who wanted to develop a school that is dedicated to the idea that “filmmakers should be missionaries for a better way of life”. Continuing, Jon said: “Colin imbued in our students not only a sense of purpose but a spirit of confidence, of fearlessness, of risk taking. And those qualities have been central to our school’s ethos ever since.”

NFTS Director Jon Wardle and Former NFTS Director Nik Powell with Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema

“You can see those qualities in the work our students produce at the school and you can see it in the work of the 10 students and graduates nominated for BAFTAs tonight. From Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049, to Stuart Wilson for Star Wars and Dario Marianelli for Darkest Hour through to more recent graduates such as Emily Morgan and Paloma Baeza who competed and won in the Best Debut and Short film Categories. At the NFTS our goal is to ensure that the future Roger Deakins or Emily Morgan – wherever they may come from and whatever their means – have the opportunity and support to reach their full potential.

NFTS students celebrating the School’s BAFTA win

“But we can’t do that on our own. We are therefore hugely indebted to those who, year in and year out, continue to support the School including the DCMS, BFI, HEFCE, Creative Skillset, Channel 4, BBC, Sky, ITV, the Film Distributors Association and UK Cinema Association. As well as more than 80 annual scholarship donors, trusts and foundations. Thank you we couldn’t do it without you.”

British Short Animation BAFTA winning team of NFTS students
Rungano Nyoni – director & Emily Morgan, NFTS graduate & producer of I Am Not A Witch
Collecting their Oustanding Debut BAFTA

2018 was a record year for NFTS with ten individual BAFTA nominations for its alumni and 119 alumni credited across the nominated films. Nominations included:

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer

Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer) – Lady Macbeth (Fodhla was nominated with Writer, Alice Birch and Director, William Oldroyd)

Outstanding British Film

Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer) – Lady Macbeth (Fodhla was nominated with Writer, Alice Birch and Director, William Oldroyd)

Animated Film

Original Music

Dario Marianelli – Darkest Hour

Sound

Stuart Wilson – Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Stuart was nominated with Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Matthew Wood)

British Short Film

Mahdi Fleifel – A Drowning Man (Mahdi was nominated with Signe Byrge Sorensen and Patrick Campbell)

Aneil Karia – Work (Aneil was nominated with Scott O’Donnell)

NFTS Signs First Look Deal with Endemol Shine UK

The NFTS has signed a deal with Endemol Shine UK , one of the UK’s largest independent production companies, which grants a first look at graduation projects from the School’s Directing and Producing Television Entertainment MA.

102 NFTS Alumni Credits at 2018 Edinburgh Film Festival

This year, an incredible 102 NFTS students and graduates are credited across the feature films and short films selected for and in competition at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, which takes place from the 20th June until the 1st July. NFTS graduation animations; Inanimate directed by Lucia Bulgheroni and Facing It directed by Sam Gainsborough are to compete for the McLaren Award for Best New British Animation at the festival, which was won last year by NFTS graduation animation, Poles Apart, directed by Paloma Baeza.

NFTS Leads the Way in 2018 Student RTS Television Awards with 19 Nominations

Nominations have been announced for this year’s Royal Television Society (RTS) Student Television Awards and the NFTS leads the way in the postgraduate categories with an incredible 19 nominations overall. These include eight nominations for graduation programmes and films in the Animation; Comedy and Entertainment; Drama; and Factual categories plus two nominations in the Short Feature category for projects made by NFTS students as part of the annual Kodak Student Commercial Awards.

Ingenious-backed Calibre, the debut feature from UK writer-director Matt Palmer, has taken the top prize at the 72nd Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF, June 20-July 1).

The film, which received its world premiere at the festival and has a worldwide release on Netflix on June 28, received the Michael Powell award for best British feature film.

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Ingenious is rolling out a £100m TV-focused venture capital fund to help early-stage production businesses grow while maintaining their independence.

The investment firm’s Vision fund – which is overseen by ex-Field Day Chief Executive Debbie Manners together with Ingenious Investment Director Harry Eastwood – is intended to help fledgling indies access growth capital without tying themselves into restrictive deals with distributors or broadcasters.

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Under the new partnership, Ingenious will cover 50% of the equity investment required to fund each picture produced and financed by AGC as well as providing additional debt financing.

Part of AGC Capital, AGC Studios is a new content creation and global licensing studio recently launched by IM Global founder and former CEO Stuart Ford.

The fast growing AGC announced the hiring of Academy Award® winning film producer Greg Shapiro as its head of film in March. Ingenious Media has also made a string of senior appointments in recent months, including Will Harrison, previously Chief Commercial Officer for the Harry Potter Franchise Group at Warner Bros, as Managing Director and film finance veteran, Peter Touche, as Head of Film.

Peter Touche brokered the co-financing deal with AGC Studios COO Miguel Palos.

We are delighted to be supporting Stuart and his excellent team of veteran film industry professionals in bringing premium content to worldwide audiences.

Neil Forster

CEO at Ingenious

I have had a longstanding and very successful relationship with Ingenious in the past and so we are delighted to continue and indeed expand upon that via our new studio AGC as we look to build an industry leading premium film and TV content company.

Stuart Ford

AGC Studios

Filming of the new Ingenious-funded Judy Garland biopic Judy, starring Renee Zellweger, continued in London this week. Set in 1969, the film tells the story of Garland arriving in London to perform a sell-out run of shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. Judy will recount some of Garland’s final performances ahead of her eventual death in June of that year, and has been scripted by Pride and The Crown writers David Livingstone and Tom Edge.

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