News | Media & Communications

Tuesday 26th March 2002

SJ Berwin is advising Portfolio Film Partners, a new film finance fund to be established which will raise up to £10 million.

The partnership will invest in British films with gross production budgets of £15 million or less, and eligible UK tax-payers will be able to write-off 100% of their investments against taxable income.

The partnership will be advised in making film investments by Portfolio Films Management Limited, a joint venture company backed by Little Bird Productions and New Boathouse Capital Limited.

Little Bird has been one of the major producers of film and television product since 1983. Jonathan Cavendish, one of the directors of Little Bird, co-produced Bridget Jones's Diary.

New Boathouse Capital is a privately owned corporate finance business advising films focussed on the needs of private companies in the publishing, technology and media field.

The SJ Berwin team was led by Media Partner Nigel Palmer, Financial Services Partner Daniel Tunkel, and corporate finance assistants Andrew Clarke and Emma Senior.

Nigel Palmer said "we are very pleased to have had the opportunity to advise on this innovative film finance fund which has been established to bring private sector money for the financing of productions by one of the British Isles' major film and television film producers".

• SJ Berwin is a full-service international legal practice with more than 470 lawyers across its offices in London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Madrid and Paris.
• SJ Berwin recently won "Best Law Firm (fund documentation)" at the PrivateEquityOnline Awards, and was runner up in the category of "Best Law Firm (transactions)". It has also recently been shortlisted for "Legal Adviser of the Year" at the Private Equity Awards 2002.
• SJ Berwin has also recently won the European Venture Capital Journal Award for Private Equity Law Firm of the Year 2000, Law Firm of the Year and Property Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2000, and Competition Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2000.