Film Financing in Canada Via Tax Credit Loans

Film financing in Canada (we're including television and digital animation productions) has significantly benefited from the Canadian government's very aggressive stance on increasing tax credits, which are non-repayable.

Unbelievably, almost 80% of U.S. productions that have gone outside of the U.S. to be produced have ended up in Canada. Under the right circumstances all these productions have been, or are eligible for a number of federal and provincial tax credits which can be monetized for immediate cash flow and working capital.

How do these tax credits affect the average independent, and in some cases major studio production owners. The reality is simply that the government is allowing owners and investors in film, television and digital animation productions to get a very significant (on average 40%) guaranteed return on the production investment. This most assuredly allows content owners of such productions to minimize the overall risk that is associated with entertainment finance.

Naturally, when you combine these tax credits (and your ability to finance them) with owner equity, as well as distribution and international revenues you clearly have the winning potential for a success financing of your production in any of our aforementioned entertainment segments.

For larger productions that are associated with well known names in the industry financing tends to be available through in some cases Canadian chartered banks (limited though) as well as institutional Finance firms and hedge funds.

The irony of the whole tax credit scenario is that these credits actually drive what province in Canada a production might be filmed. We would venture to say that the overall cost of production varies greatly in Canada depending on which province is utilized, via labour and other geographical incentives. Example - A production might receive a greater tax credit grant treatment if it is filmed in Oakville Ontario as opposed to Metropolitan Toronto. We have often heard 'follow the money' - in our example we are following the (more favorable) tax credit!

Clearly your ability to finance your tax credit, either when filed, or prior to filing is potentially a major source of funding for your film, TV, or animation project. They key to success in financing these credits relates to your certification eligibility, the productions proper legal entity status, as well as they key issue surrounding maintenance of proper records and financial statements.

If you are financing your tax credit when it is filed that is normally done when principal photography is completed.

If you are considering financing a future film tax credit, or have the necessity to finance a production prior to filing your credit we recommend you work with a trusted, credible and experienced advisor in this area. Depending on the timing of your financing requirement, either prior to filing, or after you are probably eligible for a 40-80% advance on the total amount of your eligible claim. From start to finish you can expect that the financing will take 3-4 weeks, and the process is not unlike any other business financing application - namely proper back up and information related directly to your claim. Management credibility and experience certainly helps also, as well as having some trusted advisors who are deemed experts in this area.

Investigate finance of your tax credits, they can province valuable cash flow and working capital to both owner and investors, and significantly enhance the overall financial viability of your project in film, TV, and digital animation. The somewhat complicated world of film finance becomes decidedly less complicated when you generate immediate cash flow and working capital via these great government programmes.. Borrow from $100 to $1000 with payday loans from PayDayBee.com

Financial Work Sheet on Your Mortgage Modification and Avoiding Common Mistakes

Its 2010, you are behind on your mortgage you might be afraid someone will be knocking on your door any day now serving you a foreclosure. Don't be embarrassed 1 out of 8 homeowners are behind on their payments or facing foreclosure. Time to take action. Most lenders have a modification package that you either request over the phone, or you can simply downloaded from their website. Others such as Bank of America (formally Countrywide) an associate puts your financial situation on a computer and the computer tells him if you can or cant get your loan modified, I'll show you how to handle them later.

When you are listing your income and your debts, you must write down everything, calculate all your debts and avoid common mistakes. Write down your income, this includes money from your job, business, investment property, social security, disability, child support, alimony, even unemployment. Lets do an example: Mr. Andersen makes $60,000 a year from his sales job. he purchased his home in 2005 for $200,000 at 7%, 30 yr term. He makes a mortgage payment of 1330.70, 250.00 taxes, 125.00 insurance, 83.33 PMI, total payment $1788.94. He takes home $3950 after taxes. In 2005 with this income, and a credit score of 620 Mr.Anderson easily qualified for this loan. and was happy to become a homeowner.

