A new organisation has been formed to promote Guernsey as an international centre of excellence for the financing of independent films.
Guernsey Film has been established by a group of local finance industry professionals, in conjunction with the Island's government.
Richard Garrod, former head of the film tax team at Mazars and co-chair of Guernsey Film, said: "When recently moving to Guernsey I was impressed by the level of expertise and depth of knowledge of film transactions within the Island's finance industry. Guernsey Film has been specifically established to leverage this expertise and provide a full financial service to film professionals."
During the last 10 years, increasing numbers of independent film finance professionals have been coming to Guernsey to source their financial requirements when putting together production finance.
Guernsey Film includes experts in legal, banking, insurance, tax structuring, fund management, investment funds and intellectual property, all of which provides for a holistic approach to film productions irrespective of budget size.
Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island's finance industry, said: "Over the last 50 years Guernsey has built a strong reputation as a leading international finance centre. One of our great strengths is that we have developed experience and expertise in providing a wide range of financial products and services.
"This means that we have an extremely broad offering – including banking, legal and tax advice and intellectual property services – to meet even the most disparate needs of independent film producers. I am very excited about the potential for Guernsey Film and we are looking forward to working with the group to substantially increase the amount of that business that comes to the Island."
Guernsey Film welcomes enquiries from professional advisers and producers looking to effectively structure production finance. Richard Garrod and Ben Tustin acting as co-chairmen can be contacted through ben.tustin@marlboroughtrust.com .
Ben Tustin, co-chair of Guernsey Film, said: "We have been structuring tax efficient investment into films over the last 10 years across the whole spectrum of requirements from pre-production to release. Guernsey Film is now the conduit between film producers and finance professionals to ensure a rapid, all inclusive provision of financial services."
Members of Guernsey Film include: Ben Tustin, Marlborough Trust Company; Richard Garrod, Confiance Fund Services Limited; Paul Blackwell, Deloitte; David Sheil, Alternative Risk Management (ARM); Sean Hill, Barclays Wealth Management; and Stuart Tyler, Babbé.
For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.
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