The New Orleans-based fund has invested in such indie movies as 'Elsa & Fred.'
by Gregg Kilday, The Hollywood Reporter
Sisung Film Finance, a member of the New Orleans-headquartered Sisung Group, is increasing its independent film investment capital budget by an additional $30 million, the company has announced.
Sisung Film Finance began actively investing in film productions in 2012 by providing tax credit-based financing to the State of Louisiana per-certified motion picture productions. Since that time, Sisung Film Finance has expanded the types of financing it offers indie productions to include the tax credit and grant-based programs of other states, minimum guarantees on domestic distribution agreements, and pre-sales on foreign sales agreements.
To date, it said, it has invested more than $5 million among ten films, including such titles as the horror movie Nothing Left to Fear, the comedy The Great Divide, the senior romance Elsa & Fred, starring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer, and the drug tale Killing Salazar.
Sisung Film Finance will include projects with budget classes ranging from $500,000 to $12,000,000.
Sisung Film Finance VP Project Development Paul Thomas Chastant III commented, “We are proud to expand Sisung Film Finance’s industry purview by building out both the size and the scope of financial services and liquidity that Sisung Film Finance is able to provide to the production community. Continuing to add to our network of producers, directors, distributors, and foreign sales agents over the course of the next few years, will enable Sisung Film Finance to include a number of additional projects, with budget classes ranging from $500,000 to $12,000,000, in its portfolio of collateral-based production loans.”