Now it is Jan. 2010, Mr. Anderson is having a hardship, because of the economy, his sales are down. His income now is 40,000 annually. His take home pay is 2,550. His income dropped while his debts remained the same. He requests the modification package. Mr. Andersen writes his debts on his financial worksheet monthly bills, mortgages $1,330, Car $250, food $100, electric bill $100, clothes $200, entertainment $200, Christmas club $50, complete internet/ cable package 150, his cell (iphone) 150.00, Fantasy Football league $50, Country club membership $50, Exclusive gym membership $100. After he mails in his modification package. The bank 2 weeks later send him back a letter saying "Thank you Mr. Andersen but at this time we are unable to modify your mortgage, your request is DENIED.

So, why did Mr. Andersen get this denial? The banks are not modifying mortgages? Not in this case! The bank sees Mr. Andersen as a lost cause. They see his debts excessive, clothes 200, entertainment $200, full cable/internet package 150, cell phone 150, Christmas club $50, fantasy football league $50. Mr. Andersen is painting a picture that even though his finances are down he refuses to change his lifestyle, on to the next client who really needs a modification.

Should Mr. Anderson of painted a different picture and explain his debts and maybe remove some debts and change some of the wording, it would of told a different story. Lets start with his mortgage payment it is 1,330 but he didn't include taxes, insurance and PMI, for starters his full mortgage payment is $1,788.94. His car is 250, everyone that drives a car knows that there is gas we have to pay for, and you must have car insurance. This is easily $200 a month for gas and $150 for insurance. He listed he spends $100 a month on food. I went to chicken grill the other day and the meal alone for me and my girl friend was $20. Mr. Andersen low balled how much he spends on food. People spend in the ball park of $300 a month on food. Clothes $200 a month? what is up with that? OK Mr.Anderson has a new born. babies out grow their clothes every other month. w]When you include day care, formula, food, pampers it gets very expensive. Cell phone $150, as we saw Mr. Andersen has a sales job for him to be on top of his industry he needs internet access and 2,000 minutes on his phone to maintain customer service. This tells the bank he needs this feature for business and not pleasure. We all have a life and need to entertain ourselves in what we are into. Mr. Andersen does not need to tell the bank about his hobbies, gym membership, fantasy football should not of been mentioned on his modification package.

Now that we know this how should Mr. Andersen submit his financial worksheet? Lets try this, Mortgage $1,788.94, Car, gas, insurance $600, food, $300, Clothes $200 explained: I have a new born, cell phone $150 explained: used for business, entertainment $0, don't mention personal entertainment ( fantasy football, exclusive gym) This financial work sheet explains a completely different story. This loan is now in process for a possible modification if other parts are correct. When dealing with Bank of America which is over the phone and not a package where you fill out, have the numbers written in front of you, use common sense when you tell them your debts. explain how with basics such as Mortgage, food, car your ends do not meet. follow the same patterns above.

When submitting your financial work sheet of your modification package, it is important to take your time and differentiate the bills that are a must (mortgage, food, car, utilities) with recreational bills. When you do sit down and calculate where are money is going it also does help you out to make wiser financial decisions. Painting a correct financial picture to your lender will determine your loan modification or a denial.

Step by step loan modification DVD, is designed to help homeowners modify their own mortgage avoid foreclosure and keep you in your home. We look forward to helping struggling homeowners modify their loan and negotiate a reasonable mortgage payment with their lender. Let us guide you to a lower payment go to:

Personal Budget for Home Entertainment Systems in America

Many of the newer audio and video systems for home entertainment systems have added many features the products. It is a minefield in trying to determine how much money must be allocated towards a system of ones choosing - especially when the consumer is not certain about the level or depth of the components may be desired.

Let's take a look at the basic idea of a home entertainment system. There are really three general system ideas that are prevalent in the marketplace.

