Funding film the Silicon Valley way

Wall Street investment banker–turned–entrepreneur

Thomas Trenker

, a first-generation immigrant from Austria by way of Switzerland,

founded Film Angels in his

twenties

after helping found or fund multiple startups

. Sand Hill Road venture capitalist

Saad Khan

of Guy Kawasaki's Garage Technology Ventures

joined as his

cofounder

after hearing Thomas speak at Stanford business school's Future of Entertainment

conference

, where he challenged top studio executives to rethink film finance

. The founding team also comprises a diverse group of influential Silicon Valley

professionals

from a variety of backgrounds such as early-stage investing, corporate law, real estate, software development, and internet startups

.

Film Angels has since grown into a go-to resource for Hollywood

A-listers

, Oscar winners and nominees, industry greats, and rising stars

looking to fund their independent films or personal projects outside the studio system. Typically, they pursue

creative control

, which counts as a precious commodity in high demand among the world's top filmmakers

.

Statistical analysis reveals $5-10 million budgets as the sweet spot of successful film investment. They allow for first-rate, Academy Award–winning production values without precluding superior risk-adjusted ROIs. Win-wins become not only possible but increasingly likely.

Unrivaled platform for the best and brightest

With up to 1,000 potential investors in attendance at a time, Film Angels meetings have served as a powerful platform for the in-person pitches of many celebrated filmmakers and famous actors, including

Lori Petty

("League of Their Own," "Point Break," "Tank Girl," "Poker House")

,

Sean Astin

("Lord of the Rings," "Goonies," "Rudy")

,

David Lynch

("Twin Peaks," "Dune," "Mulholland Dr.")

,

Matt Smith

("Doctor Who," "Womb")

,

Adrian Grenier

("Entourage," "Devil Wears Prada")

,

Peter Krause

("Parenthood," "Six Feet Under," "Truman Show")

,

Danny Glover

("Lethal Weapon 1-4," "Saw," "Color Purple," "2012," "Shooter")

,

David Arquette

("Scream," "Cougar Town")

,

Kristin Davis

("Sex and the City")

,

Frank Darabont

("Shawshank Redemption," "Walking Dead," "Green Mile," "Mist," "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein")

,

Ajay Naidu

("Office Space," "Pi," "Bad Santa")

,

Ron Fricke

("Star Wars III," "Samsara," "Baraka")

,

Barrie Osborne

("Matrix," "Lord of the Rings," "Great Gatsby")

,

Eugene Roddenberry Jr.

("Star Trek," "Earth: Final Conflict")

, and

Ralph Guggenheim

("Toy Story")

. We invite only accredited

investors

with an express interest in movies

to attend these private events and to participate in thoroughly vetted investment opportunities. (Under the federal

securities laws,

a company that offers or sells its securities must register the securities with the SEC or find an exemption from the registration requirements. The federal securities laws provide companies with a number of exemptions. For some of the exemptions, such as Rule 506 of Regulation D,

a company may sell its securities to what are known as

accredited investors.

The term accredited investor is defined in Rule 501 of Regulation D.

)