The Ingenious film production partnerships are legitimate businesses trading with a view to profit, an argument that was accepted by the First Tier Tribunal. We believe the Tribunal decision was nonetheless based on incorrect findings of law and fact, and we have successfully been granted the right to appeal the decision.
Once again, Ingenious is proud to sponsor the Inside Pictures programme. Inside Pictures is an intensive film business training and leadership development programme presented by the National Film and Television School. Supported by Creative Europe and Creative Skillset, the programme is for film industry executives from all disciplines and is designed to develop the skills needed to lead successful businesses.
Ingenious Media’s Investment Director, Andrea Scarso, took part in the 2017 programme.
Andrea is an Investment Director in the Media division and is the Fund Managing Director for the Greenlight Media EIS Service. Andrea supervises all investment activities in Greenlight while focusing on the commercial side of entertainment deals, which includes sourcing and evaluating projects, running commercial negotiations and managing all aspects of the production and exploitation of film and television projects.
What is the Inside Pictures training programme?
Inside Pictures is the National Film and Television School training programme for international media managers. The aim is to develop and enhance understanding of the global film business. The modules include highlighting the key financial considerations and controls which can determine success or failure, establishing your knowledge surrounding raising finance and understanding revenue flows and strengthening core leadership and management skills, including business planning and corporate strategy. The Inside Pictures programme also provides the opportunity to raise your profile in the industry and introduce you to an extensive range of industry contacts.
How long does the training programme take?
The programme is modular and takes place in London and in Los Angeles for a combined length of three weeks and two days throughout the year. You also have to work in your own time on a project (which takes approximately two/three weeks to be completed). Throughout the programme there are also many networking opportunities with working lunches, dinners and evening receptions. Three modules are here in London and one is in LA.
You currently work at Ingenious Media as an Investment Director. Can you tell us what you look for in a project? What type of project particularly excites you?
In my role at Ingenious, I focus on the commercial side of entertainment deals, which includes sourcing and evaluating projects, running commercial negotiations and managing all aspects of the production and exploitation of film and television projects. We look for projects that have the potential to become commercial successes and attract wide audiences, while keeping an eye on quality and the potential to win awards. We like to get involved at an early stage, that way we can use our expertise and experience to help get the project off the ground and ensure that we work with the best teams to realise the film. Alignment of interest with our partners is also essential for us. We like to see a good creative team behind a project, with a strong track record of delivering quality films but also commercial potential. We spend a good deal of time reviewing the script, budget and finance plan and we take time to find those projects where great stories become great films.
How has this enhanced your role at Ingenious?
The programme has enhanced my skills hugely. A sample of the benefits of the course I have taken back to my role at Ingenious are, a better understanding of the global film business and the key players within it, a privileged look at global sales and distribution opportunities and an insight into marketing strategies and audience analysis and perhaps most importantly an expanded network of key industry contacts across the globe, including greater access to the US marketplace, studios and agents.
Why would you recommend this course?
Inside Pictures is a fantastic programme that gives participants a unique insight into the global film business through its access to a wide range of industry experts. It also provides participants with an in depth analysis of the rapidly growing and changing international film business. It is definitely something that I would recommend to anyone that is interested in expanding their knowledge in the industry, sharpen their skills and enhance their development prospects. Inside Pictures is one of the only executive training programmes in the film business that could really add value to your career. The speakers, ambassadors, participants, alumni and the team running Inside Pictures are all top executives in the industry, therefore providing a network of unrivalled value.
You can read more about Inside Pictures here.
We are delighted to announce that Ingenious Real Estate has completed one of its largest deals to date. The team closed an £18.5 million development facility to construct 39 flats and 24,000sqft of office space in London’s thriving Southwark district.
Partnering with a highly skilled and experienced developer, the mixed use deal has a GDV in excess of £36m and represents one of Ingenious’ most exciting and interesting schemes thus far. The scheme includes a large amount of initially unlet commercial space and further demonstrates our ability to provide bespoke and flexible financing for high quality and diverse schemes in the UK market.