ONE: An audiophile system that is capable of High Fidelity reproduction of music. It consists of a stereophonic amplification system with two loudspeakers - maybe a subwoofer to extend the low frequencies - and a source device such as a CD player. This kind of system is for the serious music lover and is generally in a separate room or space from the tv or surround sound system associated with playback of video or multi-media programs.

TWO: Television and Video entertainment system - combining a television receiver, surround sound receiver and a set of loudspeakers. Usually contained within an entertainment room in the owners house and of great interest for television programs, movies, home video and other media programs. The number of loudspeakers is typically 6 - such as in a 5.1 playback environment: Front right, Front left, Rear right, Rear left and a subwoofer for reproduction of the low frequencies and special effects.

THREE: This is usually a variation of item TWO above but including a game system for home entertainment level games. The high level game player may be interested in PC based games also which requires a high performance PC for the more advanced game that are popular in the marketplace today.

Here we must talk about the range of product or classes of performance. Let us, in order to simplify the analysis, think of the consumer as being divided into three classes of seriousness of purchase: Good, Better and Best.

In category ONE above where the consumer is an audiophile and looking for a music system only the range of expense that will be needed can range from under $100 to as much as $5,000! A budget buyer can purchase a really good system from thrift stores for under $100 by shopping wisely. However, it is most likely the range for a "Good" system would range from, let's say, $100 to $400.

A person in the "Better" category will need to allocate financial resources in the range or $400 to $1500. For example, a good amplification system will run $300 to $500 and a pair of speaker systems with subwoofer can easily fetch $1000 for "good" fidelity sound.

The "Best" sound which will satisfy the esoteric music lover can easily run up to $5,000 - or even more.

In category TWO above, we are talking more than just audio because it requires a flat screen LCD or LED television system. Depending on size the tv alone will run around $200 to $1000. Surround sound systems - all in one box like from Walmart or BestBuy can start at $100. So, for the lower end or "Good" category the range might well be around $400 to $1500 range.

The "Better" category of systems will run $1000 to around $3000. This level of system will have a larger screen, say up to 46", 50 or even 55". That alone will be $800 to $2000. The surround sound system will always be over $250 for a system of this quality. So, here we are easily up to $3000.

The "Best" category would likely be a 3-D television receiver with component grade surround sound which could not be gotten into for under $3000 and will easily build up to $10,000 range total for all the "stuff" necessary to complete the package.

OTHER: Keep in mind that cables, installation, system design and addition of game consoles would be extra for categories TWO and THREE. Installation can be a DIY project for those with the tools, the know-how and the desire. It is not an easy job to hook up everything, hide the wires, run them through walls, etc. Cabling and hookup connections can be down right aggravating if you have a complex system requirement for recording and time shifting, full motion cameras and so on. In a sophisticated system one may need the services of an engineer for system design.

CONCLUSION: We are looking at an investment of a minimum of a few hundred dollars and as high as several thousand dollars for a glorious and exciting comprehensive system with the very best performance parameters. We did not get into Internet connectivity but where that is desired another monthly cost must be added thereon.

For a person in the $120,000 annual salary class it should be expected that maybe one months salary could be a targeted budget for a system in the "Best" quality category.

Closing comment. This author recently desired a very "Better" grade audio system to add to a summer home - a system that would be used only for a few weeks out of the year. It was desired to be a low budget system but high performance. Solution: Visit a few thrift stores, watch Craigslist and follow a few threads on the Internet for good quality sound. Final purchase: Sony heavy, good quality pair of bookshelf speaker systems from Salvation Army for $5. A Kenwood receiver, 600 watts of power, from Craigslist for $40. Subwoofer with outstanding low frequency gut shaking bass output from Goodwill for $15. DVD/CD player new from discount store for $30. Conclusion: Very good sound quality with great power, thundering low frequency response all for under $100! You can't beat that!

