Curiosity Kills

Idea

Important Information- A note from Seedrs

This further round of funding is being raised in order to ensure that there are enough funds to be able to distribute the film.

Ben Pickering who was the key commercial person behind the film was charged and sentenced last year as a result of his involvement in a mortgage scam. Seedrs undertook a thorough investigation at the time and found no evidence that there was any connection between Ben's criminal activities and this investment proposal. Seedrs went through all of the bank statements of the company and came to the conclusion that, in our opinion, there had been no misappropriation of funds raised pursuant to the two previous rounds of investment raised on Seedrs. We have been in contact with Ben throughout this process.

As a result Darren Ripley has been running the commercial side of the film since Ben's conviction.

A number of investors have expressed a desire to invest more into this film in order to get the project over the line. We at Seedrs are happy to accommodate this, provided that there has been full disclosure of the circumstances around Ben's conviction, as well as ensuring there are no other issues which could jeopardise the investor's investment.

One thing that has come to our attention is a County Court Judgment in the amount of £7382 outstanding against Curiosity Kills Limited. I have spoken to Darren about this and they have provided us with evidence that shows that this was in relation to a dispute over equipment hire, where Ben had offered a cheque for a sum of money in order to settle the dispute, on the condition that if cashed, would be deemed to be acceptance of this full and final settlement. The cheque was cashed.

Darren has informed us that he has applied for the County Court Judgment to be removed, and I have decided that we will proceed with this fundraising campaign, provided that it will be a condition to closing that this CCJ is actually removed from the register.

Please do not hesitate to let me or Darren know if you have any questions.

Thomas Davies
Chief Investment Officer
Seedrs Limited

Introduction

We are a SEIS-compliant Special Purpose Vehicle set up to produce the psychological thriller ‘Welcome to Curiosity’ (formerly called 'Curiosity Kills').

The feature stars Cristian Solimeno ('Rush'), Amrita Acharia ('Game of Thrones'), Richard Blackwood ('Anuvahood') Stephan Marcus (Lock stock) and Kacey Barnfield ('The InBetweeners') alongside an ensemble of emerging British acting talent.

In June 2014, we successfully raised over £50,000 through a Seedrs first round. These monies - combined with outside SEIS investment - funded 27 days of filming wrapping on 1st August, completing 65% of the film. A second round of funding enabled us to finish shooting the movie.

We are returning to Seedrs to seek a further £30,000 to fully finance the remaining post-production costs.

Intended impact

We are specialists in making very high quality, commercially viable films for less than our contemporaries.

With our last feature ‘Two Days in the Smoke’ (due for release in the UK in November 2014, starring 'EastEnders' Matt di'Angelo, 'Battlestar Galactica's Lili Bordan, 'Lock Stock's Stephen Marcus and 'Snatch's Alan Ford) we delivered a slick crime thriller, featuring a known cast, set across two countries with a soundtrack including Grammy-nominated artists.

We feel that it punches well above its weight in terms of its modest budget, and we have channelled that experience into making ‘Welcome to Curiosity’ even more ambitious.

With an ensemble cast of British and international actors that we feel are on a par or greater than ‘Two Days in the Smoke’, we are certain that we have a commercial winner in ‘Welcome to Curiosity’.

We have taken advantage of the UK Government’s Film Tax Credit - which rebates 20-25% of a film's production costs - using those funds to finance production costs to date, reducing our need for investment and avoiding the need to bring in expensive third party funding deals that are widely used in the film industry.

By using solely private investment, Curiosity Kills Limited will also retain the IP in the film, only licensing the rights to distributors and sharing in any profits made by them - increasing not only our control but also widening our opportunities for generating revenue compared with other films.

Substantial accomplishments to date

We have in place within our team a wealth of experience in development, production and sales, all key aspects to delivering a great, commercially viable film.

We also have Tom Kelly, former Sales and Marketing Director at 20th Century Fox UK, as a co-producer. Through this and other roles Tom has been involved in the selling and marketing of many, many features in his career and he is playing a pivotal role in maximising sales revenue.

Monetisation strategy

First income would be anticipated within 12 months of close of offer with the remainder paid to the company over the following 3-4 years. We would look for initial sales via Tom and/or other UK and international sales agents. There would also be profit sharing with distributors thereafter.

Initial sales income is made up of "minimum guarantee" payments by distributors to secure rights for a set number of years (usually 15-20) for specific territories and media platforms including:

• Cinema: box office receipts
• DVD/Blu-ray: royalties from DVD/Blu-ray rentals/sales
• TV: revenue from license fees paid by terrestrial, satellite and cable broadcasters
• Video-on-Demand: royalties from viewings on Netflix/downloads on iTunes
• Airlines: license fees paid for in-flight presentations.

The “minimum guarantee” payment is effectively an advance against future sales income. Distributors would then pay all distribution costs, from producing prints of the film to marketing and advertising. These expenses are commonly referred to as “P&A”.

Distributors would incur similar costs for a DVD/Blu-ray release of the film (including manufacturing and shipping costs). These costs, along with P&A and a pre-agreed distributors’ share of sales revenue, would need to be recouped before any further profits are split between distributors and the production company.

To maximise sales income and minimise risk, we would seek to license distribution rights on a territory-by-territory basis rather than seeking a blanket worldwide distribution deal.

Use of proceeds

This £30,000 will be used to fully finance the remaining post-production costs.