By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

Annapurna Adds $350 Million Credit Facility

Posted Tuesday, September 5th, 2017 - Comments Off on Annapurna Adds $350 Million Credit Facility
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[PR] – Annapurna, an independent entertainment company with film, television, and interactive verticals as well as an upstart marketing and distribution operation, has completed a $350 million revolving credit facility, it was announced today. The new line of credit will provide a firm financial foundation as the company continues to expand their enterprises and build its production, development, and distribution slates and expand into new mediums.

J.P. Morgan served as administrative agent and sole bookrunner for the facility, as well as co-lead arranger with Comerica Bank. Other parties included City National Bank, First Republic Bank, HSBC, MUFG Union Bank, SunTrust Bank and Wells Fargo.

“We are excited to provide financial support and industry expertise to Annapurna as they continue to build upon their success story,” said David Shaheen, managing director and head of Entertainment Industries for J.P. Morgan’s Corporate Client Banking group. “The enthusiasm shown from the entertainment banking community is a testament to what the company has accomplished.”

“We are grateful for J.P. Morgan and our entire bank group’s confidence in Annapurna.  Their backing, along with that of the many partners who have joined us this year, is validation of the platform Megan and our team have built, and we’re excited to have their support of our continued growth,” said Annapurna CFO, Josh Small.

Since 2012, Annapurna’s films have received thirty-two Academy Award nominations, including three Best Picture nods for AMERICAN HUSTLE, HER, and ZERO DARK THIRTY. Most recently, the company released the critically acclaimed film DETROIT, from filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow, as their first distribution title.

ABOUT ANNAPURNA

Annapurna, founded by Megan Ellison, focuses on creating sophisticated, high-quality content that is critically and commercially conscious while still appealing to a diverse audience. By upholding Ellison’s vision to put filmmakers and artists first and preserve their authentic creative voices no matter the genre or medium, in 5 years, the company has garnered a total of 32 Academy Award nominations for their projects, including ZERO DARK THIRTY, JOY, THE MASTER, FOXCATCHER, and THE GRANDMASTER. Ellison is also one of only four honorees ever to receive two Best Picture nominations in the same year, with HER and AMERICAN HUSTLE, both earning nods in 2014. Currently, Annapurna is in release for Kathryn Bigelow’s DETROIT, its first distribution title, which debuted to strong critical acclaim. Other upcoming releases for 2017 include Angela Robinson’s PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN. The company is also in production on the film adaptation of Maria Semple’s WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, and Kristen Wiig and on Jacques Audiard’s first English-language film, THE SISTERS BROTHERS. Annapurna’s other recent projects include Mike Mills’ 20TH CENTURY WOMEN, which was nominated for two Golden Globes and earned Mills a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nomination, as well as SAUSAGE PARTY, WIENER-DOG, and EVERYBODY WANTS SOME. Bigelow also directed and partnered with Annapurna on the animated short LAST DAYS, about illegal elephant poaching and the ivory trade

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

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There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

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~ David Simon