There's No Business Like Loan Business: Hollywood's Bankers
October 30, 2014 5:39 PM
New York Private Bank scored a victory this week when it lured two entertainment industry lenders away from Comerica Bank to head up its new film finance division. But the small, New York-based bank is also entering a fiercely competitive field. Here are some of the major players it will be up against.
(Image: Fotolia)
City National Bank
The Los Angeles bank's thriving entertainment division provides financing and other banking services to the music, video game and professional sports industries, but it's perhaps best known for backing Hollywood productions. The bank helps to finance dozens of television and film projects each year, including last year's "Blue Jasmine," a Woody Allen film for which Cate Blanchett won the Oscar for Best Actress. City National's chairman and CEO, Russell Goldsmith, is a former film and television industry executive.
(Image: Bloomberg News)
MUFG Union Bank
The San Francisco bank is a major player in Hollywood, financing individual films as well as the production companies and studios that make them. According to the entertainment website IMDb, it has provided production financing on such hits as "The Fighter," starring Mark Wahlberg, and "The English Patient," which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1996. It also recently teamed up with Bank of America Merrill Lynch to provide a $50 million credit line to the independent production company FilmNation and partnered with Comerica to fund a $50 million loan to the film distributor A24, according to Variety magazine.
(Image: Bloomberg News)
Bank of America
Perhaps no bank has had as much impact on Hollywood as Bank of America, which has helped to finance hundreds of films over the past century, including such classics as "West Side Story," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" and "Gone with the Wind." (One of the bank's proudest possessions is a Cecil B. DeMille's camera, on display in its museum in downtown Charlotte.) B of A also has been and continues to be a major lender to studios and production companies.
Pictured: A.P. Giannini, the founder of Bank of America, on the set of "Gone with the Wind" with star Vivien Leigh.
Comerica Bank
The Dallas lender operates an entertainment unit in Century City, Calif., and has film clients in major production centers throughout the world. The bank has helped to finance such blockbusters as "Rules of Engagement," "The Wedding Planner," and, more recently, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part Two," according to its website and a report from IMDb. Last year it also provided a $35 million revolving credit line to Bold Films, a film production and financing firm whose credits include the recently released "Nightcrawler," starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
(Image: Bloomberg News)
JPMorgan Chase
The New York bank has been financing film production for nearly a century and had roughly $10 billion of loans outstanding to the entertainment industry in 2011, according to a recent report in Variety. It is also a major lender to production companies. It recently teamed up with SunTrust Banks and OneWest Bank to provide a $450 million loan to EuropaCorp, a company founded by French director Luc Besson that is looking to expand its presence in the U.S. EuropaCorp's most recent release here was "Lucy," starring Scarlett Johansson.
(Image: Bloomberg News)
East West Bank
Pasadena, Calif.-based East West Bank is a relative newcomer to the world of entertainment financing. Its fledgling entertainment lending unit is headed by David Henry, a 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry who has been involved in the financing of more than 250 films and television shows, according to a company bio. Earlier this year, Henry negotiated what the Hollywood Reporter said is a "seven-figure" credit facility with the Canadian independent film company D Films. The firm is set to release "Cake," starring Jennifer Aniston, later this year.
(Image: Bloomberg News)
CIT Bank
An active lender to the television and film industry, CIT Bank was the lead arranger last year in a $370 million credit facility for the Weinstein Co., an independent film studio whose works include such hits as "Silver Linings Playbook," starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and "The King's Speech." CIT's presence in Hollywood could be further strengthened with its pending acquisition of OneWest Bank, a Pasadena, Calif., lender that recently established an entertainment unit.
Pictured: Harvey Weinstein and Bradley Cooper at a White House dinner last year.
(Image: Bloomberg News)
