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By SHARON SWART
In one of the biggest
pic finance deals to be
assembled in recent years
without the presence of
a U.S. distrib, French
producer Philippe Rousselet
managed to cobble together
$50 million for his first
English-lingo project,
"Lord of War."
The road wasn't easy,
and even as cameras were
rolling on the first leg
of the shoot in Gotham
last month, deals were
yet to be finalized. "The
financing closed a week
after we started shooting,"
says Rousselet. "That's
how difficult it has been
to put this thing together."
Pic, now before cameras
in South Africa, stars
Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke,
Bridget Moynahan, Donald
Sutherland and Jared Leto.
It all started for "Lord
of War" a few years
back, when Rousselet's
old friend, CAA agent
Rick Hess, gave him Andrew
Niccol's original script.
"Basically it's the
story of the rise and
fall of a Ukrainian-born
gunrunner who lives in
the States -- 'Goodfellas'
in the world of arms dealing,"
says Rousselet. "It's
a brilliant script but
the studios all turned
it down.
"It was right before
the war in Iraq and the
content of the film made
the timing completely
wrong for studios. In
order to make this film,
we'd have to make it the
independent way."
That meant checking in
with different soft-money
and equity sources, and
banks and foreign sales
entities. Depending on
the combos at various
points along the way,
"Lord's" budget
stood at $15 million and
$30 million before today's
$50 million. "Our
first financing plan we
put together is night
and day with what we have
today," says the
producer.
At one juncture, "Lord"
was to tap U.K. tax fund
Movision, but when cast
and locations started
to add up, the swelling
budget precluded it from
working with the British
fund due to preset caps
under Section 48 laws.
The script, explains Rousselet,
calls for scenes in 12
to 13 different countries,
requiring a nine-day shoot
in New York, 10 weeks
in South Africa and one
week in the Czech Republic.
South Africa was chosen
for its infrastructure
and incentives.
"They're very well
equipped and have fantastic
crews, and we're applying
for the new South African
rebate that allows you
to get 15% back of all
your expenditures (in
the country)," says
the producer. But because
the incentives were only
available starting July
1, applying any of it
to the budget or financing
the credit with a local
bank proved tricky.
"We are still in discussions
with the Rand Merchant
Bank and another possible
investor. You also need
to spend the money first
(before cashing in on
the 15% rebate)."
"Lord of War"
did hang on to Movision's
sales company of choice,
Arclight. "They've
done quite a good job
selling it," says
Rousselet. Pic now has
distribution in every
territory except the U.S.
According to Rousselet,
the current financing
makeup combines foreign
sales, bank debt (via
Citibank West), and German
Tax Fund VIP3 (via L.A.-based
Ascendant Pictures). Rousselet
is gapping the remainder
with his money and other
equity.
"I didn't have a choice,"
Rousselet says about his
personal risk. "If
I had not put my money
on the table, there would
not be a film."
Copyright 2004, Reed Business
Information, a division
of Reed Elsevier Inc.
All rights reserved.
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