In the first instalment of 'In the Spotlite', managing director Marion Jones offers an introduction to one of the industry experts who brings depth and strength to the Spotlite Claims team.
Film and Television Production is a specialised field. At Spotlite we recognise the importance of working with industry experts with the required technical knowledge and experience to get productions back up on their feet and claims paid with the shortest and most efficient turnaround. We are delighted to announce that our team now includes a number of such experts including two new industry stalwarts in the areas of lighting and camera equipment (who we will be introducing over the coming weeks) plus our long-standing VFX experts and qualified production accountants, with whom we have worked for many years.
Industry Experience and Knowledge
In 2020 at the height of the pandemic, Geoffrey Odds joined Spotlite to undertake external audit work for us. Geoffrey had previously worked directly on studio and independent film productions, HETV returning series and with the famous creator of animated and live action TV series, Gerry Anderson. He started his career with Warner Brothers in 1982 working in the Pinewood production office. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, a Chartered Global Management Accountant (U.S. CPA equivalent), a member of the Production Guild GB and the Royal Television Society. Geoffrey also completed an MA in Screen Arts in 2003 where he specialised in writing and directing, subsequently producing and directing commercial videos, documentaries and short films. He even had a period drama screenplay optioned about motor racing in Italy in the 1950’s, before returning to freelance production accounting.
Being able to call on someone with Geoffrey’s wide range of experience in production as an accountant is an enormous benefit to our business. Not only can we be confident that the audits Geoffrey completes will be carried out quickly and accurately, but we can draw on his extensive knowledge of production to help all stakeholders find and agree a clear way forward with some of our more complex time element claims.
Complex Loss Management
Since joining Spotlite Geoffrey has helped the team deal with claims from across the world, valued between a few thousand dollars to many millions, in all areas of production from live action to animated TV series.
Some of our more complex claims involve numerous loss events often with locations in Europe, studio work in the UK and post-production in the USA. We work in multiple currencies and have to untangle which parts or days included in the claim relate to which loss. This can be very challenging both for producers and for the production and post-production accountants charged with collating the claim. We aim to make the whole process as straightforward as possible for all stakeholders so that the production team can get on with the day job of producing.
Tax Credits, Language Skills and VFX
The Spotlite team understands and calculates the applicable tax credits from different regimes as well as application of multiple deductibles when appropriate. To do this we have to know how productions schedule, the impact of actor availability, and be able to work in different languages. Thankfully we have French, German and Spanish speakers on the team which is also an enormous benefit. Our team also understands how VFX can sometimes help mitigate a loss and our retained VFX experts are able to help us assess what is related to the claim and what is the choice of the production. The work can be painstaking but claims are handled in a collaborative way at Spotlite claims. Our team of both adjusting and industry experts drive claims to a solution in the most pragmatic and efficient way, always mindful of balancing the interests of all of the various stakeholders.
For more information, please contact the Spotlite team on info@spotliteclaims.com