Investing in Movies

3Tax and other “Soft Money” Benefits and Limited Partnerships

Summary—The chapter discusses the strategies that the studios have used to supplement their investment in a slate and reduce their cost of capital—in particular, various tax shelters, and other incentive structures, employed in the United States, the UK, Canada and now in many U.S. states. Finally, the chapter focuses on limited partnership offerings, particularly Disney’s Silver Screen Partners and offers a critique of why the odds were stacked against the individual investors who participated in those offerings.

The satellite production companies linked to specific studios and the special purpose entities set up for the studio’s slate deals are not the only sources of outside production ...