Elizabeth Bay Productions Gets Financing, WestEnd Films First-Look Deal

Elizabeth Bay Productions (EBP), whose principal is publicity firm DDA founder Dennis Davidson and whose team includes executive producer/producer Grant Hill, known for his collaborations with director Terrence Malick and the Wachowskis on various The Matrix films, has struck a financing agreement with FilmHedge and entered a first-look deal with U.K.-based sales company WestEnd Films .

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The new partnership with Atlanta-based finance platform FilmHedge will provide financing for the production house’s film and TV slate. EBP’s film projects include The Dimona Affair , a whistle-blower story inspired by true events, written by Fred Schepisi ( Six Degrees of Separation , Roxanne , A Cry in the Dark ) from a story by Morris Rosmarin. Schepisi will also direct, with Jeff Wilbusch ( Unorthodox ) playing the male lead and producing alongside Schepisi, Simon Moseley and Davidson.

The relationship will be managed by FilmHedge’s COO Chandler Heinz Laun who will have “oversight over EBP’s creative packaging and individual project financing plans,” the companies said. Prior to joining FilmHedge, Laun was a member of the independent film financing and distribution department at ICM Partners.

EBP and WestEnd have been working closely on EBP’s slate development. The firms said their new first-look deal offers EBP “international distribution and access to additional finance for its projects, and, for WestEnd a high level of development and production expertise as the company takes further steps into producing.”

Beyond Davidson and Hill ( The Thin Red Line , Matrix 2, 3 & 4 , Cloud Atlas , Tree of Life ), the EBP management team includes two L.A.-based executives in head of business development Eugin Koh and head of strategy and operations Clayton Heinz.

Dennis Davidson

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“In association with renowned producer Grant Hill, we have spent the past three years acquiring and developing an impressive and varied slate of films and television series as we looked for a well-funded production partner that shared our vision for creating high-quality filmed entertainment,” said Davidson. “FilmHedge is that partner.”

FilmHedge, which provides debt financing to film and TV productions, is led by founder and CEO Jon Gosier.

Said WestEnd founder Maya Amsellem: “Dennis brings his decades of experience working with talent across the industry to assembling his slate. He has smart taste, and with his new partnership with FilmHedge we are excited to see these classy and ambitious projects come through.”

Grant Hill

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