October 13, 2022

Top 3 Film Tax Credit Lenders in the USA

Film crews and producers will go to great extents to get funding for their projects. Indeed, many filmmakers obtain funding through investments, loans, and even film tax credits. The use of debt finance and film tax credit financing to create a film is not inherently novel, although the procedures may look baffling at first. 

Typically, film finance happens through pre-sales. In which the film package is produced, and a sales agent is hired to acquire production funding.

Pre-sales are sought as a technique of raising the finances needed to create a film before the film is actually made. The producer will next apply for a bank loan or apply for film tax credits based on the film’s projected pre-sale value based on pre-sale contracts.

Hollywood’s major Film Tax Lenders

Here are some of the major film financers of Hollywood

City National Bank

The successful entertainment business of the Los Angeles bank provides finance, Film Tax Credits, and other financial services to the music, game console, and professional sports sectors, but it is arguably best recognized for its support of Hollywood blockbusters. 

Every year, the bank contributes to the financing of hundreds of television and film productions, including last year’s “Blue Jasmine,” a Woody Allen picture for which Cate Blanchett received an Oscar for Best Actress. Russell Goldsmith, the chairman and CEO of City National, is a former executive in the film and television industries.

The Bank of America

Perhaps no bank has had as much influence on Hollywood as Bank of America, which has aided in the financing of hundreds of films over the last century, including such masterpieces as “West Side Story,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” and “Gone with the Wind.” (One of the bank’s most prized treasures is a Cecil B. DeMille camera, which is on exhibit at its downtown Charlotte museum.) 

Bank of America has also been and continues to be a significant lender to film and television studios.

The Comerica Bank

The Dallas lender has an entertainment division in Century City, California, and film clientele in key production hubs across the country. According to its website and an IMDb article, the bank has helped finance blockbusters such as “Rules of Engagement,” “The Wedding Planner,” and, most recently, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part Two.” 

It also gave Bold Films, a film production and financing company whose credits include the newly released “Nightcrawler,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, a $35 million revolving credit line last year.

It’s a complex and convoluted procedure, but the use of debt financing and film tax credit financing is one of several ways filmmakers fund films ahead of the completion and the break-even point at which they make a profit.