Southbox Adds Former ICM Exec Chandler Heinz Laun and Finance Industry Veteran Jonathan Hecht to Leadership Team to Help Navigate Company’s Aggressive Growth
The team in Cannes
Chandler Heinz, Jonathan Hecht and Jon Gosier
Southbox Entertainment, a film and TV production company founded by investor Jon Gosier, has secured a $25 million partnership with sister company FilmHedge to greenlight scripted series and feature films. The company is in the process of raising an additional $55 million from private investors for a $80 million “first money” fund.
The company is also expanding its leadership team, bringing on former ICM executive Chandler Heinz Laun as Chief of Staff at Southbox Entertainment and financial services industry veteran Jonathan Hecht as Managing Partner at Southbox Entertainment and Partner at its parent company Southbox Capital.
“Generous tax incentives, an incredible talent pool, and world-class studio facilities make Atlanta ideal for production,” said Jon Gosier, founder and CEO of Southbox Entertainment and partner companies Southbox Capital and FilmHedge. “Southbox and FilmHedge are in a stage of tremendous growth as the global demand for content surges. I’m thrilled to welcome Chandler and Jonathan to the team to help lead the organizations as we expand our foothold in the entertainment industry.”
Southbox Entertainment is one of few companies greenlighting projects from Georgia and is capable of fully self financing productions through its own fund and partnerships with debt financier FilmHedge.
“Hollywood has long viewed Atlanta as the underdog. Yet, in the past 10 years, Atlanta has become the epicenter of the entertainment industry. There’s a certain rebellious spirit to being part of the film community of the South. We aren’t supposed to be here, yet here we are. Now more productions happen in Atlanta annually than New York and Los Angeles combined,” Gosier added.
Southbox Entertainment is committed to financing meaningful and impactful content that engages and inspires audiences everywhere. The company finances internal productions as well as independently financed projects. Both Southbox and FilmHedge finance series and features with budgets between $5 million and $35 million, which tend to be independent productions highly sought for acquisition by distributors and studios.
“Film and TV is an undervalued and undercapitalized asset class,” according to Gosier. “By changing the way money works in the industry, notably by leveraging tech innovations to democratize funding, we can reach a new class of emerging producers in addition to those who are well-established.”
About Southbox Entertainment
Southbox is a motion picture and television finance company based out of Atlanta, Georgia. It is currently raising its ‘first-money’ fund for producers working on stories of all types and operates an internal content arm that develops original scripted content.