Ingenious Real Estate has provided over £250 million in UK residential and commercial loan facilities, firmly cementing the business as a leading investor in the UK property market.
The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is proud to announce it is the first ever film school to win a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. The NFTS is among twenty-one universities and colleges of further education who were announced as recipients of Queen’s Anniversary Prizes in the current – twelfth biennial – round of the scheme at an event hosted at St James’s Palace by The Royal Anniversary Trust today.
Judges commented that the NFTS was chosen to receive the prestigious award as they were “impressed by the reach and influence of the School in a hugely important sector.”
The Prizes are part of the honours system and are awarded every two years by The Queen on the Prime Minister’s advice.
Work recognised in this round is wide ranging and includes rail and aviation engineering, costume design, vision problems of children with Down’s syndrome, parent-infant sleep, climate change and environmental protection, women’s health, the English language, agricultural engineering and dairy productivity, cancer drug discovery and drug safety, film and television training, photonics, food and nutrition for health and education for learners with special needs.
The Prizes, unique in the honours system in being analogous to honours to individuals but granted to an institution as a whole (irrespective of the area of work recognised), will be presented in February 2018 by a member of the royal family at a ceremony to be held at Buckingham Palace. As a national honour the prize carries no cash value, consisting of a silver-gilt medallion and a Prize Certificate signed by HM The Queen.
For more information on The Royal Anniversary Trust see www.royalanniversarytrust.org.uk and for the NFTS, please visit www.nfts.co.uk.
Ingenious is pleased to have been involved in the production of The Frankenstein Chronicles: Series 2, which will air today, Wednesday 1 November 2017 on ITV Encore at 10pm.
Inspired by Mary Shelley’s novel, The Frankenstein Chronicles: Series 2 centres around war veteran Marlott, who in pursuit of a terrifying killer, finds himself in the grimiest, most chilling corners of Georgian London.
The new series stars, Sean Bean (Game of Thrones) once again, in the lead role of John Marlott, Richie Campbell (Waterloo Road) and Laurence Fox (Becoming Jane, Lewis).
The drama is produced by Pen and Raincloud Television, an investee company of Ingenious Broadcasting.
We are delighted to announce that the Ingenious Real Estate team has completed its two largest deals to date. The team has provided a £32 million bridging facility to part fund the acquisition of the former Honey Monster Factory in Southall for future development, and an £18 million facility to fund the acquisition and construction of a premier waterside site in Bristol.
Ingenious Real Estate has provided over £220 million in UK residential and commercial loan facilities, firmly cementing the business as a leading investor in the UK property market.
Acquisition of the Honey Monster Factory: Ingenious Real Estate has provided a bridging facility to a consortium led by Galliard Homes one of the UK’s largest residential developers, to assist with the purchase of the 16 acre West London site. Galliard will work closely with Ealing Council to design and to deliver the regeneration of the landmark site over the coming years.
The project is linked to the wider development of Southall, which is set to benefit from the opening of a new Crossrail station, bringing with it much reduced journey times to the West End and the City.
Development of Brandon Yard Bristol: The team has also provided an £18 million development facility to leading national developers Acorn Property, who will utilise the facility to fund the construction of a one-acre plot bordering the River Avon. The project will comprise 56 bespoke designed modern apartments and two townhouses and will incorporate listed features. Over 20% of units were reserved prior to construction commencing which can be attributed to the ongoing demand for attractive and affordable residential property in the area. The facility took only four weeks to complete from the issuance of heads of terms.
Commenting on the deals, Tom Brown, Head of Ingenious Real Estate, said: “The size of these facilities represents a significant milestone for the Ingenious team as we further realise and deliver our growth ambitions in UK property markets. The quality of these projects and the developers we have partnered with underline our credentials and reputation in the sector.”
We are delighted to announce that the Ingenious-backed Battle of the Sexes will be screened at the coveted American Express Gala during this year’s BFI London Film Festival.
Battle of the Sexes is the second film to be announced by the organisers of the Festival, which will mark its 61st anniversary this October. The comedy-drama will have its European premiere at the festival on October 7th at London’s Odeon Leicester Square Theatre, following its world premiere in Toronto in September.
