Notable Movie Studio and Film Producer Client List
Typical Film Consulting Services
Film Advice and Seminars
Looking to gain valuable inside knowledge and expertise for a new career in the film business?
Looking for an independent perspective of the dos and don'ts on investing in film or media companies?
Learn how to avoid the perils of "Hollywood accounting", understand the jargon/terminology, Know how to decipher participation statements and how to evaluate deals and projects. We offer one-on-one advice and instruction on the essential areas of the film business.
Film Ultimates
Computer programers have a saying "Garbage In = Garbage Out". The same applies to film ultimates. Film Ultimates are the 10 year revenue and cost projections for a film project displayed in the standard studio format. We leverage our 20 year experience working at major studios to determine the best projections for each release window of you film, starting with theatrical release estimates, followed by home entertainment projections all the way through to television and international market predictions.
Film Slate Planning
When producing multiple films over time, factors such as cash planing and portfolio diversification become critical to ensure your company remains in business. We can help you adjust (or create) a business plan that is tailored so that you have enough financial liquidity year after year and meet your investor return requirements.
Borrowing Base Planning
Borrowing Base facilities and Senior Loan facilities will help you leverage your hard earned equity to the fullest, allowing you to make more films with the equity you have raised. We can help you set-up these advantageous financial structures for your film slate.
Distribution Agreements
The key to maximizing your film profits is negotiating a fair distribution deal. We can work with your legal team and help you navigate through the intricacies and Hollywood accounting practices of these often overly complicated agreements.
Talent Deals
Back-end film participations are standard in all distribution and production deals. They are unfortunately quite complex and require specific expertise to decipher, model and structure. We have the expertise to assist you in this area.
Investor Presentations
Raising money is a critical part of the film financing process for many companies. We have the capabilities to develop a comprehensive investor presentation from scratch and can even sit by your side during fund raising meetings and help you tackle the plethora of finance and business due diligence questions.
Finance Team Support
Is it budget time and are you under staffed or under pressure? We can help you during that crazy crunch time period so you can meet your deadlines. We have years of film and finance experience at major studios, mini-majors and production companies and can hit the ground running whether it be at the beginning of the budget/planning process or in the middle.
Other Services
There is not much we haven't work on regarding the business side of film, so please reach out to us with your inquiry.
About Us
Alex De Castro
Alex De Castro brings with him twenty years of filmed entertainment experience. He has held executive positions at The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Village Roadshow/Warner Bros. Studios in the areas of Finance, Strategic Planning, Marketing, Distribution and Film Acquisitions. Alex graduated from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and after successfully starting up a European software business, obtained an international MBA from INSEAD. He speaks four languages and is well travelled.
At Disney he assisted in planning the company’s distribution expansion into Latin America and oversaw all of Disney’s international finance divisions in terms of film revenue and releasing costs projections, forecasts, budgets, overhead, and cash flows.
During his 6+ years at Sony Entertainment, Alex was responsible for the division’s, quarterly forecasts, annual budgets, 5 year plans and for preparing official film ultimates. After his promotion, Alex was responsible for setting international release dates for all films and estimating their worldwide theatrical revenues.
Alex then joined Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP), the very first company created to co-finance a slate of pictures with a major studio. Alex had unique dual role responsibilities, he was VP of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution; and also did the financial green-lighting for all the new feature film projects. He was financially responsible for green-lighting 6 to 10 new films each year, with production costs ranging from $15 million to over $150 million.
He used statistical analysis to develop a rigorous new methodology for green-lighting potential film projects. This green-light process, that Alex put in place for analyzing film investments, proved to be extremely accurate and made Village Roadshow Pictures very profitable. More than 30 major motion pictures were green-lit and released under his direct supervision grossing over $4 billion in worldwide box office in merely four years. Notable films franchises such as The Matrix, Ocean’s Eleven, Training Day, Two Weeks Notice, Space Cowboys, Happy Feet, and Analyze This were co-produced and co-financed during this period.
As head of Marketing and Distribution, he was responsible for realizing his own initial green-light projections. He approved marketing strategies for outdoor billboards, radio, television and Internet advertising amounting to advertising expenses of over $2 billion to support film release strategies in over 50 countries. He also played a critical role in building all facets of the business, such as the re-negotiation of the co-production and co-financing agreement with Warner Bros. and the establishment of long-term strategic plans. During his tenure the company’s film funds went from $200 million to $1.3 billion and became the most successful and prolific co-financing company in Hollywood.
Thereafter, Alex was asked to return to Sony Pictures Entertainment to start a new division for the studio and spent 2 year building and creating the Worldwide Acquisitions Group. Alex developed a new model to analyze film investments for the studio, which proved extremely effective since practically all acquisitions were profitable. The new division soon became the most prolific acquirer of feature films in the market place. Over 200 film properties, ranging from blockbusters such as Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and The Spirit to smaller theatrical features such as Revolver and Half Nelson, to direct-to-video features and television shows such as The Tudors were financially analyzed, negotiated and approved by Alex. Within a year, this new division became Sony Picture Entertainment’s most profitable division in terms of ROI.
After Sony, Alex joined the then newly created CBS Films and was key in developing their initial 5 year plan and fine-tuning their budget, forecast and green-lighting processes. He also financially evaluated all the companies film acquisitions at the Sundance, Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals. Notable releases included Last Vegas and American Assassin.
Most recently, Alex and his partner, managed a co-financing film fund, which co-produced and co-financed 40 pictures with production budgets ranging from $25 million to $200 million. State of the art complex financial models using statistical methods were built to manage this $300 million film fund. In this capacity, Alex liaised with major studios, banks, senior lenders, and equity investors. Notable titles include Spiderman: Homecoming, Hotel Transylvania 2, Inferno, Passengers, The Magnificent 7, and the Resident Evil and Underworld franchises.
Alex’s unique combination of hands on experience in co-financing, marketing and distribution and film green-lighting have allowed him to consult for many renown production and co-financing companies including Legendary Pictures, Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment, and Participant Media, to name a few.