CON AIR DIRECTOR RAISES £2.3M ON SYNDICATEROOM

An English director who has worked on films including Con Air and Tomb Raider has completed a £10m funding round after raising nearly £2.3m through Cambridge-based SyndicateRoom.
Simon West, whose other films include The General’s Daughter andExpendables 2, plans to use the investment to fund his latest film, Salty.

West, whose films have taken more than $1bn (£590m) at the global box office, is the first A-List Hollywood director to finance a movie through crowdfunding.

Salty Film Ltd listed itself on SyndicateRoom in July 2014. Angel investors bought approximately £450,000 of equity in the business and the remaining shares were sold to anyone willing to invest a minimum of £1,000.

Simon West said: “I am delighted to have achieved this ‘world first’ by selling shares in my upcoming film directly to investors, the movie going fans themselves. Now it’s up to me to make a great film and repay their support with great returns!”

Produced by Los Angeles and UK-based production company Simon West Productions, Salty is adapted from the novel by Mark Haskell Smith.

The film is an action-comedy which follows an ageing rock star and reformed sex addict Muso who is persuaded to take a holiday to Thailand by his wife, a former supermodel. Things take a turn for the worse when she’s kidnapped by Thai pirates raising money to buy a new boat.