The Business of Film, 3rd Edition

Chapter 4 Movie Financing

DOI: 10.4324/9781003217480-4

Film is an expensive art form and the development, production, and distribution of commercial motion pictures requires significant amounts of capital. The major studios and large independent production companies, such as Lionsgate, can raise capital at the corporate level, through the public or private equity and debt markets, or by offering investors economic interests in a slate of films. The tech streaming companies—aggressive competitors to the studios, can utilize substantial cashflows from their subscription business model and other sources in the case of Netflix, Apple, and Amazon, with access to standard corporate finance such as equity or debt when necessary. With the Netflix announcement ...