LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 18: A crew sets up cameras to film a mobile phone ad… [+] On-location November 18, 2006 in Los Angeles, California. A report released this week by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Environmental Institute finds that the film and TV industry is a major generator of haze, soot and greenhouse gas pollution. According to the report, the movement of trucks, generators, sets, earthquake and fire special effects, and other activities by industry create 140,000 tons of ozone and diesel particulate pollution each year. It is possibly second only to petroleum refineries in air pollutant emissions for which comparable data was not available, and third in greenhouse gas emissions for Southern California. The entertainment industry generates $29 billion in revenue and employs 252,000 people in the sector, and some industry executives have expressed a desire to further reduce pollution over concerns that tighter regulations drive more filming in other states and Canada. can. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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Lending veterans in the entertainment industry, Melanie Krinsky and Charlene Paling have joined together to form the Los Angeles-based Entertainment & Media Group at Western Alliance Bank.
The pair moved to Western Alliance in the autumn of last year to begin the process of setting up the institution’s entertainment lending branch. The new division has already put in $300 million in debt, pending reports of $100 million in potential deals.
Entities in the field of entertainment entrepreneurship are primarily habitual and usually go to a single source for funding, with the sheer volume of loans already granted highlighting a clear need in the market.
The pair has been working together in different companies since 2017. When they first met, Paling had recently moved from a career as a lawyer to banking for the entertainment sector, and Krinsky was summarizing his tenure at the LA entertainment bank.
“There’s something about being women in entertainment finance, especially as we’ve both evolved in our careers and traveled to international events, it’s definitely helped us bond,” Krinsky said.
Female writers and producers have statistically struggled to raise funding for projects and when they do are funded less than their white male counterparts. Paling and Krinsky’s goal was not only to fix this but to take advantage of a vast area of the region that is short of powerful stories and ideas.
The pair are enjoying their relationship with the bank so far, with Lending being a relationship-inspired endeavor.
Krinsky said at the bank: “The people we talk with in business haven’t heard of Western Alliance,”
“I love having the opportunity to tell them who this bank is. The first thing to know is that this is a national business bank with over $50 billion in assets – and everyone here, including the CEO and CEO, Excited to join Entertainment & Media Lending.
Western Alliance is a consistent player on Forbes’ list of America’s Best Banks and was named by S&P Global Market Intelligence as the second-best institution among the 50 largest public US banks in 2021.
Krinsky says, “I have been impressed by the depth of expertise in the international banking capabilities and national footprint of the bank in addition to all the resources and sophisticated products and services.” “Senior management wants to know more about this business, to understand our customers and our deals – they really want to say yes. This is a bank that has a prudent approach to credit, but everything is consistent. The Bank supports our desire – and the desire of our customers – to move quickly.
The bank’s executive vice president, Robert McAslan, who oversees the new division, said of the exciting progress made by the female founders: “In just six months, we have a list of the top entertainment companies doing business with, the bank’s capabilities and space. combined with increasing commitments. , is promising.”
Women Entrepreneurship
Frame Fitness’ co-founder and CEO, Melissa Bentivoglio, has had to navigate entrepreneurship as a woman since founding her company in February 2020. Given the clear difference in treatment in obtaining money and business from each point of view.
At the start of the COVID pandemic, she realized that investors weren’t thrilled about investing in such a volatile market brick-and-mortar, so she pushed for the launch of a state-of-the-art Pilates reformer, The Frame Reformer. So that people can work out from home.
The reformer has been affectionately dubbed the ‘Peloton of Pilates’ because of its potential to transform the at-home Pilates market.
The product changed her future as an entrepreneur and voted as the Best Pilates Reformer of 2022 by Women’s Health magazine, as an essential Pilates machine by PopSugar, and as the Best Pilates Equipment of 2022 by Well & Good Went.
Speaking about increasing investments as a female founder, she said: “It’s a challenge, and there’s definitely a risk to go ahead with it. I partnered with my husband and had three of our children to build prototypes of the reformer. Took it to Los Angeles.
“We anticipated after development that we needed more investment and that’s when I realized that navigating this environment was very different as a woman.”
Bentivoglio was able to adjust Frame Fitness’ business to meet new market and consumer demands, and at the same time attracted many investors to its doorstep.
After gaining a lot of attention in fitness and investment circles, Bentivoglio and co-founder Lee Belzberg secured a handful of strategic partnerships and investments.
All of the major investors in Frame Fitness’ digitally enabled, at-home Pilates reformer are major players in the traditional brick-and-mortar fitness space. Mark Mastrov, founder and former CEO of 24-Hour Fitness, Michael Bruno, owner and CEO of Core Health & Fitness, Jim Rowley, CEO of Crunch Worldwide, in addition to Jacqueline Johnson, marketing aficionado and founder of Create & Cultivate.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 31: A client exercises on July 31, 2012 at the 24-hour fitness center… [+] San Francisco, California. 24 Hour Fitness, the nation’s largest privately held fitness center chain, is up for sale and could fetch up to $2 billion. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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On the need for diversity and representation in the investment sector, he said: “It is extremely important that there are people from different perspectives and backgrounds in the lending and equity space. It is very difficult to understand the lives of people, and more importantly, the market at large. That’s how people miss out on opportunities.”
“Women in entertainment and media will be able to look at projects differently and have a level of understanding and relationships some people in this field may not have. Similarly with us, we have a mix of investors who understand the needs of our region and its surroundings. COVID – while devastating – gave us an opportunity that our investors understood because of our industry experience and our ability to connect. ” He added.
More diverse stories on the inclination of women project investment and investment is expected to flourish in the entertainment landscape overall.
