Oasis Films Fund
CONFIDENTIAL
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IBN BATTUTA is a movie project that has been initiated by His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco. In 2009, we will simultaneously produce a Feature Film and a 4 hours made-for-TV Prestige mini-series focused on the travels and the open-mindedness to the others of IBN BATTUTA. Budgeted at 30 M USD, the film will be headed by internationally awarded director Pan Nalin. Saïd Taghmaoui will portray IBN BATTUTA and the rest of the characters will be played by a well-known international cast (see attached DVD and script, for the full cast). IBN BATTUTA is the first of the fifteen Pictures that will be financed through the new OASIS FILMS FUND. OASIS FILMS FUND is an 80 M USD fund which will concentrate in financing two categories of English-speaking, commercial movies: - some, “Hollywood style”, in the likes of Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, Fast & Furious, Ocean’s Eleven, … will be shot mostly in Arab countries, with a majority of American and European talents (actors, directors, …). These films will respect the Arab culture and will be exploited across the world. They will consist of comedies, heist and action-movies, love-stories, family genre, … partly set in North Africa and/or in the Middle East, like FRIENDS & MONEY, THE LOST GOSPEL and HARD DRIVE. - some, inspired by the pan-Arabic culture, will develop local stories with strong cross-over potential like IBN BATTUTA or ALI BABA. These movies will be a mix of The Message, Lawrence of Arabia, The Kite Runner … meeting some of the most successful American movies of the last years like Pirates of the Caribbean, Perfect Storm, The Mummy, … OASIS FILMS FUND intends to produce an average of four pictures per year, with budgets ranging between 10M USD and 60 M USD. These films will be characterized by an emphasis on high-quality content, commercial potential and the use of creative and technical talents with long-proven experience. OASIS FILMS FUND is a sustainable and profitable investment: its projected IRR ranges from 17% for the low-case scenario to 41% for our target-scenario. Raising 80 M USD will allow to create in the next 7 years over 400 M USD worth of movies productions & assets, through the mechanism of a revolving fund combined with other financial benefits: - a tax-break is proposed to the investors in addition to the profitability of the fund; - the evolution of the movie industry is un-correlated to the stock-market and other more conventional types of financial investments; - systematical use of third-party guarantees: banks, insurances, completion bonds and collection accounts; - a financially limited-risk investment due to the fact that : o
the fund will finance a slate of commercial international movies as opposed to one-off investments;
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financed movies will be selected through a rigorous process which will ensure that a renown international sales agent (selected within a short-list of preapproved companies) will consider that 150% of the amount invested in each movie will be covered with estimated future revenues of said movie;
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the fund will recoup its investment in first position right after the bank (if any), and in front of any other equity player in the film, from the world revenues excluding the revenues used to pre-finance the movie;
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revenues generated from Pan-Arabic exploitation of the movies produced by Oasis Films Fund is greater than for a standard American studio picture (negotiation of local pay-TV & theatrical output deals);
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the fund’s contribution to any movie will be the last-invested, cash-flowed only after a legally binding interparty agreement will guarantee that 100% of the rest of the funding is duly secured;
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the fund will leverage its Equity investment by maximizing the other sources of funding prior to greenlighting the films: potential other equity, pre-sales, local subsidies & tax-breaks, bank financing, …
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the fund’s management benefits from extensive fiscal experience and prudent investment strategy.
FORECAST PICTURES - SAS au capital de 50 000 € - RCS Paris B 450 865 266 – Code APE 921C Siège social : 40, rue de l’Echiquier, 75010 Paris – France - Tel : +33 1 48 01 10 18 / Fax : +33 1 48 24 41 95
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Oasis Films Fund
CONFIDENTIAL
OASIS FILMS FUND is also: - a tool for promoting Arab cinema and Arab culture throughout the World; -
- a chance to develop the Middle East film industry by bringing international productions to the region; - generating economic, marketing, communication-support and educational benefits to the Arab countries.
OASIS FILMS FUND will: -
leverage management’s long-term relationships within the entertainment industry to : o access the best distribution in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States, o access talented and internationally recognized actors, directors, writers and key-crews, to enhance the value of the feature films produced, o create a network of advisors with great experience & relationships throughout the world, o hire other well-known producers with proven expertise, on a work-for-hire basis;
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start right away with high-profile projects : first 4 feature films are already developed & ready-to-go;
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utilize management’s extensive experience in film financing to optimize financing of each movie on a tailormade basis and leverage the funds’ recoupement position, in order to enhance its profitability.
OASIS FILMS FUND environment: With the current expansion of new distribution platforms around the world, media content is in more demand than ever; consumer demand for entertainment is consistently growing and has proven to be insulated against economic downturns. Ongoing changes in the marketplace for big media companies (particularly U.S. Studios) will continue to force these companies to downsize their development, production and funding activities (as we have seen already at Disney, Warner Bros. and Paramount). The result of this ongoing downsizing is that the studios will shift focus more and more towards their distribution businesses and will look to nimble, independent companies such as OASIS FILMS FUND to develop and produce off their balance sheets. The loss of U.S. Studios’ independent divisions’ productions to independent film distributors around the world provides a unique opportunity for OASIS FILMS FUND to negotiate favorable deals in the U.S. and overseas. These independent divisions were operating within this category of commercial movies with budgets ranging from 10 M USD to 60 M USD , which is exactly the segment OASIS FILMS FUND has chosen. The Fund’s lean structure maximizes its ability to react and capitalize on changes in the economic models of the industry.
Movies the management has been responsible for, in last few years, include the following feature films:
FORECAST PICTURES - SAS au capital de 50 000 € - RCS Paris B 450 865 266 – Code APE 921C Siège social : 40, rue de l’Echiquier, 75010 Paris – France - Tel : +33 1 48 01 10 18 / Fax : +33 1 48 24 41 95
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