Hedge fund Hollywood

The New York press just loves stories about under-30 Sammy Glick types getting a movie made. The latest variation on this theme is a NY Observer piece about Fortress Entertainment, which is the branchild of Brett Forbes and Patrick Rizzotti, both 29. They're celebrating their first movie "Pride," which will be released by Lions Gate in March.

[Rizzotti] and Mr. Forbes, who majored in communications at Loyola Marymount, met on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe in 2001 and entered the film business two years later. Rather than working the phones for a boss-zilla such as Scott Rudin, or in an agency mailroom, they went looking for money to fund a new company, Fortress Entertainment, the idea being that potential investors would invest relatively modest amounts into a fund that would support the development of multiple movie projects. “Everybody goes around town trying to raise $3 million per movie or $5 million for a movie,” said Mr. Rizzotti in his Jerry Maguire–esque patter. “We created a formula where we only went to individuals asking for $20,000 to $30,000. So it was never huge risk money for anybody. We would just say, ‘Give us a little—a small fraction, just a little bit.’”

After an ill-fated partnership with another production company, Fortress went out on its own in 2004, creating the American Film Capital fund, which now represents over 100 private investors. The company has raised over $6 million. In the case of Pride, which was made for $15 million, Fortress funded the film’s development; hiring screenwriters Michael Gozzard and his partner, Kevin P. Smith, on the basis of a spec script (Mr. Gozzard is a former Fortress development executive); optioning the life rights of Mr. Ellis; hiring the director, Sunu Gonera; and attaching Mr. Howard—before bringing the project to Lions Gate.

Forbes figured that the straightest road toward directing or writing is understanding how to line up the money. An old-timer quoted in the piece was less than enchanted.

“It used to be that wannabe producers would start off as assistants and then become C.E.’s (creative executives), and read and read and read, and start sitting in development meetings, seeing how movies are put together, how notes are given to writers—learning the tools of the industry.” He added that the latest generation “is all about the formula, the numbers. It’s the conglomeratization of the business, and it’s why movies are getting worse.”