Not sure whether this is the right kind of forum for this but I am in the throws of writing a business plan for a fictional universe that can be franchised in film, tv, comics and games. I'm looking for a partner who has investment knowledge and can own a room (as they say) when pitching to private equity and corporate sponsorship. Does anybody have a suggestion where the best place to pin up a few notices might be to find a suitable business partner? My own background is creative so rather than go to the usual film/movie finance sources I thought I might hunt around the more traditional investment and city internet haunts instead. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance folks.

In all honesty, I think you have to develop the franchise properly in the first place - ie, show its viability through publishing a series of books, having a number of scripts filmed, or even a computer game.

Otherwise, all you have is an idea, and plenty of people have those - what investors will need is for you to demonstrate you have a business, and therefore invest in helping to grow it.

Hi Brian

Thanks for the reply but this is quite a different plan from taking already published material. This is building from the ground up and includes such things as ARG's (alternate reality games). A lot of material is being provided for free which builds an audience in readiness for the feature film and a theatrical release. I am experienced in the business and I know the distribution patterns and development procedures reasonably well. I don't wish to go into details here but I have built the business plan around some fairly innovative marketing procedures. What I am looking for is not investment right now but a partner who can route me in and help pitch to the right people once we have laid the proper legal and business groundwork.

This is something I am really excited about as I know nobody is doing it this way. Some are getting closer to these fairly new methods but it's a growing way of doing business.

Thanks again for the reply

I can only wish you the best of luck, but even under normal conditions getting investment for a business that does not have a proven business model has always been challenging.

Heck, I run a business that has never had any debt, always had cash surplus, and has guaranteed income - but the banks wouldn't lend to it because it was "internet based".