TCF has syndicated fifteen films to date including such major features as Dan In Real Life (starring Steve Carell) and 27 Dresses (distributed by Fox 2000). Because of these past successes, and despite the current credit market conditions, TCF has secured a substantial unsecured revolving line of credit for the express purpose of financing film credits. Pairing up with Matthew Chausse (producer of The Countess, a Julie Delpy and William Hurt 2009 release), TCF has had representation at the Cannes Market and will be represented at the Toronto International Film Festival. Chausse has brought his extensive film knowledge and contacts to bear, generating great interest in TCF’s film tax credit business. While TCF’s current demand for film tax credit financing is unrivaled in the industry, TCF remains willing and able to discuss and meet your film tax credit financing needs in a timely fashion.
Prior to production, many films require additional funding to meet their production needs. Where a film qualifies under a state’s tax credit program, these credits can be pre-funded, providing the film with the money it needs to begin principal photography. Utilizing the production budget, TCF will work with the production to determine the potential credit amount to be awarded by the state upon completion of the film. The credit award and value may differ drastically based on the location of the film. Based upon both the state and local communities in which the production will be filmed, TCF will model the estimated pre-funding and issue a commitment letter for the funding of that production. While TCF does not always require that a production will be bonded with a completion guaranty, the issuance of a completion guaranty will directly impact at which point during production TCF will begin pre-funding the tax credit. TCF’s primary focus is with independent producers with budgets ranging from $1 million to $30 million. However, TCF will consider budgets that are not within this range.
Though states may continue to refine their tax credit policies, they are likely to continue to use them to compete for film production business for some time to come. TCF’s film tax credit business model is not bound by geographical location.