FINANCE AND DISTRIBUTION: WHAT KIND OF FINANCING IS OUT THERE TODAY FOR THE INDIE FILMMAKER?
If you are an Indie filmmaker, the hardest part is getting the funding to make your film. This panel of experts will provide real-world solutions to your issues and illustrate methods that can be mastered to make your dream a reality. Q&A to follow.
PANEL 4: SUNDAY October 20th — 10:00am-12:00pm
VENUE: LLive – Regal Cinema, 1000 West Olympic BLVD., Los Angeles 90015 (3rd Fl-screening room) Auditorium 12.
Deborah Gilels (Moderator)
Deborah Gilel’s experience in the entertainment industry has run the gamut from film/television production and development to mergers and acquisitions in the international film market and public relations for film companies, writers, actors, authors, and directors. From 2000- 2014, she was a senior executive with the Japanese media company MediDesign Institute, acquiring television products for Japan TV and producing an entertainment talk show for Japan and South Korea. She has also worked with the JVC entertainment division as a development executive. Gilels has run a successful media consulting PR company for the past 14 years, assisting writers, filmmakers, and actors in launching their careers in the entertainment industry and promoting independent feature films and documentaries through public relations, marketing, distribution, and project development.
Among the films she has launched are Keiko: the Untold Story of the Star of Free Willy, Cevin Soling’s award-winning documentary The War on Kids on Pivot, the Chazz Palminteri- Andie MacDowell family dramMighty Fine for Lionsgate, the US premiere of the documentary Fallout and James Havens short film Court of Conscience starring his father Jon Voight and the
late Anton Yelchin. She did publicity for the anime series Lupin 3rd Part 4 on Adult Swim in May 2017, Lupin the 3rd Part 5, and Megalobox on Crunchyroll. She also was the lead publicist on the Fathom Events release of Hayao Miyazakis Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, where she set up the filmed interview with John Lasseter to promote the film. Gilels is currently launching the indie movie The World Without You starring RadhMitchell and James Tupper, Valerie McCaffreys acclaimed short Dirty Bomb, about the Jewish prisoners who sabotaged Hitlers V2 Bomb, and Hajji starring The Walking Deads Ross Marquand. She has successfully promoted films in festivals such as Dances WithFilms, LFemme, Starz, Toronto International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, New Filmmakers, St. Louis, and UN Film Festival. She has represented feature films and documentaries in markets such as AFM, Berlin, Cannes, and MIP-TV. She executive produced the award-winning documentaries Bearing the Torch: Politics & the Games for ESPN/Hearst Entertainment and The Gilligan Manifesto soon released by Gunpowder. Before that, as a development executive and producer, Gilel’s collaborators included actors Robert Duvall, JennMalone, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Rachel Leigh Cook; writers and directors A. Scott Berg, Michael Hirst, and Paul Verhoeven. Companies and producers include Warp Films, Disney, ESPN, Wind Dancer Films, Lionsgate, and New Line Cinema/TV.
She has also held executive positions at Fox, Warner Brothers TV, and PFG Entertainment. In that capacity, the films she has worked on as a development executive include Dont Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead, starring Christina Applegate and David Duchovny; crossing the Mob, starring Jason Bateman; Showdown in Little Tokyo, starring the late Brandon Lee and Cary- Hiroyuki Tagawa, Penthathlon starring Dolph Lundgren, Enemy of the State starring Will Smith, Cooler Climate starring Sally Field and Judy Davis, and Slight Case of Murder starring William H. Macy.
Cathy Jentis
Caythis is a thriving independent writer/producer who started filmmaking in her early forties while driving carpools in suburbia. She is a mother of two. Her stories are typically female-centric, character-driven, heightened reality comedies. She has written and produced features, short-form scripted series, and an award-winning stage play. Her last feature, which she also directed, “Bad Parents,” can be seen on HBO. She plans to be in production on her fourth feature this December. Cayth has an MFin Screenwriting from UCLand and a BS in TV/Film from Syracuse University. She began her career as a literary agent in New York. Caythwas recently profiled by the Writers Guild East and recognized as an age disrupter by AARP. She has appeared on many panels and podcasts, including the prestigious MConference for Women, and is a member of WGAE and NYWIFT.
Jeanette B. Milio
Jeanette B. Milio is a Producer / Executive Producer of motion pictures and television programming. Over twenty-five years of working across three continents, she has been involved in over 45 motion picture and television projects, with total production value exceeding $250 million, including Academy Award-winning talent in front and behind the camera.
Born and raised in Germany, Jeanettes B. Milios’s career started in 1989 with RTL Television prime time programming, producing German formats of The Price Is Right”, “Family Feud,” “And Jeopardy,” among others. For ARD Network, she made the fictional prime-time dramWildbach for five seasons.
