Big Picture
Kate Upton Takes Cover Plus, Nicole Kidman hangs out with her family and Bradley Cooper is a grizzly guy. The latest pics!
MORE PHOTOS +Most Commented
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: Vote in the Final Round! (2036)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (974)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (694)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (493)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (394)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (391)
- New Ask Ted Video! Should Kristen Stewart Play Elizabeth Taylor? (297)
- Morning Mail! Is Lea Michele Ready to Walk Like an Egyptian? (286)
- Twilight Director Talks Kristen Stewart and Ex Michael Angarano: "They Were Such a Great Couple" (261)
Top 10 Stories
- Teen Mom 2 Finale Recap: Jenelle Rehabs, Leah Divorces, Kailyn Gets Dumped and Chelsea... Sigh
- Playmate Claire Sinclair Describes Scene of Alleged Domestic Dispute With Marston Hefner
- Glee-Dux: Guess Who's Back?! V-Day Episode Delivers Romance, Smooches and Shockers!
- Blake Lively Gets Restraining Order Against Man Who Wanted to "Guide" Her
- 19 Kids and Counting Alleged Extortion Plot: Singer Laughs Off "Intimate Photos"
- Rumer Willis' Hollywood Hills Home Burglarized
- Whitney Houston and Other Divas Who Died Too Soon
- Chris Brown Tweets to Haters After Grammy Win
- Whitney Houston Tribute: Watch LeAnn Rimes' Emotional Performance of "I Will Always Love You"
- Oprah Twitter Scandal! Winfrey Apologizes After Soliciting Nielsen Viewers to Watch OWN
Fashion Police
Angelina: Going Grey! Plus, Christina Hendricks, Vanessa Hudgens, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Michelle Williams and Kristen Wiig. Rate the highs and lows!
MORE PHOTOS +
Our Partners
Hawke: Cough it Up
Hey, brother, can you spare a dollar towards the new Ethan Hawke movie?
Frustrated by the nine years of fundraising it took to get 2000's Waking the Dead to the big screen, director Keith Gordon has decided to take a new approach with his next project.
This time, he wants flick fans to pony up the dough so he can make Billy Dead, a dark and twisted tale with Hawke attached both to star and executive produce.Civilian Capital Inc., a brokerage division of Civilian Pictures, is underwriting an initial public offering to finance the film. The goal is to peddle 900,000 preferred shares in "BillyDead, Inc" at the IPO price of $8.75, raising a grand total of $7.9 million.
It's a novel idea, and a somewhat dicey strategy, according to financial experts.
"It's all very pie in the sky and very risky," said David Miller, a financial analyst in the entertainment industry, per the Associated Press. "They're basically pegging the value of the shares based on future events with no historical record of success other than the fact that Ethan Hawke has a fairly accomplished resume."
However, Gordon claims that times they-are-a-changing, and that changes to the established system of financing films are due.
"Independent films are breaking out of the system, so why shouldn't the financing as well?" Gordon asked during a conference call he and Hawke held with journalists Wednesday.
Hawke said he hopes the unique approach to fundraising is something that will catch on in Hollywood.
"Basically people just don't want to make dramas," Hawke said. "But that's what most actors want to do. To think that we could start a trend in helping to make that happen is really exciting."
Civilian Capital has begun accepting funds from Billy Dead backers, but the shares won't begin trading until the IPO is fully subscribed, and there's no indication as to when that might be.
Investors will be able to read the first chapter of the novel the movie is based on, plus a portion of the screenplay on the company's Website, but will not have any creative control over the project.
Should the film make money at the box office, on home video sales and from other sources, preferred shareholders would earn a return of $8.75 per share. Around 37.5 percent of the leftover cash would be doled out to Hawke, Gordon and other participants as contingent compensation. After that, the remaining dough would be passed out primarily to preferred shareholders, with 20 percent going to common stock holders.
Civilian Capital execs claim they are trying to minimize the risk involved with backing Billy Dead.
"These types of movies have shown to achieve a level of profitability beyond even the biggest studio films," said Peter Furhman, Billy Dead, Inc.'s chief executive.
Fans interested in throwing some dough towards the pic can check out the project online at the movie's Website.
Other upcoming projects for Hawke include the lead role in the untitled sequel to 1995's romantic drama, Before Sunrise, as well as a role opposite Angelina Jolie in the action thriller, Taking Lives. Both films are due out in 2004.
0 Comments
Now loading...