Film Finance Conference - simulcast at CMI

 

From Dr. Phil Lewis at NMSU's Creative Media Institute:

Hello People,

On February 25th, the International Institute for Film Finance will be holding its meeting in Albuquerque.  As founding members, CMI will be showing the proceedings in the Theatre FREE to CMI students.  The fee is $35 for NON CMI students.  

If you are serious about making films, then the information presented in this forum will be essential to your future.  Money, finding money and spending money carefully are major parts of making a film and this information will help.  The panel of experts will take your questions via chat and give you real answers.

The conference is held in the THX Theatre, Milton Hall from 7pm to 10pm on February 25th.

Please join us in what should be a dynamic, interactive conversation.

Cheers

Dr. Lewis

CMI Director

Hal "Corky" Kessler (program segment Turbulence Within the Entertainment Space: 10+ Hot Legal Issues to Watch)  has extensive entertainment law, corporate and worldwide entertainment industry experience.  Corky has successfully worked with governors and United States Congressmen in several states to implement new laws and federal tax incentives for investments in qualifying film and television projects, in addition to authoring a reference book covering such federal and state tax incentives.  Corky has assembled and built winning teams for more than 30 entertainment and other business ventures. He has developed, packaged and executive produced feature films, theatre projects and television projects, including "The Sum of Us," starring Russell Crowe, which won the Australian Academy Award for Best Film and most currently "Certifiably Jonathan" starring Jonathan Winters, Robin Williams, Howie Mandel, Rob Reiner, Jim Carrey, Sara Silverman, and others.  Corky has been the attorney on over 15 feature films and is actively working on over 12 more film projects.  He has also developed, produced and been the attorney for many theatrical plays.

Joseph Chianese (program segment Identifying Incentives: How to Take Advantage of Available Benefits)  is the Senior Vice President at Entertainment Partners, a leading provider of production management services in the entertainment industry. Joseph was the Senior Director of tax at Sony Pictures Entertainment for 6 years, where he was responsible for all tax matters related to domestic and international film & television production, financing, licensing and distribution. He initiated all domestic and international strategic tax planning, and managed 18 Tax Professionals in Los Angeles, New York, London, Germany, Singapore and Japan. Joseph has a long career providing domestic and international strategic tax planning and production structuring services for numerous companies. He has been a Senior Manger at The Walt Disney Company, American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Paramount Pictures, and Ernst & Young LLP. He is considered to be the top industry expert on state and worldwide film incentives.

Peter Touche (program segment Raising Equity: How to Get Your Project Off the Ground)  started his career in production finance working for the BBC and the Walt Disney Company. He was later appointed Finance Director of Grosvenor Park in the UK where he closed over $1bn of film and TV deals through various tax-driven financing structures. He went on to become Operations Director at Ingenious Media for 7 years, closing a further $2bn of film financing transactions including Kingdom of Heaven, The Golden Compass, Cold Mountain and Scoop. In 2008 he moved with his family from London to New Mexico where he set up Sandia Media LLC to facilitate financing for films shooting in the state, including advancing the NM tax rebate. He is currently executive producing Goats starring David Duchovny and Vera Farmiga. Sandia Media works closely with Sandia Productions to develop and finance commercial feature films. He holds a BA from Oxford University and qualified as a UK Chartered Accountant. Peter is also currently on the board of NMedia, a trade organization representing local businesses lobbying to retain the film incentives in the state of New Mexico.

Sam Levy (program segment Internet Marketing: Utilizing Current Technology)  heads the Film and Internet division at Rio Grande Insurance, handling major motion picture, multimedia production / office insurance, as well as commercial, packages, workers compensation, auto, home, life and health insurance. Sam is President of NET MAN, Inc. a full service website development and internet integration company in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors and current vice-chair of the New Mexico Internet Professionals Association (NMIPA). Sam has been a community college teacher and workshop presenter for a series of "Doing Business On The Internet" workshops. He regularly publishes Internet Business advice column in the NMIPA Internet Informer, distributed to over 10,000 New Mexico business owners and Chamber of Commerce members. He is an inaugural participant in the Santa Fe Future leadership, community investigation and annual white paper development program sponsored by SFEDI, SFCOC and SFCC. He also is Chairman of New Media Industries, Inc., a collaborative industry and community marketing, awareness, training and economic development group.

Todd Hein (program segment Entertainment Tax: Getting the Best Returns on Your Projects)  is a senior manager in the federal tax unit in the Los Angeles office of Crowe Horwath, LLP, a national public accounting firm based in South Bend, Indiana, with offices located throughout the United States. He has practiced in public accounting for over 20 years, specializing in income tax compliance and planning for entertainment industry clients and related service businesses. Todd received his undergraduate degree in Economics from UCLA. and earned a Master of Science in Taxation from Golden Gate University.