“The programme helped us translate creative vision into investor language,” explains George Caton-Coult of Pop Paper City
//
“More people are working on films that are more expensive than ever but they’re making less money,” explains Oliver Park, one-half of the disruptive movie-making start-up Altt Productions. Together with his co-founder Ashley Porciuncula, the pair are using tech to help filmmakers realise their creative visions in cost-effective ways. “There are so many new creative tools that should be making things easier – so obviously something’s going wrong.”
It was a pain-point that both Oliver and Ashley had experienced first-hand. The former is a filmmaker and writer with a track record of selling horror projects to big Hollywood studios. Meanwhile, the latter is a data-driven creative producer with years of hands-on experience bringing projects of all sizes to life. “We had this shared frustration that so much creative talent is being overlooked,” adds Ashley. “We thought, ‘What if we took our skills and gave people the opportunities that they’re not getting in the current studio system?’ What would that look like?”
The answer was Altt Productions. It’s the duo’s horror-film incubator that uses digital tools to streamline production, de-risk projects, maximise return on investment and most importantly, make a good end product. At its core is a focus on using technology to assist with preparation, something that’s perhaps been overlooked in an ease-of-access age that often leads to a ‘shoot-from-the-hip’ style.
“We select incredible scripts, surround them with passionate people and then decide which ones to shoot”
“We take great ideas from talented people and encourage them to prep,” says Oliver of Altt’s methodology. “There’s all these readily available technologies that help make movies cheaper. Pre-visualization used to be very expensive and new software means it’s almost free – but we’re still not using it,” he explains. “We select incredible scripts, surround them with passionate people and decide which ones we want to shoot. There’s no excuse for being disappointed by a trailer that looks great but the movie wasn’t good. That’s the gap we’re trying to fill.”
This incubation system also gives creatives access to a talent pool spanning actors, crew and equipment to help ensure a high-quality end-product. According to Oliver and Ashley, Altt can help open doors for new talent looking to make their mark in an over-saturated scene. “In the Golden Age of Hollywood, around 40% of screenwriters got a second credit after their breakout film. Now, it’s less than 15%,” reveals Ashley. “That’s not because they’re worse, they’re just not getting the opportunities they deserve thanks to a cost-prohibitive studio system.”
After securing SEIS support and building a small team, Altt entered our Creative Enterprise: Investment Readiness cohort to access the knowledge needed to secure more investment. “I came into the programme with a decent amount of fundraising experience but it turns out, fundraising for creative projects is completely different,” admits Ashley. “Some skills are transferable but it’s a different audience. There was a lot of learning to do.”
Thankfully, the pair had separate strong suits that complimented the overall process: “Oliver can speak to the creative and how we know this will be a fantastic return on investment but working out the numbers was all new,” she adds. “Creative UK has been amazing at filling that gap.” As Ashely explains, the impact was pretty instant: “Our pitch deck changed within 15 minutes of our first conversation with our mentor. We came away with a new way of presenting our story that made so much sense. That’s the magic we were looking for but missing.”
“It turns out, investors don’t want to be scared”
Armed with this knowledge, the pair are now better equipped to present their ideas to new investors: “It turns out, investors don’t want to be scared,” laughs horror-filmmaker Oliver. “They just want to know how your idea works and why it’s unique. That’s the key quality that’s come out of working with Creative UK,” he continues. “We didn’t know how strong and special our idea was until they confirmed it and helped bring it out even more.”
It’s also clarified their long-term goals and how they relate to their immediate aims. “It helped us consider and reframe our plans,” offers Oliver. “Having a specific exit strategy helps us work with investors.” What’s more, hearing stories from previous cohort graduates and guest speakers presented different possible career paths. “We’ve had incredible speakers from early start-ups, to people who have had multiple exits,” adds Ashley. “They really helped tease out the areas where we thought we were aligned but needed more specifics.”
“I think what’s come out of this experience is a really clear, succinct path forward, an understanding of what this company is and how we go about achieving that,” smiles Oliver, reflecting on the pair’s Investment Readiness journey. “A lot was still up in the air when we started this Creative UK scheme,” echoes Ashley. “It’s helped us get on the same page with the industry and the investment landscape. It would’ve taken us a long time to wade through it all on our own.”