Entertainment As A Financial Leverage

How can you use entertainment as a financial leverage? Is it really true that you can become an internet or online multi-millionaire just by sitting in front of your computer screen? Well, in my previous article, Ii had shown you how to position yourself as a beneficiary of the blockbuster boom that we are currently witnessing in Hollywood.

It may not be as easy as it sounds, i promise you. Somebody once said that something that is worth it never really is. Movies are breaking box office records at this time where the economy is still recovering from the recession. You can choose to talk about the top 10 films in the box office, critique them, then offer people a chance to comment on the posts. Why the top 10?

This is because there are chances that these are the movies that rank high in search engines, such as Google. The more relevant the movie you choose to discuss on, the higher your website or blog will appear, when a user searches for it! There is one catch though, you must be ready to post something everyday about the releases that occur at the box office. The search engines available on the internet rely on constant data.

The more you update your blog or website, the higher the chances of you appearing among the top 10 search list. Another segment of the entertainment industry where you can benefit from online is the sports industry.

UMOO Financial Entertainment

UMOO is an enjoyable way to trade the financial markets especially if you are interested in fantasy trading as opposed to investing. Contestants choose to compete in fantasy trading games against other players or the financial market on UMOO for cash rewards. There are contests that are no cost to play and those where a deposit is necessary. Games that need a deposit have increased prizes. The fantasy trading match can be as little as ten minutes or as long as a market session. There are fantasy trading matches with stocks, forex, and commodities. All games use real-time market pricing and no software installation is required.

There are two varieties of fantasy trading competitions playable on UMOO: Trading Tournaments and PIX games. In a Trading Tournament users start by selecting a match they want to play. The tournaments are constructed around three popular indexes: the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrials, and the Straits Times index of Singapore. The Trading Tournaments necessitate traders to choose stocks from the index and strive to generate the highest percentage return they can using a pool of virtual money. In an S&P 500 competition for example traders build a portfolio of stocks in the S&P 500. Once the match has initiated users may alter their portfolio to take advantage of new opportunities. All tournaments are day trades since none continue into the following trading period. During the competition traders may examine their fantasy trading portfolios to examine how they are doing and compare their effectiveness against the "benchmark".

The "benchmark" informs the contestant whether they are "in the money" or "out of the money". "In the money" means that if the tournament ended at that moment they would receive a prize and "out of the money" means they would lose. The "benchmark" also displays the number of prizes being given away in the tournament. One critical detail however is that users are unable to win prizes in the free tournaments without at least having a deposit with UMOO. Games that are not without a cost require "fees". These "fees" are normally a portion of what prizes could be won such as a five dollar tournament will normally have a ten to twenty dollar prize.

The alternative type of game is referred to a PIX game. PIX matches are only ten to thirty minutes in length and necessitate the user to select the one, two, or three best performing instruments from a brief list. For example, in a Forex PIX tournament the contestant may be required to pick the best performing currency from a list of three. UMOO may make available USD/CHF, EUR/USD, and AUD/USD with a beginning time and ending time. The trader can win if they choose the currency pair with the largest performance in those ten minutes. In a PIX tournament users compete exclusively against the market as opposed to a tournament where they compete versus other contestants. All PIX games have fees and the risk reward ratio is usually closer to 2 to 1.

Bottom Line: If you are seeking fun with trading financial instruments and limited risk, fantasy trading on UMOO can be fun and financially rewarding.

Sea Lion Capital Management LLC is founded on the principle that everyone needs investment advice. Historically this type of service was only available to the extremely wealthy. Most investment advisors require assets of at least $500,000 or more to become a client. Sea Lion Capital Management LLC can serve clients with as little as $5000. A simplified but proactively managed approach to grow wealth is our goal as well as transparency.

Rather than act as a mystery, we post video blogs regularly to explain our strategy and current thought process. We encourage the proactive involvement of our clients to be involved in understanding how their money is managed and take an interest in their financial future. We provide Uncommon Wisdom for All.