Pressman Film will soon be sending its first payout to investors for Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, the debut film in a development slate the indie producer is partly financing through a fundraise on investment platform Republic.
The Neon film is currently in production in Japan.
The collaboration last fall helped jumpstart Republic’s film vertical that now includes Robert Rodriguez’s Austin-based Troublemaker Studios and horror maven Eli Roth.
Rodriguez is launching new Brass Knuckle Films with Republic, a network of retail-focused investment platforms known for providing access to new asset classes to its members, a community of nearly three million investors in over 150 countries.
Eli Roth (Hostel, Thanksgiving, Cabin Fever) is also raising funds on the platform for a new studio, The Horror Section. “As an investor, you’ll own shares of the company plus a piece of the profits from Eli Roth’s new films. This is your chance to build a horror empire, straight from the twisted mind of a genre legend,” reads the helmer’s Republic home page offering shares in the company plus 10% of net profits from films for five years. Perks include merchandise, special screenings, credits and cameo roles.
Rodriguez is giving every “fan-investor” the chance to submit one film idea. “All will be reviewed. Finalists will be selected to be selected to pitch live to Robert. One winner will get their idea developed as part of the slate.”
Skybound Entertainment (Walking Dead, Invincible), Bucket List Studios and Lil Pump have raised tens of millions of dollars on Republic. In those cases, the cash went into the parent companies, not a slate.
Pressman, founded by the late Edward Pressman and behind classics from Wall Street to American Psycho, had targeted $1.5 million but by the close had raised $2 million from around 300 investors, signaling strong public interest in alternative financing for independent film. Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo is the first project it launched post-campaign. Development costs including the screenplay were partially funded through the campaign and, as per Pressman’s agreement, it is starting to reimburse investors with a hefty 20% premium. Investors reap premiums at milestones including a portion of Pressman Film’s producing fee, and a piece of the company’s share of net profits if there are any.
“Any time that we make a movie from the slate and we make money, our investors will receive money as well,” Sam Pressman tells Deadline. “It’s like each project is its own development asset that can return money to the investor.” The initial payout is relatively quick. “That will go back to investors in the next quarterly disbursement. So they’ll see a return on their investment within six months” from when the fundraise closed.
Marc Iserlis, Head of Film at Republic, said the fintech firm’s “mission is to democratize and open up these venture investing opportunities for accredited and non-accredited investors and previously inaccessible asset classes like film.”
“Most ventures are equity into a company … The exciting thing there is you participate in a slate of movies in real time, and you don’t have to wait for an exit to get paid back … Pressman was the first revenue share slate and sort of kicked off what has now become Republic Film as a vertical.”
Iserlis said it seems”the entertainment vertical is really working and really showing demand on the platform. It’s proving that there is a good product market fit for this new asset class.”
Not that it’s a sure thing. Rodriquez, Roth and Pressman all have serious pedigree.
“The big advantage we had in the offering was our library,” said Sam Pressman. “For the investors, it allows them to participate in IP that’s already established … For us, the development money allows us to keep greater control of the IP and ownership position.”
Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, a co-production with the Japanese broadcasting company Nippon TV, is directed by cult Japanese auteur Takashi Miike, written by Daisuke Tengan (Audition, 13 Assassins), and stars Shun Oguri, Lily James, and Liv Morgan. Neon will distribute Stateside and sell the film internationally. It’s the third installment of the Bad Lieutenant franchise, originally created by Abel Ferrara and expanded by Werner Herzog.
Producers are Jeremy Thomas for Recorded Picture Company, Sam Pressman for Pressman Film, Naoaki Kitajima for Nippon TV and Misako Saka for OLM. Executive producers include Tom Quinn, Yuzo Kuwahara, Tetsu Fujimura, Paula Paizes, Alainée Kent, Peter Watson, Ivan Kelava, Max Loeb and Mike Apgar.