Starring Oscar winner Emma Stone (La La Land) and Steve Carell (The 40 Year Old Virgin), the biopic recounts the legendary tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs and tells the story of the two tennis Grand Slammers during the 1973 challenge match which generated significant media attention and became the most watched television sports event of all time.
Stone, plus co-stars Andrea Riseborough (Nocturnal Animals) and Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), are expected to attend the London red-carpet premiere accompanied by Little Miss Sunshine directors, Valeria Faris and Jonathan Dayton and even tennis superstar, King.
Battle of the Sexes was produced by Manigot Productions Limited, an Ingenious Pathé Plus EIS Fund investee company in association with Cloud Eight Films’ Christian Colsons and Decibal Films’ Danny Boyle, the team behind Oscar winning films Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours and Steve Jobs.
We are pleased to announce the launch of a joint venture with Stellata Energy (‘Stellata’), the Australian solar energy developer, with the shared ambition of bolstering solar energy generation across Australia. The partnership commits to funding a pipeline of solar farms across the country, with a value in excess of AUD $200 million, including a flagship 120MW ground-mounted project.
The funding is timely as the Australian Government’s federal renewable energy target seeks to double the current capacity of large-scale renewable energy to 33,000 GWh by 2020; in-turn fuelling the potential for privately supported investment opportunities in this sector.
The team at Stellata is well placed to succeed in bringing large-scale solar energy to Western Australia, having successfully developed over 600MW of ground-mounted and rooftop solar across Europe. Through the partnership, Stellata’s resource and capacity will be boosted by Ingenious’ dedicated team of investment professionals, which has raised and deployed over £9 billion, including £500 million in renewables projects across the UK and Ireland.
Commenting on the venture, Troy Santen, Director, Stellata said: “As a West Australian company, we are very excited to be partnering with Ingenious in our quest to bring utility scale solar power to our state. Our collaboration will drive forward the development of solar PV projects, as well as the creation of jobs in local communities.”
Sebastian Speight, Managing Director, Ingenious Infrastructure agreed: “Ingenious has worked closely with the team at Stellata on previous ventures and their track record of delivering high quality solar projects is testament to their knowledge and expertise in this sector. Australia has huge potential to benefit from solar energy, due to its geographical positioning and high levels of irradiation, and we are confident that Stellata can fully capture the rewards this technology can offer.”
Ingenious is delighted to announce that the film Battle of the Sexes is due to hit U.S theatres on 22 September 2017, with an international release following thereafter. The comedy-drama, backed by the Ingenious Pathé Plus EIS Fund, chronicles the legendary tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.
Starring Oscar winner Emma Stone (La La Land) and Steve Carell (The 40 Year Old Virgin), the biopic tells the story of the two tennis Grand Slammers during the infamous 1973 challenge match in which King, a well-known woman’s rights activist, defeated a publically sexist Riggs. The match generated significant media attention and became the most watched televised sports event of all time.
Battle of the Sexes is directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, both of whom directed the highly acclaimed film Little Miss Sunshine.
Ingenious, the leading independent investor in the creative industries and backer of hit movies including Avatar and Life of Pi, is to appeal against the judgement of the First-tier Tax Tribunal in its long-running dispute with HMRC over the tax status of its historic film production partnerships which date back as far as 2002.
This follows a recent supplementary decision handed down by Judge Charles Hellier in which he clarified a technical point from his original August 2016 judgement. In this clarification, the judge ruled “with misgivings and reluctance” that the film production costs were capital costs and therefore not tax deductible.
This decision was deliberately mischaracterised in press reports as a failed bid by Ingenious to overturn the August 2016 Tribunal decision. In fact, this latest development was triggered after the Tribunal, having found in favour of the Ingenious partnerships on the Tribunal’s basis of assessment, instructed the parties to agree a common approach in applying the judgement.
Ingenious believes this further decision compounds the errors made by the First-tier Tax Tribunal which simply reinforces the need to take this matter to a higher court. The appeal to the Upper Tribunal is likely to be heard during 2018 and Ingenious are confident of victory.
