UK-based · New Zealand connected

Project finance & commercial strategy for independent film & television.

Producer-side support from development and greenlight through financing, production and the longer life of the project.

Get in touch

Rooted in place. Built to travel.

The approach

Good projects get complicated long before the cameras roll.

Heartwood Pictures works alongside independent producers on the financial and commercial questions that sit between a creative idea and a sustainable production — from development economics and greenlight decisions through financing, production and the longer life of the project.

The work

Keep the project coherent as it grows.

Develop & decide

Development economics, greenlight models, budgets, incentive assumptions, finance plans and commercial scenarios.

Finance & structure

Production cashflow, financing routes, co-production structures, partner terms, funding gaps and funding flows.

Keep the project connected

Adviser coordination, reporting, incentives, audits, stakeholder requirements and project / SPV stewardship.

Build the company around it

Slate forecasting, cash runway, management reporting, controls and strategic finance support.

UK ↔ New Zealand

Rooted locally. Built to travel.

Based in the UK with strong New Zealand ties, Heartwood Pictures has a particular interest in projects moving between the two markets. The focus is practical: make the financial model, structure, assumptions and obligations legible on both sides, while working alongside the right producers, financiers, accountants, lawyers and production teams.

Get in touch

If there’s something to talk through.

If you're developing a project, working through a finance plan or exploring an international route, feel free to get in touch.

Sam Retter · Founder