Secrecy around the plot of a film about the young Guy Fawkes has been blown in an appeal to raise cash to back the project.
Producers are trying to start raising funds with a bang through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS).
They hope to attract interest from investors with a sparkling performance by Kingdom of Heaven and Lord of The Rings star Orlando Bloom in the title role.
The movie will be shot in York – the birthplace of Fawkes – both in historic streets and buildings around the city and modern studios at York University.
The big budget production is seeking to finance the full feature film, but is first raising cash to get the project rolling.
SEIS appeal
The producers want to set the movie at the 18 to 25 year old audience as a dark adventure on the lines of Pirates of The Caribbean and Se7en.
“Not only is a film set in York a feel-good factor for the city, but having a big Hollywood star walk past popular tourist attractions like the Minster can draw thousands of visitors,” said a spokesman.
“Look how tourism to New Zealand picked up after The Lord of The Rings was filmed there.”
The production company has revealed a rich Middle East backer has pledged £8 million to the project, but the producers are offering a 20% stake in the movie for £150,000 put up by smaller backers via SEIS.
The minimum SEIS investment is £10,000.
SEIS and film investment
“The expected budget is around £20 million for Guy Fawkes, film’s working title. The initial investment through SEIS is an attractive opportunity for early investors,” said the spokesman.
The film has been on the drawing board for a year, with shooting scheduled for 2015 and release a year later.
In other SEIS news, Them & Us Films explains that funding a feature movie via SEIS or even the Enterprise Investment Scheme is just not viable.
“Feature films require a much bigger outlay to make a return on investment,” said a spokesman. “While SEIS and EIS are great for kick starting and getting product5ions into development, they can raise nowhere near enough to put a film out that does well at the box office.”
The firm criticised some companies that set a production budget ceiling at the EIS investment level of £5 million to attract tax breaks, alleging few quality productions can be made for that sort of cash.
No film producers are raising any EIS funds, due to the scandal of the film partnerships and general investment climate. Ridley Scott tried to raise £5m last April for his “RSP Films” EIS but that never got off the ground. So the cap of £5m is irrelevant. Take note from US producers. Insidious was made for $1m, international box office gross $97m. Sinister grossed $77m on a $3m budget.