Menu
Patrick Fischer is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Creativity Capital and a participant on Inside Pictures 2015. After completing an MBA at the Cass Business School, Patrick set up Creativity Media in 2010. The company has since provided post-production services to 39 films including The Class of 92, The Anomaly and Plastic. In 2013 he set up a sister company, Creativity Capital, securing VC investment for a film fund. Creativity Capital has invested in nine projects since 2013, including The President, which opened the Venice Film Festival Orizzonti section in 2014. In 2010 Patrick was voted in to the Time Out Top 100 of ‘those individuals who have brought the most influence, innovation and inspiration to the British Creative and Media industries in the past 12 months’.
We asked Patrick some questions about his business and why he chose to participate in Inside Pictures.
Creativity Media provides post-production services for films while its sister company Creativity Capital provides finance. Did you have this business model in mind from the beginning or did it evolve?
Yes we did have the business model in mind at the beginning. I think for companies to thrive in a difficult industry such as film you need to ensure that you can maximise the revenue you can garner from each project. By providing finance and post both companies are able to provide services and receive revenues from the same film. Additionally doing the post-production on a film you’ve invested in mitigates your risk as you are also a part of the production process.
The two companies have been involved in dozens of projects across the last five years. Are there any that stand out for you, that you are particularly proud of?
For me the appeal has been in the breath of films we’ve been involved in and the different stories we’ve helped to tell. For instance, the first film we co-financed and posted, the UK urban comedy Anuvahood is hilariously funny. Over the years we’ve been involved in acclaimed arthouse films like The President which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, kick-ass genre films like the sci-fi flick The Anomaly and thrillers like Tower Block and Tiger House. We’ve also posted our fair share of documentaries, from blockbusters like The Class of ’92 to award-winning ones like Next Goal Wins and Trashed. Over the winter we will be posting Blackbird for Film4 and the BBC Film’s adaptation of Swallows And Amazons, so 2016 is looking to be a year of big releases for us.
What do you hope to gain from participating in Inside Pictures? What attracted you to the programme?
The level of industry access in terms of the speakers and the meetings that are arranged was one of the core reasons. Equally, having done an MBA, I know that a big part of the experience and learning is through my peers on the course. Knowing that each cohort is meticulously put together made this very attractive to me. I think the ethos of Inside Pictures, to get a group of promising, smart and ambitious film executives and producers together and give them access to the leaders of the industry, the opportunity to ask the questions they want to ask and the time to take in and reflect on the answers is brilliant. My Inside Pictures mentor is Adam Kulick and he’s been great. We’re looking to raise additional finance for Creativity Capital and having him as a mentor during this process is invaluable.
As a financier, what attracts you to a project?
A good production team with trustworthy producers and a good director, proven financing partners and a great story.
What are you currently working on?
Our most recent investment is Under The Shadow, a Farsi horror film set in 1980s Tehran. This is Babak Anvari’s, one of my best friends’, debut feature. The cut is looking very promising and working with Babak and his producers has been a pleasure.