Stealth Media Goes Pro with Premiere Picture £20M Equity Fund

Nov. 8, 2009 - PRLog -- International film financier, Premiere Picture, who have specialised in raising equity funds for the film business in the UK, £100M+ in the last few years, is pleased to announce their joint venture MEDIA PRO with the recently formed Stealth Media Group (SMG). Premiere has been involved in the financing of Meet The Jones starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny, The Ward directed by horror legend John Carpenter starring Amber Heard and Danielle Panabaker, Dreamer starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning, Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon, and most recently the £5M Stephen Woolley produced, Perrier’s  Bounty starring Cillian Murphy, Jim Broadbent and Brendan Gleeson, directed by Ian Fitzgibbon.

Stealth Media Group is an all rights UK Film Distributor and International Film and TV sales company. SMG was formed in November 2008 by Sean O’Kelly, founder of film distributor Go For It Entertainment, along with film producers Michael L Cowan and Jason Piette of Spice Factory, one of Europe’s most dynamic independent production companies involved in production and structured film financing.

Media Pro is an equity fund run by Premiere Picture for their investors. The fund will invest as equity in commercial projects in film and television production via Stealth Media Group. This will be in the form of Minimum Guarantees against world rights on a last in and first out basis. Media Pro also has the flexibility to invest either on a pari passu basis with a GAP lender or to come out after the GAP lender, with their equity minimum guarantee investment, subject to the commerciality of the projects.

Media Pro will also be able to put up completion money to projects via Stealth Media Group. With offices in the UK and LA, they can cover Europe and Hollywood, where Jason Piette heads SMG in the USA.

One of the first projects recently closed through the joint venture was Pimp, the latest British Indie picture starring Danny Dyer and Billy Boyd.

PIMP which is currently in post production, is a modern day dark thriller in the gritty vein of films like Rise of the Footsoldier, The Football Factory and The Business. The film follows a week in the life of a Soho pimp – a week that spirals brutally out of control…

Cast includes: Danny Dyer (The Football Factory, Adulthood, The Business, City Rats), Billy Boyd (Master and Commander, The Flying Scotsman, Lord of the Rings ), Martin Compston (Doomsday, Sweet Sixteen, Red Road ), Barbara Nedeljakova (Hostel, Hostel 2) and Robert Cavanah (Lara Croft 2, Wuthering Heights , Hanuman). Robert Cavanah directs the film which he co-wrote with Jon Kirby.

Danny Dyer has sold over 4 million DVD's to date in the UK alone. A strong Danny Dyer gangster film is a “must have” for all distributors as Danny’s films generate an average of 200,000 DVD's each.

Media Pro and Stealth will shortly be announcing further films that are in production at the American Film Market (AFM) in November.

“Kevin Williams, head of Premiere’s marketing, and I, are thrilled with the setting up of Media Pro which will focus on film and television. It’s very exciting for Premiere to be involved with Michael, Jason and Sean and the experience and dynamic entrepreneurism that they bring to the business” – David Rogers - Premiere Picture

“We have known David since the start of our adventures in the film business over 10 years ago. We believe that one does not need to have hundreds of millions of pounds to build a strong, well integrated film and TV business. We have the experience and management to make successful commercial decisions which is essential, particularly now that funding to the industry is not so readily available. We believe that Stealth and Premiere with Media Pro have the ability to generate good returns for its investors. We are very proud to be working with David and Kevin, and to building Media Pro and its investor base as we grow” – Michael L Cowan Joint CEO – Stealth Media Group

“The Media Pro and Stealth Media Group joint venture is a natural progression for both companies, and makes the perfect addition to Stealth’s growth. This deal puts us in a very exciting position to harness great film and TV projects for international sales and allows Media Pro to realise strong commercial returns and opportunities for their investments”- Sean O’Kelly Joint CEO - Stealth Media Group

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Stealth Media Group is an all rights UK film distibutor and international film and TV sales company, with offices in London, Brighton and LA.