More from Flaherty MDNT article
43-year-old Rutgers University honors grad Jake Shapiro, president and head of corporate finance of Medient Studios, Inc. (MDNT: $0. 012), had just been introduced. Based in Effingham, Georgia, Medient is raising $700 million in construction financing to commence building a 1,560 acre mega Studioplex in Effingham, GA.
Phase 1 construction will start in the second quarter of 2014 and initial operations will begin in the fourth quarter.
Starting in year 2015 Medient plans to produce 8 films a year for the first three years besides developing film-related related video games. Then the team will ramp up to 12 per year. So Medient expects to produce 48 feature films over a period of five years.
When completed in 2019 the Studioplex will be the largest of its kind in the world. It will have 17 sound stages totaling 2.2 million square feet. It will include the world's largest sound stage, a back lot with 11 permanent sets, a 500,000 gallon water tank to shoot underwater sequences, offices, outdoor entertainment venues and onsite lodging and housing. Medient has a 20-year-lease on the property with an option to buy it for $100 at the end of the term.
Medient (the name is a combination of media and entertainment) is an entertainment content creation company with a strong presence in North America, Europe and India. Their global management team has 150 years of experience in the motion picture industry and is responsible for producing and or/financing over 250 movies. Medient is realigning the content creation process to enable efficiencies of scale and to eliminate process waste by building a fully integrated movie and electronic game production facility as part of its Studioplex.
"We're a film entertainment production company," Jake begins. "We believe that we are going to change the world. However, since we have limited time today, we thought we would try to entertain you first. Here is a brief video which explains our situation."
A deep voice that sounded like God or at least the Wizard of Oz made these thunderous pronouncements:
"Young man, remember these five commandments which you shall hold dear and never question or you shall never be one of us. Do you understand?
Thou shalt never question the ordained wisdom of agents, lawyers or unions.
Thou shalt never use a new story when you can recycle an old one.
Thou shalt not do for a dollar but find a way to do the same for seven.
Thou shalt never frighten investors with the real revenue projections.
Thou shalt confuse investors with accounting rules to never share a profit. And thou shalt never, never, never invest your own money in a film.
Young man, you now know everything about producing movies in Hollywood. Go rob some investors... err ... go get some movies financed and spread the wealth."
When the laughter died down, Jake began his regular presentation. Little known Medient is a 12-year -old company and has made 14 mostly foreign language films. Don't knock it. The number of production companies in the world that have made five films or more is probably less than 100.
Of the 14 films Medient produced 12 of them were profitable! Unfortunately the 13th was pirated. The last Yellow is an $18+ million film (Medient's biggest budget so far) directed by Nick Cassavetes, (The Notebook). Awarded 'Best Film' at the Catalina Film Festival last September, Yellow is an unsettling trip into a beautiful young substance abusing woman's disturbed mind. Starring Melanie Griffith and Sienna Miller the already completed film will come out later this year.
Yellow's previews are intriguing. "It's not only Cassavetes' best movie, but also a fascinating alternative to conventional melodrama... No matter how messy it gets, Yellow renders a troubled subjectivity with striking creativity."
"A cinematic trip of mind-bending proportions..." "Fascinating...emotional rawness hits a nerve. Destined for cult status..." "Yellow is wild inventive, and ultimately, dazzling in its visual and narrative breath..."
"With 12 films profitable out of the 14 produced so far, we may be the only film producer in the world with that high a percentage of money makers," says Jake. "The reason for our consistent profit is an obsessive focus on the bottom line and cost control.
"Our CEO and founder Manu Kumaran is a second generation film maker, who literally at age 12 was on the set doing payroll for his dad, the renowned Malayalam (southwest India) film director and producer K. P. Kumaran. 44-year-old Manu himself has produced 19 feature films in four languages. His "Bombay Boys" altered Indian cinema forever and brought it into the global mainstream. He also produced the first Indian film to be entirely produced outside of that country. Growing up in the film industry Manu became extremely frustrated with the amount of waste that takes place. Allow me to demonstrate."
Turning toward Bob Flaherty sitting in the first row of the audience, Jake asked, "Your name, Sir, is?"
"Bob," I answered. (Reader, remember from now on when you see Bob think your own name!)
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