TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
OVERVIEW 3
PRODUCT 4
PROJECT AT A GLANCE 4
STORYLINE 4-6
ATTRIBUTES SUPPORTING SUCCESS 6
DOMESTIC INDUSTRY OVERVIEW 7-8
FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS 9-12
FUNDING BASIS 12
COMPANY INFORMATION 13-14
PRODUCTION TEAM 14-19
CASTING 20-22
PRODUCTION PLAN 22-23
DISTRIBUTION PLAN 23-26
RISK ANALYSIS 26-27
CONCLUSION 27
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Keller Edde Entertainment has secured the rights to an extraordinary screenplay entitled THE WOODPECKER WALTZ which it intends to produce as an independent theatrical motion picture. The budget for the motion picture is $12,000,000 (Twelve Million U.S. Dollars).
Keller Edde Entertainment is confident that the quality and subject matter of the screenplay will attract high caliber talent both for the director and the actors for the motion picture. Keller Edde Entertainment will work with the most prestigious agencies in Hollywood to ensure that the production is filled with top notch talented actors and below the line crew members.
Once the director and principal cast have been selected and their contracts have been concluded, Keller Edde Entertainment shall seek domestic distribution for the motion picture with a major Hollywood studio. Keller Edde Entertainment intends to initially launch the marketing of the film in the U.S. as traditionally the U.S. Marketplace constitutes the core market for American dramatic independent motion pictures.
Concurrently, Keller Edde Entertainment shall expose the motion picture to the international community and negotiate international presales based on the screenplay, director and cast set for the motion picture. After production is completed, Keller Edde Entertainment will market The WOODPECKER WALTZ to be entered and screened at film festivals throughout the world to generate positive reception and enthusiasm for the motion picture.
OVERVIEW
The entertainment and media industry continues to expand year after year. The 2009 U.S. box office reflected the continuing popularity of movie going with record box office receipts in 2009 of $10,495 billion, representing a 10% increase compared to 2008, according to Box Office Mojo. The U.S. total receipts of the Top 10 movies of 2009 is over $7.1 billion compared to 2008’s $6.38 billion. 2010 is trending to be another successful year in terms of box office receipts earned with Toy Story 3, Inception, Iron Man 2, Despicable Me, and The Twilight Saga; Eclipse whose U.S. box office gross receipts for each movie is greater than $100 million.
American movies continue to dominate the worldwide theatrical marketplace and are the highest grossing movies in the world. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) reports that worldwide box office receipts reached an all time high of $29.9 billion in 2009.
Over the years original dramas based on true stories such as The Blind Side, Invictus, A Beautiful Mind, Rain Man, The Soloist and I am Sam have captured the hearts of moviegoers worldwide.
PRODUCT
The primary objective for us is to bring to life the story of Joe Arridy. We plan on offering a motion picture that will cater to moviegoers that seek dramatic true story films. The financial objective for the motion picture is to obtain a Worldwide Box Office of $62 million, resulting in net profits of $28 million over the life of the film.
PROJECT AT A GLANCE
Keller Edde Entertainment has secured the rights to a book entitled “Deadly Innocence?” written by Robert Persky and the screenplay adaptation entitled, The Woodpecker Waltz, written by Daniel Leonetti. The Woodpecker Waltz is based on a true story that takes place in Colorado in 1936 and it will be made into a dramatic motion picture to be produced, directed and starring talented American filmmakers. The logline for the motion picture is: “Joe has the mind of a 5 year old and a seat on death row.”
The Woodpecker Waltz will be distributed to worldwide audiences in all forms of entertainment media including, but not limited to, theatrical, free and cable television, Home Video and DVD, and digital distribution.
STORY LINE
The Woodpecker Waltz is a mainstream drama with a big heart.
It is said that a great movie always originates from a screenplay which hooks the reader instantly and keeps his interest to such a degree that he cannot put it down until completed. The Woodpecker Waltz is not only a screenplay that meets this criteria but it is also a screenplay that hauntingly stays with the reader.
The Woodpecker Waltz is the real life story of Joe Arridy, a mentally challenged 22 year old Syrian young man, who was wrongfully convicted for participating in the brutal murder and rape of a 15 year old girl and the attack on her 12 year old sister in Colorado circa 1930. It is also the story of the valiant struggle of his lawyer, Gail Ireland, to save Joe from execution in the gas chamber and the warden who treated Joe with kindness.
