KEY POINTS:
New Zealanders investing in the movie about motor racing legend Bruce McLaren would get a return on their investment before the movie was made, producers Team BLM say.
Team BLM (Bruce Leslie McLaren) say that under an innovative financial structure they have developed, foundation investors in this country
will cover the film's development stage.
They would take out their return and exit the project when the film was on-sold to a Hollywood studio.
Development of the biographic movie about the motor racing identity will make up a small part of the project. A development phase usually includes early work on the script and establishing locations.
Executive producer Barrie Osbourne - who was the producer for Lord of the Rings - estimates the final budget will come in at around $135 million. This is about eight times the budget of The World's Fastest Indian.
However, feature film budgets are difficult to quantify.
According to fellow director and chief executive Michael Garlick, the proposed structure would allow local investors access to the film business.
"They would not have to wait three years for the movie to be completed," he said.
Garlick would not detail the final structure for the company pending final checks to ensure it meets proper requirements under New Zealand commercial law.
It appears that after the developed project was on-sold and foundation investors had exited, the remaining shareholders in Team BLM would actually make the movie.
Garlick said that the local investment was already in hand and he expected to detail the plans in two weeks.
It is not yet clear the degree of interest Team BLM has received.
Garlick said the Bruce McLaren name was globally recognised and he was confident of interest to buy the developed project.
However, film industry sources questioned the appeal of the McLaren story outside New Zealand and motor racing enthusiasts.
The biggest box office hit in New Zealand - The World's Fastest Indian - was made for less than $20 million. But it had limited success outside New Zealand and Australia and a film budgeted at more than $100 million would need to be a global hit.
The development stage is the riskiest part of the notoriously risky film finance business.
Auckland-born McLaren suffered a crippling joint problem in his childhood but went on to win the 1959 US Grand Prix at 22, becoming the youngest-ever GP winner up to that time.
He formed the McLaren racing team and died in a car accident in 1970.
Garlick says the story does have universal appeal and the subject matter is a good start point for the financing structure to be used for other New Zealand films in the future.
Team BLM principals include Garlick, the company chairman, and lawyer and former Act MP Stephen Franks and Osbourne.
Filming is planned for next year in New Zealand, Britain Monaco, Germany, France and the US.