In 1999, Jeanette immigrated to the United States and focused on theatrical motion picture production and financing. She produced the Fox / Constantin Film feature Timeshare starring NastassjKinski, Timothy Dalton, and Kevin Zegers. Her work with various German media funds led her to take over the management of Camden Equities, a media investment fund launched by the Far East National Bank in Los Angeles. The fund was invested in producing, acquiring, and distributing over 40 television and theatrical projects for HBO, Showtime, ABC, USNetwork, Disney, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Disney, and others.
Around 2010, she launched the media investment fund Magnet Media, which included around 60 equity investors. She financed and produced the thriller 13, starring Jason Statham, Academy Award-winning actor Mickey Rourke, Sam Riley, Ray Winston, Michael Shannon, and Curtis Jackson, ak50 Cent (distributor: Paramount Vantage); The Experiment, directed by Paul Scheuring, starring Academy Award ® winning actors Adrien Brody and Forrest Whitaker, as well as Cam Gigandet (US Distributor Sony Pictures); and Dark Tide, starring Academy Award ® winner Halle Berry, directed by John Stockwell (US distributor Lionsgate), among others.
Since 2014, Jeanette B. Milio has focused on television series production and financing. She managed the TV series and brand Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, which aired on the National Geographic Channel for ten seasons. She is the Executive Producer and Creator of the beauty competition series “Global Beauty Masters,” which aired on TLC. She further executive produced its spin-off series, The Look All Stars, which airs on the CW Channel. Jeanette I is currently developing a part-time series that will be in Europe in 2020. Innette recently financed and started production for two seasons of the one-hour reality TV series Dog Masters, which airs on Animal Planet in 2020. She is funding and producing a short film and related feature film, Comfort Zone, starring Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Jeffrey Scott Basham.
Jeanette B. Milio is a member of the Producers Council for The Producers Guild of America, an executive member of Women in Film, and a member of the Cannes Film Festival Producers Network. Furthermore, Jeanette B. Milio is an inspirational speaker for the Global Female Leaders Summit in Zurich and the Film Finance Forum Zurich co-founder. Jeanette B. Milio teaches film and television financing as part of UCLA’s online entertainment business management program. She recently published her first book on the subject entitled Entertainment Financing Today.
Jeanette B. Milio holds a bachelor’s degree in Business (University Cologne, Germany) and studied screenplay writing (USC, Los Angeles).
Jeanette B. Milio isis an expert and international speaker on subject matters including film & television production, financing, and distribution, from developing and packaging commercially viable motion picture & television content to successfully distributing them worldwide.
Jeanette B. Milio resides in California with her husband and their three children. She is a passionate yoga practitioner and holds a Yog Alliance teaching certificate.
IlyssGoodman
IlyssGoodman is a proven leader who has increased the corporate value of some of the largest entertainment brands in the world, including Disney, FOX, ABC Family Channel, Discovery Networks, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Netflix, and Amazon, among others. Ilyssdraws upon a unique dual perspective, having served as both senior management for studios, broadcasters, and distributors and performing as an independent sales agent and producer’s rep, brokering numerous global distribution deals on behalf of producers.
Having started her career in distribution for Miramax Films in NY, I moved to Los Angeles for a post at Universal Studios and eventually became Vice President of Filmed Entertainment for the international production and distribution company Bonneville Worldwide Entertainment (BWE). At BWE, Ilyss supervised the distribution of an extensive film and television library and marketing content for all media platforms throughout the world. Along the way, I developed an excellent eye for marketable entertainment content, forged strong industry relationships, and became an expert dealmaker.
In 2012, Ilyss contracted with RGH Entertainment to design and implement its distribution strategy, which included traditional distribution models while leveraging all new and emerging digital distribution channels to maximize content value fully. For RGH, Ilysshas sold branded content directly to more than 75 countries around the globe and has brought to the company lucrative distribution deals with Paramount Pictures, In-Demand, Netflix, and Warner Digital, among others.
Currently works as an independent sales agent, successfully licensing film and television properties for independent producers across the globe. Additionally, Ilyssis, the Warner Bros. CinderellStory film franchise producer, recently directed the teen films The Standoff on Amazon Prime and the recently released film Next Level. Along with running her distribution consulting group, Ilysshas produces and directs deals with major Hollywood production companies and independent financing entities.
NinN. Ameri
NinN. Ameri, Esq. para tuners at ONE LLP b, boutique entertainment and intellectual property law firm. Mrs. Ameri has vast experience in the field of entertainment law. She has handled production legal on many independent films and new media television projects. Mrs. Ameri also counsels individual producers, writers, and directors, negotiating and drafting their talent agreements on their behalf. Mrs. Ameri represents filmmakers who need assistance and counsel navigating independent films’ development, production, and distribution. In addition, Mrs. Ameri regularly represents clients in the following entertainment transactions: acquisition of intellectual property and life story rights, entity selection and entity formation, talent agreements, investor agreements, attachment and shopping agreements, and distribution agreements. During her free time, she enjoys binge-watching independent films and going to amusement parks with her husband, son, and daughter. She is a Los Angeles native and an avid networker.