Head Gear Films is putting a number behind the next U.S. production incentive cycle. The London-based indie financier is opening a U.S. operation and plans to deploy $120 million into American independent film and TV during its first year, CEO and co-founder Phil Hunt told Deadline.
Samantha Allwinton, previously COO of Head Gear Films, will run the new unit as Director of Operations from Denver, splitting time with Los Angeles. Head Gear US will make its market debut at AFM in November and follow with Sundance in January.
The timing is a federal tax credit play
The expansion arrives while Congress weighs the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, which would add a proposed federal tax credit on top of existing state incentives. Hunt said he expects the measures to take effect by year-end, and wants Head Gear “to be there before the rush.”
The math matters for producers. Hunt said U.S. producers could see half of a budget covered by credits, leaving the rest to be financed through presales, gap, bridge and other structures. Head Gear says it has closed that gap on close to 600 films.
- Deploy $120 million in U.S. indie film and TV finance in year one
- Provide gap, bridge, presale and incentive financing, plus packaging
- Build a Denver-LA base under Samantha Allwinton
- Return to hands-on production as “the producer’s producer”
Why it matters for deal flow
Head Gear says more than half of its deal flow is already American films. The U.S. office is less a pivot than a time-zone and origination play: being local makes it easier to underwrite projects, meet producers and respond before the rush.
The company recently helped finance The Apprentice, Talk to Me and How to Have Sex. Hunt framed the wider strategy as moving beyond pure finance: working behind the producer on packaging, business affairs, finance plans and long-term collection, guided by data. Head Gear currently funds about 30 films a year and acts as a hands-on executive producer on roughly a third.
The ScreenStat take
For indie producers, the signal is to model the combined incentive stack early. If the federal credit lands as proposed, competition for gap and bridge providers will tighten quickly. Financiers that can move before legislation is finalized—and bring data to the recoupment conversation—will have an advantage.
Allwinton’s pitch is direct: “Independent producers need partners who understand their projects and know how to make the numbers work.” That is the operating thesis of the new shop.
Source: Deadline
