Hot on the heels of the $4-million financing for Toonz Animation?s `Wolverine? project, Standard Chartered Bank?s Hong Kong unit is thrashing out a king-size content-funding deal for the Kerala Technopark-based company. Toonz is on the verge of finalising about 10 animation projects costing about $200-million.
?It is possible that the entire slate of $200-million projects is considered for content-financing, after looking at each project on a case-to-case basis,? says Lee Beasley, head, media and entertainment, Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong. Beasley and team were in parleys with Toonz Animation top brass on Friday.
Some of the animation projects in the Toonz pipeline are `Brave?, `Mostly Ghostly?, `Santa Claus?, `Play Mobil?, `Build a bear workshop?, `Zafari?, `Recycle Gang, `Shapies?, and `Speed Racer?.
Beasley, known as Europe?s film-financing guru till he moved from London to Hong Kong, was cagey about the exact quantum of funding that the bank is considering. Cash-flows are likely to be spread across a period of one-and-a-half year.
?The funding could be 100%. But frankly, we are yet to finalise,? Beasley told FE.
Entertainment funding is usually spread over three categories.
One?funding against guaranteed pre-sales.
Two?gap-financing against full-cost revenue.
Three?equity-based partnership. Standard Chartered has its guns trained, with unabashed preference, on the more risk-free form, where pre-sales contracts are involved.
Although the bank has been active in financing active feature films throughout Asia, ?Wolverine and the X-Men? is its first financing deal in the area of animated content. ?Wolverine and the X-Men? is a 26-episode series based on the popular Marvel Comics Super Heroes ?X-Men?. This is expected to reach audiences in July.
The upcoming deal is probably an index of the growing confidence that Asian entertainment financiers now have on Indian animation industry, Toonz Animation, CEO, P Jayakumar said.