Joe's only real crime was the fact that he was mentally challenged with the mind of a 5 year old and unable to communicate clearly. Joe was in a different city at the time of the commission of the crimes. Joe ran away from the home for the "mentally defective" that the State of Colorado had placed him in because the other boys were beating him up. While he was wandering around trying to find his parents home, he was arrested. A frightened Joe was accused and easily lured into confessing to being an accomplice in the crimes with the real killer Frank Aguilar. A trial ensued and Joe was found guilty and sentenced to the gas chamber. Frank, tried separately, also was sentenced to death. Joe's father did not understand why they always took Joe away from him. First the state said he was insane so they could put him in a home for mental defects and now they said he was sane so they could put him in prison.
Joe was taken to prison and arrived on death row where Warden Roy Best, a guard Roy Montgomery and all the death row inmates grew fond of him. Warden Best gave Joe a toy train which Joe sent speeding down the death row corridor and it was returned to Joe by all the real murderers whose lives were forever touched by Joe's innocence.
Frank Aguilar was executed while Joe's appeals were taking place. The priest when he gave Frank his last rites asked him if Joe was involved in the murders: Frank says: "No, Padre, Joe wasn't with me. I don't need a dull witted boy as a sidekick." And then Frank winked at the priest. Frank's response forever haunted the priest.
While Gail Ireland took a final appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court to get a new trial for Joe, Joe had found a home on death row. Warden Best took him home for Christmas dinner to play with his 7 year-old nephew. Gail by a vote of 4 to 3 was denied a new trial for Joe. Gail made a last attempt with the Governor for clemency to get Joe's sentence commuted from death to life in prison. The Governor refused to see Gail and Gail broke down outside the Governor's mansion.
Joe's scheduled execution could no longer be delayed. Heartbroken, Warden Best, the guard Roy, the priest and the hardened criminals watched as Joe took the "woodpecker waltz" walk to the gas chamber. It took many minutes for Joe to die in the gas chamber. An innocent child was murdered that day in Colorado and many will never forget Joe's innocence.
Today, in 2010, Colorado Governor, Bill Ritter, Jr. will soon consider a posthumous pardon for Joe Arridy brought to light by a ground swell of lawyers and human rights activists throughout America.
The Woodpecker Waltz is a story whose time has come to be told and will surely captivate and move audiences all over the world. The Woodpecker Waltz is destined to become a classic motion picture. It will touch millions of people throughout the world with its message of tolerance. It will also honor the life and untimely, unjust death of young Joe Arridy.
ATTRIBUTES SUPPORTING SUCCESS
Dramatic motion pictures are a proven genre, with a consistent track record of commercial success. The Woodpecker Waltz, in addition to being a powerful dramatic screenplay, has the following attributes:
- The Woodpecker Waltz is based on a true story. Motion pictures based on true stories such as “The Blind Side” and “A Beautiful Mind” continue to intrigue worldwide movie audiences. Traditionally, these motion pictures enjoy robust financial returns, providing exciting opportunities to participating investors.
- The screenplay’s protaganist, Joe Arridy, is a mentally challenged young man. Motion pictures that highlight individuals with mental disabilities such as “The Soloist”, “I am Sam” and “Rain Man” have generated tremendous levels of audience success.
- The screenplay’s primary subject matter is a dealth penalty conviction. The death penalty is a timely and controversial subject matter worldwide. Accordingly, the subject matter of our motion picture will attract a worldwide audience that is both for and against the death penalty. Additionally, motion pictures such as “Dead Man Walking” garner great critical acclaim for bringing death penalty cases to public awareness.
DOMESTIC INDUSTRY OVERVIEW:
The following charts demonstrate the growth in domestic box office from $2.7B in 1980 to $10.9B in 2009. We are on track for 2010 to achieve total gross box office greater than $11B.
COMPARABLE FILMS
FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS:
We are confident that the Woodpecker Waltz will become a Box Office hit for moviegoers. We believe that this film will appeal to the mass audience. We ran 3 financial scenarios (low, base and high) over a five-year period. The net profits for the launch year range from $7.5MM to $28.3MM, with margins of 13.8% to 20.8%.
