Thursday, September 20, 2007

CFO with capital markets, investment banking,capital raising with institutional and high net worth clients, family office

Chief Financial Officer

*Structures and coordinates international film finance transactions utilizing various risk minimization and hedging strategies including private equity and debt placements, structured finance, tax credit monetization, studio-co finance, reverse mergers and/or IPO exits
*Must have 7-20 years of proven experience in international film finance, investment banking, capital markets at global financial institution.
*Must have proven hands on deal making in structuring large global private placements (100 million dollars +) from international institutional investors and extremely high net worth investors.

*Must have stand alone relationships with global institutional capital and family offices.


Please email your resume and interest to careers@noci.com

Private Equity Deal Shows How Innovative Film Fund Can Protect 100% Of Capital Invested By Hedge Funds, Alternative Investorr,Pension Funds

CITIGROUP financed Relativity Media’s global film fund in excess of $1 Billion dollars. The fund’s manager, Ryan Kavanaugh, is 32 years old and has raised more than $4 Billion dollars for film finance in the last few years from other institutions such as Merril Lynch and Deutche Bank. Thomas Tull, the founder of Jackson Hewitt Tax Services recently closed a $2.5 billion dollar deal with Dresdner Kleinwort and Columbus Nova Asset Management for his Legendary Pictures Film Fund. GE CAPITAL recently was the lead arranger for a $200 million film fund lead by production executives Mark Gill and Neil Sacker and whose investors also include Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim, Zeid Masri of SilverHaze Partners, Michael Singer, Mark Esses, David Larcher, Michael Goguen, Richard Landry, Michael Reilly, and Rafael Fogel. Numerous other private equity groups and hedge funds are also bankrolling other film deals.

While the dollar amounts are significant and the structures seem to be identical in leveraging junior equity with tranches of mezzanine and senior debt, there is one question that still remains? Who gets their money back if the deals and funds flop?

A Chicago film finance and production company, Noci Pictures Entertainment, may have answered the last question. “Everyone”, states the firm’s visionary President Yuri Rutman in regards to a $1 billion dollar film deal where 100% of principal capital can be guaranteed, exclusive of profits spread out among 40-100 films.

Without any formal Ivy league MBA degrees or tenures on Wall Street or in Hollywood studios, Mr. Rutman spent many sleepless nights self-educating himself the A-Z’s of what they don’t teach you in practice at business or film school. Leveraging the international structure of film finance with the nuts and bolts of private equity, collateralized debt obligations, tax credit incentive finance, hedging strategies, and multiple exit scenarios, Mr. Rutman, a filmmaker and actor who also spent more than a decade as a top commercial real estate consultant and entrepreneur in Chicago has come up with a formula that is attracting a lot of interest from institutional investors, hedge funds, capital markets, investment banks, high net worth investors, and other global private equity groups.

”I am not reinventing the wheel in trying to raise money to fund my passion and the aggressive interest of film finance by many global investors and financiers”, Rutman states. “I am just doing it in regards that in the last 30 years, a lot of private equity money has flowed into Hollywood, but only a nominal amount of it stayed and made any significant returns for Wall Street and Main Street alike. I just happen to want to stay for long term and what’s the point of betting on one horse if I can guarantee an entire breed”.

Rutman is no stranger to raising capital in an innovative fashion for film finance. A few years ago he met a VC investor on the Internet who read his business plan and wired him money a week later without ever meeting him. The result was a small, but very well received independent film, “Mr. Id”, which is currently one of the top downloaded films online at such sites as Brightcove.com and Vuze.com.

”I thought with “Mr. Id”, the investments would continue to roll in. But I realized I had to do go above and beyond what anyone has ever offered to investors and it took me years to figure out how to do it”.

Rutman further states that having a firm studio distribution deal for his fund would actually limit the upside of profits and revenues. While a lot of funds are structured in conjunction with a major studio, a few are being done without being married to a particular one. “Working in Chicago real estate and being a trained negotiator, what’s the point of using my skill set and everything I learned if I can’t apply that in Hollywood? I am used to shopping real estate deals on a property by property basis to the highest bidder, why not do the same thing with studios and other distributors and be in control of the situation?”

