PalmStar Media
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film financing |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Kevin Frakes |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia , United States |
Key people | Kevin Frakes (CEO) |
| Products | Film financing |
PalmStar Media Capital is a film financing firm headquartered in Philadelphia, established in 2010 by CEO Kevin Frakes.
History
Kevin Frakes and Stephan Paternot originally co-founded PalmStar Entertainment in 2004. Six years later, in 2010, Frakes joined forces with Peggy Taylor and Frank Pollifrone to launch PalmStar Media Capital, concentrating specifically on film financing activities. In July 2017, PalmStar Media completed the acquisition of all assets belonging to National Lampoon, Inc., which included the brand’s trademark as well as its extensive collection of print, audio, film, and video content.
In 2014, PalmStar initiated legal action against Zero Gravity Management for breach of contract related to the casting of Ben Affleck in The Accountant. The lawsuit claimed that PalmStar was improperly excluded from the production process despite an existing co-production agreement.
The Alchemist
PalmStar secured the film adaptation rights to Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist in 2016 for $6.5 million. Although filming was planned to begin in September 2021, the project ultimately did not proceed that year. By October 2023, Legendary Entertainment had obtained television, film, and ancillary rights to the novel and intends to develop the adaptation alongside Sony's TriStar Pictures and PalmStar.
Collaboration deals
In October 2014, PalmStar entered into a multi-year financing partnership with Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road Pictures, committing $200 million to support the production of five to six independent films annually, each with budgets between $20 million and $50 million.
By February 2015, PalmStar formed a collaboration with Dylan Sellers’ Rivers Edge Films to finance production and development expenses for four to five films per year, with budgets ranging from $20 million to $40 million. Later that year, in August 2015, PalmStar secured an agreement with Jeremy Renner and Don Handfield’s The Combine to back two to three films annually.
Moreover, PalmStar has worked alongside Anthony Bregman’s Likely Story and Buddy Patrick’s Windy Hill Pictures.