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FNB EDITORIAL: Forget The Oscars, The Future Might Just Be Slated February 13, 2012

We’ve been hearing a lot about Kickstarter lo, these past couple years, and have always found it an interesting diversion for smaller projects and flights of fancy. Not to diminish the site, it clearly does a lot of good for people, but it’s always struck us as a bit limited, with a defined ceiling for the size of the projects the site is designed to help. We thought there was room for something bigger, but we never actually got around to doing anything about it. Luckily, a couple guys named Stephan Paternot and Duncan Cork did, and the result is the terrific Slated.

The very purpose of the site is to match accredited investors with developing projects, allowing people to monitor the progress of casting and hiring, maintain buzz, it’s … it’s … intoxicating, really.

Seriously, creating a site where filmmakers, distributors, investors and sales agents can interact with each other and track projects in an online environment protected and vetted by the community’s own members? Genius. On top of that (and, truthfully, the best part for us, as we are noted snobs), it’s kind of an exclusive club. You have to be approved by two existing members to get in. Again, seriously. It’s like being a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, only without the bombast and boring ceremony.

All kidding aside, what took everyone so long? This site is exactly what the internet was made for, as far as the entertainment industry is concerned. It’s eHarmony, J-Date and Match all rolled into one, but instead of trying to score a mate, you can score a sweet deal for your project (or, on the other side, score a sweet project to deal. It really does work both ways!). Already signed up are reps of IM Global, WME, Participant Media, Weinstein Co, FilmDistrict, as well as high profile indie producers like Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Lesley Chilcott, MaryJane Skalski and Rene Bastian. Fairly elite company.

One of the reasons why we’ve never really investigated Kickstarter is because it always felt too small. Getting a few bucks apiece from a couple hundred people was great in theory, but didn’t necessarily serve the purposes of anything on which we might have been working. But this? Even Chairman and co-founder Paternot admits, “all our investors are accredited investors, about 50 percent of our investor community represent institutions, distributors and sales companies.” That’s some serious juice right there, and most definitely the kind aimed at bigger fish.

It’s amazing, really, that some of the best ideas are the ones you look at and say, “How come no one thought of this sooner?” This is one of those times. 

Slated, a next generation marketplace which aims to increase efficiency, transparency and capital flow for the independent film industry, just successfully completed a two month private beta period with its first customers, signing on some of today’s most prolific film producers such as Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte (The Kids Are All Right, Thirteen, Laurel Canyon), Lesley Chilcott (Waiting For Superman, An Inconvenient Truth), MaryJane Skalski (Win Win, The Visitor, The Station Agent) and Rene Bastian (Transamerica, A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints).

Chilcott said of Slated: “Every once in awhile an idea comes along that when you first hear about it, you find it hard to believe that it hasn't been done before, it just makes that much sense. Slated brings crowd funding to a new level.  By actively trying to connect established filmmakers with serious investors that would normally not meet one another, entire new financing models are going to emerge. When I joined Slated last month, I immediately received emails from individuals tracking my next documentary film, "Privacy.””

Kusama-Hinte said of Slated: "Slated is the most inspired innovation in independent film financing that I have seen in years.  It is clearly built upon a profound knowledge of finance, filmmaking, and social networking and provides investors and filmmakers the perfect marketplace in which to bring capital to film production.  It is more than a website or a company, it is the first shot of a coming independent film revolution!”

Already listed on the site, are notable new projects such as TRUST ME (William H Macy, Felicity Huffman), THE WAY, WAY BACK (Sam Rockwell, AnnaSophia Robb), THE MOURNING PORTRAIT (Melissa Leo, Wenthworth Miller), Sally Potter’s BOMB (Elle Fanning, Alessandro Nivola), Marina Zenovich’s ROMAN POLANSKI: ODD MAN OUT and Amy Redford’s PHOENIX (Liv Tyler, Benedict Cumberbatch).

Slated, which exclusively caters to seasoned filmmakers, and award-winning break-out directors, received over 2000 feature film submissions for the private beta, of which 30 were approved, and has signed on accredited investors, including some well known executive producers, production companies, sales companies and distributor, with a combined capital interest of over $100,000,000.

Conceptualized and built to facilitate exclusive access and interactivity between top filmmakers who are looking to introduce their film projects to sophisticated investors, Slated has begun to prove its ability to create a trusted community of industry veterans where producers and production companies can benefit from an exclusive and organized private investment network. Investors and distributors can find the films by tracking those they’re interested in uploaded from validated sources, and a vetted marketplace allows newer investors to begin building relationships with trusted industry leaders and filmmakers.

To maintain strict controls over the quality of the community Slated incorporates a “social proof” mechanism that requires any new applicant to be approved by two existing members they already know. This ensures that the community has a sense of control and responsibility for maintaining a high standard of quality.

Slated’s co-founder and Chairman Stephan Paternot said: “The acute economic downturn has resulted in a severe shortage of investment capital across all industry sectors, including film, making financing independent films increasingly challenging. To a limited extent online “crowd-funding” has begun filling the void for micro budget projects, using donations from fans, however, we decided from the get go to be an equity investment platform only, catering to established filmmakers and financiers looking to raise tens of millions for their films. As such all our investors are accredited investors, about 50% of our investor community represent institutions, distributors and sales companies.”

Slated’s co-founder and CEO Duncan Cork said: “Through Slated’s range of initiatives being developed in its first years of operations and in partnership with the industry, we know that we can strengthen the chances for high-end film material to be more efficiently financed and produced. Slated is about building a sustainable community of trusted film financiers and filmmakers by being the ideal blend of community, commerce and convenience. We supplement existing fundraising efforts by aggregating and educating a ‘new’ investor, and increase fundraising efficiencies through standardization and transparency. This will expand reach beyond what any individual is capable of doing by being on the phone, attending festivals and knocking on the same doors.”

Developed over the course of the last year, Slated has been privately financed by a number of notable technology investors including Barry Silbert, Founder and CEO of SecondMarket, Daniel Borel, Founder of Logitech, and by Stephan Paternot, General Partner of the Actarus Funds (and co-founder of theglobe.com).

Functions available for filmmakers and investors

• List projects for a growing network of high net worth investors interested in financing film.
• Facilitate introductions in order to raise capital from accredited investors, film funds and distributors.
• Maintain the buzz and promote momentum for a growing community of distributors, sales agents, talent agents and other industry professionals.
• Track members of the community to get alerts on cast and crew attachments and to be the first to know when they’re raising funds for their next films.
• Use a tagging system to get films in front of the right investors allowing investors to manage their own deal flow. 
• Update existing investors on your project's progress to demonstrate momentum and generate more interest from the investment community. 

Read The Hollywood Reporter's exclusive article.

As an addition to this fantastic piece by THR, I'd like to add that this would not have been possible without the collaboration of co-founders William Mapother, Gavan Gravesen and Stephan Paternot, or all the hard work and dedication of Jennifer Anderson, Mark Chackerian, Matt Semanyshyn, Susan Wrubel, Christin Roman and the guys at Type/Code. 

We will continue to strive to increase efficiency and capital in independent film. See you online.

Duncan Cork, CEO

Stephan Paternot discusses crowd-funding and crowd-investing with Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack"...Slated came up too. Click here to watch the interview.

Stephan Paternot, Slated's chairman was recently featured on CNBC speaking about his experience with a billion dollar IPO, online investment markets, and of course...Slated.