PPP070: Raising Capital and Funding Hollywood with Matthew Helderman

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Today we welcome guest Matthew Helderman from Buffalo 8 Productions and BondIt Media Capital. His unique background allowed him to create multiple successful businesses that raise money for Hollywood productions. His exciting and interesting career combines money and entertaining, and this interview offers many valuable lessons we can apply to our own businesses.

What We’re Chatting About This Week

I connected with Matt Helderman as he is the man behind BondIt Media Capital, but he didn’t start his career as a major movie financier. He started with Buffalo 8 Productions, a co-founded venture that helps people make movies. Buffalo 8’s films have been debuted at Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto film festivals and SXSW. If you enjoy movies, odds are you have watch something that has Buffalo 8’s hands in it.

But in running Buffalo 8, Matt spotted a new opportunity: film financing. Making movies can be expensive. With films production costing into the tens of millions of dollars, that cash has to come from somewhere. That’s where BondIt comes it, which has produced over 250+ films with financing from $250,000 to $30,000,000.

Buffalo 8 is a success in its own right, with their own films and client management. Buffalo 8 clients have been featured in movies like Jurassic World, The Big Short, American Gangster, Flight, Dallas Buyers Club, Trumbo, and Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing.

Matt saw an opportunity to marry Wall Street style funding with Hollywood production, and thanks to a great education he had the skills to put it together. Now Matt is working on high roller deals raising funds to create the next hit movie. Some movies lose money and some generate windfall profits. By moving the funding out of producer’s own pockets and into Wall Street type funding arrangements, film production can move forward with an expectation of paying back costs with future earnings.

Matt’s role is a busy one, finding both funders and opportunities to invest. After success in Hollywood, BondIt has expanded into the entire entertainment industry. Now BondIt works with sports teams, concert producers, and all sides of the entertainment business. If you are interested in a great entrepreneurship story, working with Hollywood or the entertainment industry, or love the high paced investment world, Matt’s story is a perfect hybrid of inspiration and action that led to a successful business.

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This Week’s Guest

Matthew Helderman is co-founder of Buffalo 8, a Hollywood production and management company, and BondIt Media Capital, an investment company that funds feature films and other entertainment projects.