ASSUMPTIONS
(1) Revenues
a. Domestic Box Office – analyzed the Domestic box office of recent feature films with similar genre -including mentally challenged main characters.
i. Low – Assumes 40% decrease from the base scenario.
ii. Base – Assumed the Woodpecker Waltz would perform slightly below The Soloist (2009) & I am Sam (2002). We averaged The Soloist ($40.3MM) with I am Sam ($31.7MM) and reduced the average by 30%. For reasonableness, we compared our projected box office with some true story dramas released in 2008 & 2009. Our box office forecast is approximately 25-30% below from these movies (Changeling, Defiance, Green Zone, & Invictus at $35.7MM, $28.6MM, $35.0MM & $37.5MM, respectively).
iii. High – Based on Precious (2009) at $47.5MM, we slightly increased our high scenario to $50M.
b. International Box Office – analyzed the International box office of recent feature films with similar genre –including mentally challenged main characters.
i. Low – 75% decrease from the Domestic box office.
ii. Base – Assumed the Woodpecker Waltz would perform slightly below The Soloist (2009) and I am Sam. We averaged The Soloist ($6.4MM) with I am Sam ($8.2MM) and reduced by 15%. For reasonableness, we compared our projected box office with some true story dramas released in 2008 & 2009.
iii. High – 75% decrease off Domestic box office. Compared to Precious (2009) at $15.3MM – our forecast of $12.5MM is equivalent to an 18% decay off Precious.
c. Domestic Home Video – analyzed average initial ships of similar recent feature films. Assumes both Blue-Ray (BD) & Standard Def (SD) DVD releases.
i. Initial Window - The first 26 weeks from street date (before any reprice). Assumptions are for the SD version and BD will follow similar patterns.
1. Base – On average a $25MM Domestic box office will sell approx. 1.5MM net units. The initial Suggested Retail Price (SRP) for SD is $29.98, equivalent to an Average Wholesale Price (AWP) of $19.99.
2. Low & High – Assumes +/- 25% decay or increase for initial ships at the same SRP/AWP for SD.
3. Assumes a marketing spend with media to achieve these units.
4. Assumes Retail Marketing Fund to support account exclusives and additional price discounts to obtain premium placement at retail.
5. Return rate = 25%
ii. Catalog Windows – Assumes 3 reprices over the next 5 years. Assumptions below are for the SD version and the BD will follow similar patterns. Assumes catalog units represent 30% of the ultimate units (approximately 430k for the base scenario).
1. 1st Reprice at $11.66 / $19.98 (AWP/ SRP).
a. Accounts for 25% of all catalog units.
2. 2nd Reprice at $9.80 / $14.98 (AWP / SRP).
a. Accounts for 32% of all catalog units.
3. 3rd Reprice at $5.98 / $9.98 (AWP/ SRP).
a. Accounts for 43% of all catalog units.
4. Assumes additional price discounts to obtain long-term placement at retail.
5. Catalog units represent 30% of the ultimate units (same assumption for low, base & high).
d. International Home Video – Assumes 75% of International box office per scenario.
e. 16mm/ Airlines/ Military – Assumes 1% of Domestic box office per scenario.
f. PPV/ VOD – Assumes 3.5% of Domestic box office per scenario.
g. Domestic Pay TV – Assumes 15% of Domestic box office per scenario.
i. Assumes will be part of studio output deals.
h. International Pay TV – Assumes 20% of International box office per scenario.
i. Assumes will be part of the studio output deals.
i. Network – Assumes 3.5% of Domestic box office per scenario.
j. Domestic Syndication – Assumes 3.5% of Domestic box office per scenario.
k. International Syndication – Assumes 3.5% of International box office per scenario.
l. Other – Assumes 3.5% of Domestic box office per scenario.
i. Assumes Digital Distribution, Merchandising, and any other forms of revenue not captured above.
(2) Costs – All costs except marketing & advertising associated with producing the feature film.
a. Production Budget – $12MM
i. Includes $2.16MM for the first three years of interest expense.
ii. Appendix I is the detailed budget.
b. Distribution Fee – The fee the movie’s distribution receives. This is often referred to as rentals and is often a little less than half of the final gross with the remainder going to the movie theaters. The contracts general favor the distributors in the early weeks and shifts to the movie theater later on.