The Business Journal turns the spotlight on local bankers who lend the money to keep Hollywood rolling.
Christine Ball
Senior vice president, leader of the entertainment finance group Wells Fargo, downtown Los Angeles
Residence: Rancho Palos Verdes
Education: B.A., economics, UC Davis; M.B.A., Cornell University
Years in Industry: 22
Notable Films Financed: “The Lincoln Lawyer” (upcoming)
What are your responsibilities? I run the local entertainment practice here in Los Angeles.
Slates or single films? We typically lend to companies, not a slate of films. We have looked at some single-film projects, but that isn’t most of our focus. We like companies that are doing three to four, maybe five films a year in a very conservative manner.
How do you evaluate potential deals? We like to minimize any box office performance risk. The (consideration) is mostly who is the management team and have they been successful running businesses and have they been successful with their films.
What’s a typical loan size? There is no maximum or minimum. It really depends on the risk parameters of the credit. On the larger deals where we take a piece, those deals can be anywhere from $100 million to $800 million, or $1 billion, in terms of the size of the credit, but we don’t take the whole thing. (Our participation is) anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent.
What types of films do you tend to finance? We’re a bank, so we’re very conservative. We look at films that are rated R or better – so R, PG, (etc.) – we’re not looking at anything other than that. We don’t have a specific genre. I can’t be the judge of whether this is going to have success or not, nor do I want to bank on my view of the film being successful or not.
Do you listen to pitches? I get calls all the time from people that say to me I have a film and this person is attached. I really don’t care because that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to bring in the box office.
Who are your clients? In my group, we don’t typically bank the major studios. (We handle) more of the independent production companies.
How has the economic downturn affected your business? This business has typically been banked by (major U.S. banks) and by a large percentage of foreign banks, and many of those foreign banks with the whole financial meltdown kind of picked up and went home. They decided to focus on (their) home business, not on this niche business here in Los Angeles.
What attracted you to this business? I grew up in Los Angeles. I didn’t know anybody in this industry growing up (but) I was attracted to it out of business school. It was a group within the bank I went to go work for that was the most profitable group, and that’s of course where you always want to be.
Ever go to glamorous parties? I do sometimes. I always say I’m kind of the nerdy banker at the Hollywood event, although I’m not that nerdy.
