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Barclays unveils $125m prodco fund

Barclays in the UK is launching a £100m (US$125m) fund for TV production companies designed to meet the evolving needs of the sector brought on by the emergence of SVoD.

Tim Sealey

The bank says its fund is designed to help smaller prodcos cope with new financing models, where they receive payment on delivery of the content rather than at the time of commissioning.

Barclays SVoD Financing allows prodcos to borrow money over a longer period to develop programmes and grow their business.

One of the first firms to benefit from the new fund is Roughcut Television, the indie behind series such as Sky1’s comedy Trollied and BBC3 series Cuckoo.

Barclays has purchased Roughcut’s fee from Netflix for the streaming of Cuckoo, giving the company the money upfront for its multi-year streaming deal.

Roughcut’s commercial director Tim Sealey said: “Netflix are notorious for paying over a long period. Our arrangement with Barclays enabled us get access to the cash much earlier, which meant that we could put it to work by investing in further development. Another side benefit is that it improves our relationship with the writers and artists as they get their royalties quicker too.”

In a statement announcing the launch of the fund, which Barclays says is the first of its kind in the UK, the bank said: “The rise in popularity of SVoD services led the Barclays Media team to consider how it could improve the types of funding provided to better support its TV clients.

“Conventional TV production loans are repaid as the content is delivered, with the broadcaster paying the production company and funder simultaneously. With SVoD, revenues are often spread over a much longer term, which can present funding challenges.”

Lorraine Ruckstuhl, head of media at Barclays Corporate Banking, said: “The creative industries in the UK are world famous due to the range and quality of content they produce. The TV industry specifically is in a really exciting place and is evolving at pace, with more than 250,000 people in the UK employed in the sector.

“We’ve been supporting TV production with a dedicated media team for over 30 years, and know that to meet the needs of our clients we have to adapt with them and with the viewing habits of the public.”

Barclays set up its media team in 1986 and was the first to develop a three-way lending structure that brings together the broadcaster, prodco and bank to allow productions to be funded via a loan.

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