Thursday, 09 September 2010

Post Production Finance

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Yours is the most uncertain business in the broadcast media world. Working out how to finance your post production equipment needs is a constant headache.

For some, never knowing when your next job will arrive makes it impossible to work out how to balance the clamour for essential new kit against the fact that you don’t know how much the next job will bring in – or how to spread the cost against all the unknowns.

Even if you are flooded with business, you have difficult decisions to make, not wanting to turn work away but without having the space needed to do it.

Or is your business undervalued, apparently not wanted – though you feel sure there is demand if only you could do things differently. Starting afresh – as an off-shoot start-up or through a management buy out – could be the answer but how can you invest in the equipment and space you need to get going?

Whatever your situation – from buying new pieces of kit to funding large refurbishments – we’ll take a creative approach, for example by rolling in all costs (including those that don’t at first sight seem to be part of a finance package … the electricians needed to do the work, for example) and adding some leeway (for the soft costs that are hard to disclose) so you can face your uncertain situation with some degree of confidence.

If you’d like to look from all angles at how your equipment needs could be financed, do get in touch.

Case Studies:

  • Increasing space to meet demand: A UK top 10 post house wanted to increase their space to meet an increased demand for their services. We arranged finance of £750,000 to cover a full refit and refurbishment of their new space plus new equipment in a deal spread over three years.
  • Start-up: Two experienced editors decided to set up their own business, having worked well together in another post house. We arranged £100,000 worth of finance so they could buy HD Nitrus and audio equipment in a finance deal spread over three years.
  • Management buy out: A west end post production house wanted to buy out the current owners. We arranged a £250,000 via a sale and lease back to finance the equity purchase plus an additional finance for £75,000 worth of new equipment.