The key factor is that the major studios are in fact primarily now in the business of distributing externally financed films, so creating long term value for A-level films with A talent becomes an economy of scale as well as the creative merits and control of a movie.

Part of that control is that Rutman has written several of the scripts for the film fund himself. “Kiev Nites” is a crime epic about a boy who comes to Chicago in the early 1970’s and is growing up to be a violinist. Something goes wrong and he ends up being an enforcer for a crime family and after ten years he wants to get out. With the historical success of crime films at the box office ranging from “The Departed”, to “Goodfellas”, “Godfather”, and the tv show, “Sopranos”, the timing may be right for another international crime film hit. “My tastes run from wanting to do edgy crime dramas to thrillers ,action, horror, kids movies, etc., to doing a movie based on the real historical facts and spiritual significance of the Exodus and how it applies to all denominations and beliefs without taking sides” .

“I am in a unique category because one side I am no different that the creative filmmaker who stays up all night writing scripts and takes his final movie to Sundance or Cannes and sells it to a studio. On the other hand, I understand and am conscious of private equity and maximizing investor returns, can negotiate with the Hollywood werewolves, and still be able to sleep at night knowing that I utilized an ethical and conscious approach to making something happen and protecting someone’s money 100%”.

The Company is currently reviewing numerous proposals from various global partners including investment banks, hedge funds, private equity groups, and other investors.

Rutman is also becoming too familiar with "fishermen" who are more interested in his proprietary business model than in actually investing.

"There are so many individuals out there who claim they can structure the deal or provide a significant capital infusion, , but I think their hearts are in the wrong place. I want to make sure I partner up with someone where we are both of the same consciousness to succeed on a win-win basis. This is my life’s passion and I am not looking to do a fly-by night venture with someone who isn’t on the same frequency as me and wants to do a quick vanity fix and move on. A lot of the heart and soul has been taken out of movies lately and if I can resuscitate that with a financial partner who is also conscious of how positive entertainment can influence the world proactively, it will only increase the upside profit potential as well”.

Next Hot Alternative Investment For Accredited Investors, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Family Office Is Principal Protected Movie Fund

