The rising cost of credit in the US sparked by the recent collapse of the mortgage sector has made film financing a more precarious business, according to Deutsche Bank's new global head of media and entertainment structured finance Laura Fazio.
'People are concerned that the debt costs around these transactions have risen,' Fazio said in an interview with the Financial Times. 'The pricing on them looks tough. I don't think anyone is jumping in right now [as a new investor].'
She added: 'Investors are going to have to put in more equity and their terms with the studios will have to be different.'
However Fazio, who until several weeks ago served as head of media and entertainment for the Americas at Dresdner Kleinwort, said the credit squeeze does not spell doom and gloom for everyone.
She expected existing deals to be safe and added that savvy investors would continue to regard Hollywood as an attractive proposition.
'Investors love the intellectual property asset class, and that's not going to go away.'
At Dresdner, Fazio played a key role in brokering nearly $1bn in financing deals between 20th Century Fox and Dune Capital Management, and a $1bn deal between Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures, among others.
Experts estimate that approximately $11bn in slate financing has been raised over the last 20 months, and predict a further $15bn - $10bn of it from banks - will be raised within the next 12 months.
Last week Lionsgate announced a four-year $400m financing deal with the Quebec government's investment arm, Societe Generale De Financement Du Quebec. Studio top brass said work on the deal had started well before the credit market tightened.
At Deutsche Bank, Fazio fills a gap left by the departure in April of Kevin Bell to Citigroup.
'People are concerned that the debt costs around these transactions have risen,' Fazio said in an interview with the Financial Times. 'The pricing on them looks tough. I don't think anyone is jumping in right now [as a new investor].'
She added: 'Investors are going to have to put in more equity and their terms with the studios will have to be different.'
However Fazio, who until several weeks ago served as head of media and entertainment for the Americas at Dresdner Kleinwort, said the credit squeeze does not spell doom and gloom for everyone.
She expected existing deals to be safe and added that savvy investors would continue to regard Hollywood as an attractive proposition.
'Investors love the intellectual property asset class, and that's not going to go away.'
At Dresdner, Fazio played a key role in brokering nearly $1bn in financing deals between 20th Century Fox and Dune Capital Management, and a $1bn deal between Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures, among others.
Experts estimate that approximately $11bn in slate financing has been raised over the last 20 months, and predict a further $15bn - $10bn of it from banks - will be raised within the next 12 months.
Last week Lionsgate announced a four-year $400m financing deal with the Quebec government's investment arm, Societe Generale De Financement Du Quebec. Studio top brass said work on the deal had started well before the credit market tightened.
At Deutsche Bank, Fazio fills a gap left by the departure in April of Kevin Bell to Citigroup.
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