The film executive who financed Oscar front-runner “Boyhood” is pushing for a sequel and said he is ready to write the check for it.

“I would say yes in a heartbeat,” said Jonathan Sehring, president of independent distribution company IFC Films.

Made for $4 million and filmed over 12 years, “Boyhood” has grossed $43 million worldwide, approximately half of that in the United States, and landed six Oscar nominations including best picture and best director for Richard Linklater.

Sehring waited 12 years for a return on his firm’s investment, but is now reaping big benefits from one of the greatest leaps of faith in film financing history.

Without even seeing a script, Sehring agreed to give Linklater $200,000 of company money each year to reunite cast and crew for a few days of filming annually. A further $1 million was provided for music rights and the rest of the budget went to postproduction costs.

“I took some heat at work for making this deal, particularly from our financing group, and justifiably so,” he said. “They wouldn’t have been doing their jobs properly if they didn’t question the wisdom of a 12-year investment.”

But the risk paid off, and the film continues to play in theaters despite opening back in July.

The profitability of the low-key drama, which follows a boy from the age of 6 to 18, proved that even among all the Marvel superhero films and animation blockbusters like “The Lego Movie,” independent movies can still make a big noise in the marketplace.

Hard to duplicate

But while this original movie boasted a very different funding model in a business dominated by tentpole franchises, it doesn’t mean a string of 12-year projects will follow.

The man who financed “Boyhood” believes the movie’s success will make no difference at all to the way films have long been funded.

“I don’t see it ever happening the same way again,” said Sehring, voicing a feeling backed up by colleagues.

“I personally think ‘Boyhood’ is a one-off. It could inspire other people to try to make a film like this, but I don’t think you’ll see a movie like this ever again,” said Cary Jones, IFC Films’ vice president of national sales who works out of the company’s L.A. office in Venice. “It’s a unique phenomenon.”

Management continuity at IFC played a huge part in seeing through the original vision, according to Linklater.

“A lot of things could have happened to derail the project over the 12 years, like a cast member quitting or, heaven forbid, dying, but in an industry not known for job security the real longshot was that the executive who greenlit the movie would still have his job 12 years later. But happily it all worked out,” the director said in a statement.

Ethan Hawke, who plays the father in “Boyhood,” also praised Sehring and IFC for keeping the faith.

“When I was first presented with the idea I thought it was great, couldn’t believe no one had done it before but also didn’t believe anyone would finance it,” he said in a statement. “But Jonathan took the risk and he and IFC kept believing in us.”

The belief has led all the way to the Oscars and, following a series of other major movie award wins, “Boyhood” has become a front-runner in the race for best picture at the Academy Awards on Feb. 22.

Rumors of a possible sequel spanning the next 12 years in the life in the central character of Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, have been the talk of award season parties. While IFC, which distributed the movie domestically (Universal Pictures is handling the foreign territories) has not officially said it plans to do that, Sehring admitted he was open to a sequel and ready to fund it.

Linklater is still to announce his next project, but such an idea would hardly be new territory for him. He filmed the same two characters over 18 years in the three-film suite of “Before Sunset,” “Before Sunrise” and “Before Midnight.”

“Boyhood” is the latest Hollywood project to prove that good storytelling takes its time.

Sehring, who is mainly based out of IFC’s New York office, said, “Our parent company AMC Networks has seen that with Matthew Weiner’s incredible (TV) work on ‘Mad Men’ and Vince Gilligan’s groundbreaking work on ‘Breaking Bad.’ It was clearly essential to Richard Linklater’s process on ‘Boyhood.’

“I do hope all of this shows the value of investing in a filmmaker’s vision even if that vision requires a bit more time and patience.”