Deadline Quotes Alissa Miller on Push for Government Fund for Film/TV Productions
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Akin Gump entertainment partner Alissa Miller was quoted by Deadline for its article “Indie Film Temperature Check: Vaccines Roll Out And Production Revs Up But Insurers, Banks Still MIA.”
The article discusses the current situation for independent film producers, where the U.S. is beginning to move towards a post-COVID normalcy, but insurers and bank lenders, as it notes, “remain on the sidelines” even as production gears up.
The article notes that the current situation favors smaller-budget films financed via private equity or by “deep-pocketed studios and streamers.”
It also notes that the American Coalition for Independent Content Production (ACICP) is working to assist indie film productions by advocating before Congress for a $4.5 billion government fund for productions that launch before June 2022, covering COVID-related losses incurred through June 2023.
This fund, called the Independent Film & Television Jumpstart Fund, would, among other features, pay out the lesser of 40% or $40 million of the direct cost budget for interruption and 85% or $85 million for abandonment.
Miller, who has worked closely with the firm’s public law and policy practice to advise ACICP, said, “This is a federal guarantee, not a handout.” Discussing the increasingly lower risk of the proposition, she said, “Hopefully there won’t be much of a loss, ever.”
Alissa Miller and the firm’s work with ACICP was spotlighted in Variety’s Dealmakers Impact Report in December 2020 (learn more here).
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