The Film Department

The Film Department

Company type	Private
Industry	Film production, film financing, film distribution
Founded	June 2007 (2007-06)
Founder	Mark Gill, Neil Sacker
Defunct	May 2011 (2011-05)
Headquarters	West Hollywood, California , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Films

The Film Department (TFD) operated as an independent entity specializing in film production, financing, and international distribution, with headquarters located in West Hollywood, California.

History

Established in June 2007 by Mark Gill, formerly president of Warner Independent Pictures and Miramax, alongside Neil Sacker, the ex-COO of Yari Film Group, TFD obtained $200 million in funding from G.E. Capital. This capital was intended to support the production of six films annually, each with budgets ranging from $10 million to $45 million. The company's strategy focused on creating commercially appealing, star-led movies spanning various genres targeted at global audiences. Additionally, Allen & Company played a key role in providing substantial financial backing.

In July 2008, TFD collaborated with Downtown Music Publishing to launch TFD Music. Under this venture, Downtown assumed responsibility for worldwide administration of music copyrights and master recordings, while also offering music supervision and soundtrack advisory services for TFD’s film projects.

TFD’s first release, Law Abiding Citizen (2009), generated $73 million domestically but did not fully recoup the distribution costs. The company’s follow-up film, The Rebound (2009), featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones, was released through The Weinstein Company.

Although plans for an initial public offering (IPO) were announced in February 2010, after two years TFD had only one successful film but reported losses amounting to $34 million. The firm faced liabilities totaling $62.3 million against just $1.9 million in unrestricted cash, missed interest payments that triggered default status, and unsuccessful attempts to raise additional equity capital. Creditors provided temporary relief pending the IPO outcome.

TFD planned to allocate approximately 40% of the targeted $85 million from the IPO toward reducing existing debt, which would leave financing sufficient for only two further productions before requiring an additional $160 million in loans. The IPO was ultimately withdrawn in August 2010, and the company discontinued operations by May 2011.

External links

• Los Angeles Times
• New York Times
• Reuters