Accredited Investors, including institutional capital, high net worth investors, opportunity seekers in Dubai, Bahrain, Israel, oil and gas speculators, pension fund investment managers, capital markets executives, and private equity companies are eyeing a 100% principal protected film fund as the next hot alternative investment to pre-ipo companies, seed stage investments, series A investments, and other high growth and top performing hedge fund managers. Recently, CITIGROUP financed Relativity Media's global film fund in excess of $1 Billion dollars. The fund's manager, Ryan Kavanaugh, is 32 years old and has raised more than $4 Billion dollars for film finance in the last few years from other institutions such as Merril Lynch and Deutche Bank. Thomas Tull, the founder of Jackson Hewitt Tax Services recently closed a $2.5 billion dollar deal with Dresdner Kleinwort and Columbus NovaAsset Management for his Legendary Pictures Film Fund. GE CAPITAL recently was the lead arranger for a $200 million film fund lead by production executives Mark Gill and Neil Sacker and whose investors also include Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim, Zeid Masri of SilverHaze Partners, Michael Singer, Mark Esses, David Larcher, Michael Goguen, Richard Landry, Michael Reilly, and Rafael Fogel. Numerous other private equity groups and hedge funds are also bankrolling other film deals.While the dollar amounts are significant and the structures seem to be identical in leveraging junior equity with tranches of mezzanine and senior debt, there is one question that still remains? Who gets their money back if the deals and funds flop?A Chicago film finance and production company, Noci Pictures Entertainment, may have answered the last question. "Everyone", states the firm's visionary President Yuri Rutman in regards to a $1 billion dollar film deal where 100% of principal capital can be guaranteed, exclusive of profits spread out among 40-100 films.Without any formal Ivy league MBA degrees or tenures on Wall Street or in Hollywood studios, Mr. Rutman spent many sleepless nights self-educating himself on the A-Z's of what they don't teach you in practice at business or film school. Leveraging the international structure of film finance with the nuts and bolts of private equity, collateralized debt obligations, tax credit incentive finance, hedging strategies, and multiple exit scenarios, Mr. Rutman, a filmmaker and actor who also spent more than a decade as a top commercial real estate consultant and entrepreneur in Chicago has come up with a formula that is attracting a lot of interest from institutional investors,hedge funds, capital markets, investment banks, high net worth investors, and other global private equity groups."I am not reinventing the wheel in trying to raise money to fund my passion and the aggressive interest of film finance by many global investors and financiers", Rutman states. "I am just doing it in regards that in the last 30 years, a lot of private equity money has flowed into Hollywood, but only a nominal amount of it stayed and made any significant returns for Wall Street and Main Street alike. I just happen to want to stay for long term and what's the point of betting on one horse if I can guarantee an entire breed".Rutman is no stranger to raising capital in an innovative fashion for film finance. A few years ago he met a VC investor on the Internet who read his business plan and wired him money a week later without ever meeting him. The result was a small, but very well received independent film, "Mr. Id", which is currently one of the top downloaded films online at such sites as Brightcove.com and Vuze.com.Rutman further states that having a firm studio distribution deal for his fund would actually limit the upside of profits and revenues. While a lot of funds are structured in conjunction with a major studio, a few are being done without being married to a particular one. "Working in Chicago real estate and being a trained negotiator, what's the point of using my skill set and everything I learned if I can't apply that in Hollywood? I am used to shopping real estate deals on a property by property basis to the highest bidder, why not do the same thing with studios and other distributors and be in control of the situation?"The key factor is that the major studios are in fact primarily now in the business of distributing externally financed films, so creating long term value for A-level films with A talent becomes an economy of scale as well as the creative merits and control of a movie.Part of that control is that Rutman has written several of the scripts for the film fund himself. "Kiev Nites" is a crime epic about a boy who comes to Chicago in the early 1970's and is growing up to be a violinist. Something goes wrong and he ends up being an enforcer for a crime family and after ten years he wants to get out. With the historical success ofcrime films at the box office ranging from "The Departed", to "Goodfellas", "Godfather", and the tv show, "Sopranos", the timing may be right for another internationalcrime film hit. "My tastes run from wanting to do edgy crime dramas to thrillers ,action, horror, kids movies, etc., to doing a movie based on the real historical facts and spiritual significance of the Exodus and how it applies to all denominations and beliefs without taking sides" ."I am in a unique category because one side I am no different that the creative filmmaker who stays up all night writing scripts and takes his final movie to Sundance or Cannes and sells it to a studio. On the other hand, I understand and am conscious of private equity and maximizing investor returns, can negotiate with the Hollywood werewolves, and still be able to sleep at night knowing that I utilized an ethical and conscious approach to making something happen and protecting someone's money 100%".The Company is currently reviewing numerous proposals from various global partners including investment banks, hedge funds, private equity groups, and other investors."There are so many individuals out there who claim they can structure the deal or provide a significant capital infusion, , but I think their hearts are in the wrong place. I want to make sure I partner up with someone where we are both of the same consciousness to succeed on a win-win basis. This is my life's passion and I am not looking to do a fly-by night venture with someone who isn't on the same frequency as me and wants to do a quick vanity fix and move on. A lot of the heart and soul has been taken out of movies lately and if I can resuscitate that with a financial partner who is also conscious of how positive entertainment can influence the world proactively, it will only increase the upside profit potential as well".For further information please visit http://www.noci.com or email yuri@noci.com

Leveraging Tax Credit And Tax Shelter Strategies For High Net Worth Investors, Acccredited Investors, Hedge Funds, Private Equity, And Venture Capital

Leveraging Film Finance And Tax Incentive Investments For Corporate Purchasers And High Net Worth Investors.
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In order to attract film production and provide for economic development and incentives, many states and territories including Arizona, Rhode Island, Georgia, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Puerto Rico have enacted aggressive legislation that provides for tradable Film Production Tax Credits.

