Capital
Senior secured debt for Australian film and television, anchored on the Producer Offset.
A specialist credit strategy built on sovereign-style receivables, a small set of institutional-grade structural protections, and a loan product set sized to how Australian screen finance actually works. Current-pay yield, short tenor, tight LTV.
Investment thesis
Three structural features of the Australian market.
The strategy rests on characteristics of the Australian regime that are rare in global screen finance. The Producer Offset is legislated cash, not a credit against future tax. Mainstream banks are absent. Demand for financeable Australian content is expanding. These three features create the margin and the protection that make senior secured screen debt institutional-grade.
01
Sovereign-style collateral.
The Producer Offset is a refundable tax offset under Division 376 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, paid by the ATO. It has no cap and no sunset clause. For a senior secured lender, that is sovereign-style paper sitting behind every drawn loan.
02
A persistent funding gap.
The Big Four and most second-tier Australian banks do not lend against screen receivables at scale. The result is a capital shortfall that has persisted through every rate cycle. Specialist lenders fill it, priced for the risk and the work.
03
Tailwinds, not headwinds.
Streaming local-content obligations, a refreshed 30 percent Location Offset bringing inbound production onshore, continuing free-to-air drama commissions, and state investment-attraction funds are all expanding the volume of financeable Australian projects.
Primary collateral
The Australian screen incentive stack.
Every loan is underwritten against specific, documented collateral. The Producer Offset dominates the mix. Other federal offsets, state incentives and contracted distribution receivables sit alongside it.
40% theatrical / 30% TV
Producer Offset
Refundable offset on Qualifying Australian Production Expenditure (QAPE). 40 percent for theatrical features, 30 percent for television drama, documentary, animation and online-first content. Administered by Screen Australia; paid by the ATO.
30%
Location Offset
Refundable offset on QAPE for large-budget international productions shooting in Australia. Minimum A$20m QAPE (A$1.5m per hour for TV). Relevant collateral for inbound studio productions.
30%
PDV Offset
Refundable offset on QAPE for post, digital and visual effects work delivered in Australia, regardless of where principal photography occurred. Minimum A$500k PDV QAPE.
Stackable
State incentives
Grants, rebates and loans from Screen NSW, VicScreen, Screen Queensland, Screen West, SAFC, Screen Tasmania and Screen Territory. Treated as secondary collateral via assignment of the agency payment obligation.
9 countries
Co-production treaties
Australia has official co-production arrangements with nine countries including the UK, Canada, China, Germany, Singapore, Ireland, South Africa, Israel and New Zealand. Official co-productions qualify for the Producer Offset without a separate SAC test.
LTV by counterparty
Contracted distribution
Pre-sales, minimum guarantees and licence fees from investment-grade distributors, broadcasters and streamers. Underwriting turns on counterparty credit and contract enforceability, not on the offset regime.
Loan products
Six products. One credit framework.
The Australian senior secured playbook is narrower than the US equivalent because the Producer Offset dominates the collateral mix. We match loan products to the specific receivable being cashflowed, with separate approval thresholds for gap exposure, which behaves differently from the offset book.
Core product
Producer Offset cashflow loans
Advances to the production SPV secured by assignment of the anticipated Producer Offset rebate. Up to 90 percent loan-to-value against the offset. Tenor 6 to 18 months, matched to production and ATO payment timing. Repayment via direct assignment of the rebate payment, frequently accelerated through post-wrap SPV wind-up.
Inbound productions
Location and PDV Offset cashflow loans
Structurally similar to Producer Offset loans but against federal offsets claimed by inbound studio productions or PDV-only projects. Typically larger ticket sizes, often co-lent with international partners.
Bridges
State incentive cashflow loans
Shorter-duration bridges against state agency payment obligations, typically 3 to 9 months. Often stacked alongside the federal offset facility on the same project.
Counterparty credit
Distribution guarantee and pre-sale discounting
Advances against contracted minimum guarantees and licence fees from investment-grade distributors, broadcasters and streamers. Underwriting focused on counterparty credit and enforceability.
Selective
Gap financing
Loans against unsold territories, capped tightly and secured behind the Producer Offset lender. Loss experience diverges sharply from the offset book. We run gap as a ring-fenced sleeve with its own approval thresholds.
Repeat clients
Slate and revolving facilities
Facilities to established production groups that roll across multiple projects, with deal-by-deal draw tests. Reduces origination drag for both sides and rewards proven credit behaviour.
Structural protections
What makes a screen loan senior secured.
Senior secured is a claim on paper and a set of mechanics in practice. The protections below are the mechanics. They are where Australian screen finance diverges materially from US and UK equivalents, and where due diligence gets granular.
SPV discipline
A single-purpose vehicle applies for the Producer Offset, incurs QAPE and holds the entitlement. Structured correctly, the SPV can be voluntarily wound up immediately after wrap, with a liquidator lodging an accelerated tax return so the ATO rebate flows months earlier than a normal year-end cycle.
PPSR first-ranking
Security registered under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 over the offset receivable, the underlying IP, the negative and delivery materials, bank accounts, insurance proceeds and all book debts. Pre-close PPSR searches are non-negotiable to establish priority.
Offset assignment
Assignment of the right to receive the rebate, plus arrangements directing the payment into a lender-controlled collection account. The Provisional Certificate is the pre-production diligence artefact; the Final Certificate triggers payment.
Independent QAPE opinion
Every loan requires an independent QAPE opinion from a qualified CPA or CA before drawdown. The opinion is the basis for the advance calculation. We commission opinions directly rather than delegate to the producer.
Completion guarantee
Required on every Producer Offset loan, other than television projects where the broadcaster or streamer assumes equivalent completion risk. We work with recognised international bond providers. Delivery or repayment is the lender backstop.
Interparty agreement
Binds financiers, the completion guarantor, the SPV, the rights-holding company, the sales agent and the distributors to agreed intercreditor priorities. The most heavily negotiated document in a typical Australian film financing; we do not proceed without one.
Loan-to-value discipline
Up to 90 percent against the Producer Offset rebate. 70 to 80 percent against contracted pre-sales with investment-grade counterparties. Lower against non-investment-grade pre-sales. Materially lower against gap. Blended LTV reviewed across the book, not just per-product.
Insurance stack
Errors and omissions, cast, negative, equipment and general production insurance, with lender loss-payee endorsements standard across the policy set.
Return profile
Current-pay yield. Short tenor. Disciplined loss history.
The strategy is yield-driven. Returns come from interest margin on drawn loans and arrangement and exit fees, not from equity kickers. Short tenor, short duration, and current-pay distribution characterise a well-run Australian Producer Offset book. The figures below are targets and market ranges, not guarantees.
Target net IRR
8-12%
Target cash yield
6-9% p.a.
Historical loss rate (disciplined books)
<0.5%
Producer Offset loan coupon
8-14% p.a.
Arrangement fees
1.5-3.0%
Typical loan tenor
6-18 months
Information on this page is provided to wholesale clients only within the meaning of section 761G of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and is not intended for retail investors. Targets and market ranges are not guarantees. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Flagship fund
The MatchCut Fund.
Our multi-strategy wholesale fund deploys this capital stack across entertainment and film finance. Request the information memorandum under NDA for strategy detail, fees and current pipeline.