Movie investing - credible or scam?

lionheart79

I recently took a call from "VCA Capital" (acting as an intermediary) claiming to be looking for investors to come on board the 'Mary mother of Christ' movie project (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949757). They made the usual 'too good to be true' promises of guaranteed returns after 18 months and cited the exceptional returns from The Passion of the Christ as potential gains on offer. They said half the film had already been funded by Lionsgate. And they also bigged up the involvement of some big-name pastor from the US :A - given how much I despise those money making evangelists this is hardly a positive in my eyes, but maybe it suggests some real commercial grounding...

I definitely will not be sinking the minimum requirement of 5k of my hard earned into this, but am curious as to whether anyone else has been approached or if there is any credibility here. The fact this project has been going on for years (looking at the earliest posts on IMDB from 2009) is not encouraging for one, but the rest of the IMDB entry does seem to have more plausibility. As for VCA Capital, they claim to have been involved in other films like 'Margin Call' and 'Lord of War' but I can't find any history beyond 2012.

Finally, as a general question, is movie investing credible at all as an alternative investment? I've seen other advertisements looking for investors and while clearly there are known scams, I'm curious as to whether there are any serious and real opportunities in this field.
cheers

alanq

Any cold calls promoting investments immediately sound alarm bells.

Search this Forum for "Carnaby" and find out the experiences of some investors in film making.

jimjames

lionheart79 wrote: »

Finally, as a general question, is movie investing credible at all as an alternative investment? I've seen other advertisements looking for investors and while clearly there are known scams, I'm curious as to whether there are any serious and real opportunities in this field.
cheers

As above, search for Carnaby films. Lots of unhappy people who have not seen a penny back of their investment.

What investments do you already have? Alternatives might be suitable for someone who has a big portfolio and has used all the other allowances - is that you?

Wilkins

lionheart79 wrote: »

Finally, as a general question, is movie investing credible at all as an alternative investment? I've seen other advertisements looking for investors and while clearly there are known scams, I'm curious as to whether there are any serious and real opportunities in this field.
cheers

Leaving aside the scams, I think films are a dubious investment. There is no effective method of evaluating risk/reward. Essentially it is speculation. Best left to the wealthy who do not mind losing a few grand.

SG27

If anyone cold called me out of the blue with an "investment oppotunity" they would be promptly told to f*** off.

El_Torro

I don't have any direct experience investing in films and I don't think I'd want to go there. A lot of films don't make their money back, the big film studios make their money on the big hitters and use the profits to subsidise the films that do badly. Also I'd be wary of the creative accounting that goes on which makes it hard to know how much the film has actually made.

I'd only consider investing in a film if it was from someone I'm a fan of and really want to see the film get made. Like on Kickstarter. Even then I don't think I'd plonk down £5k for the privilege!

jimjames

SG27 wrote: »

If anyone cold called me out of the blue with an "investment oppotunity" they would be promptly told to f*** off.

That would be a real missed opportunity to keep the scammers talking for a while - all the time they were tied up talking to you they wouldn't be able to con someone gullible

robatwork

The Passion of The Christ has at least 2 articles.
Mary Mother of Christ has no articles.

It's doomed to failure.

If I were you I would be going long on pork bellies.

gadgetmind

This wikipedia article might be informative.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting

lionheart79

cheers all, yes as suspected. I don't do alternatives (only properly listed securities) but it did pique my curiosity. Clearly one to avoid though!

dealer_wins

Anyone who calls/contacts you is either at best trying to sell you something thats a rip-off, or more likely trying to scam you.

Never buy anything from someone that approaches you, EVER!!!!