Tradable tax credits have historically been part of state and federal programs aimed primary for real estate development, including historic structures rehabilitation, energy, and other activities that stimulate economic growth.

With film projects, Production companies earn a transferable tax credit on the total eligible production costs, and wage expenses. That can translate to 20% – 30 % of the total production cost for a film, in the form of a tax credit issued directly to the production company. It can be used to offset state tax liability, or sold to another taxpayer.

In Illinois, a 20% tax credit based on "Illinois Production Spending" plus an additional 15% tax credit based on Illinois labor expenditures generated by the employment of residents of geographic areas of high poverty or high unemployment is available. New Jersey offers filmmakers a 20% tax credit for productions that film at least 60% in the state, as well as a 30% loan guarantee from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

In Connecticut, film makers can earn a tax credit worth 30% of their eligible Connecticut production costs, and in Massachusetts, productions with a minimum expenditure of $250,000 earn 20% and 25% for production expenses and labor expenses, respectively, when at least 50% is shot within the Commonwealth. Note: in MA, pending regulations propose a flat 25% combined tax credit, a minimum spend of $50,000, and removal of per-project cap.

In CT., the 4 new bills are being debated in the legislature, and the expected result in June will be a combination bill. Rhode Island offers a 25% tax credit to productions with a minimum eligible expenditure of $350,000, when 51% of the total budget is spent within the State. For more information about qualifying for each states’ tax credit, contact Tax Credits, LLC.In Puerto Rico, A tax credit is granted to the investors in a Film Project equivalent to 40% of budget items paid to Puerto Rico residents, up to 50% of the cash invested as equity in the project. 50% of the tax credit granted to the investor may be made available to the investor upon investment if a completion bond or a letter of credit is obtained, including the Puerto Rico Secretary of the Treasury as one of the beneficiaries.

Tradable tax credits allow production companies earning credits to sell their credits to companies and/or high net worth investors who have a tax liability within the state, where the credit was earned. The tax credits are sold at a discount for cash, garnering the seller cash to lower their net production expense.

Any company may take advantage of these “Financial Assistance Programs” to reduce their state tax liability. Purchased credits can typically be used for any year in which a tax return has not been filed. In general, credits may be used to offset any, or all, of the following: Individual Income Tax, Corporate Business Tax, Franchise Tax, Premium Tax, and Utility Tax (qualified taxes allowed for offset vary by State).

Large corporations and high net worth investors with a significant state tax liability can benefit from the purchase of film production tax credits, as they are able to purchase a dollar’s worth of tax credit at a discount.

NJ, RI, CT and MA film credits provide the buyer with the right to carry the tax credits forward for at least 3 years, which protects the buyer from investing significant dollars in tax credits that they cannot immediately use. In Illinois, tax credits can be carried forward for 5 years. The tradable, and thus marketable aspect of these state-issued tax credits means that tax credit investors can also retain an equity position in a film or a slate of films.

For example, lets say that a tax credit investor has $3,000,000 in tax credits he needs to purchase. While normally the final tax credit amount is calculated after a film's production, he decides to benefit from the upside in potential profits and receive his tax credits.

So if a film has a budget of $6,000,000, 50% of the budget is equity ($3,000,000) and 25% is tax credits, an investor/tax credit buyer will receive benefits of $1,500,000 and 50% equity in the total international film profits and revenues.

But what happens to the other $1,500,000 he still needs to receive as tax credits?

Well if his or a company's film investment was part of a film package, that amount is rolled over to another film that can be shot in a state or province where there may actually be a higher tax credit incentive which would be transferable back to him and any other investors on a pari pasu basis. For multinational firms and investors, this can also be leveraged and cross-collateralized to a multiple country and territory transaction where there is a significant tax credit incentives such as Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Spain, Hungary, UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and others.

Another option would be to leverage the initial tax credit investment with a direct equity co-investment and set up several additional tranches of debt for a larger film fund.

To find out how a tax credit investment can also turn into a film investment that would hedge the risk and revenues across multiple films, please visit us at http://www.yurirutman.com or http://www.noci.com