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Thread: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

  1. Default Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    Diversify for film 'n' profit
    By Don Mecoy
    Business Writer

    Oklahoma's only publicly traded movie company has agreed to acquire two medical companies, a deal that will move Graymark Productions' focus away from the making of low-budget films, the Oklahoma City company said Thursday.

    Graymark, based in downtown Oklahoma City, has produced five movies since the company went public in 2005 but never has been profitable.

    Graymark has agreed to exchange common stock for ownership interests in Apothecary RX LLC, which owns eight pharmacies in Oklahoma, Missouri and Minnesota, and Sleep Holdings LLC, which owns seven sleep diagnosis centers in Oklahoma and Texas.

    Graymark Chairman John Simonelli said the deal should close within a few months, and the transaction should turn the company's fortunes around.

    "This will put us strongly into profitability and it increases our revenues dramatically,” Simonelli said. "We feel this is going to make our shareholders money, and that's what we're in business for.”

    Deficit gets bigger
    Two Graymark insiders, major shareholder Roy T. Oliver and director Stanton Nelson, hold controlling interests in the companies that will be merged into Graymark, the company said. Stanton serves as vice president of R.T. Oliver Investment Co., a privately held energy and real estate company controlled by Oliver, who owned 11.7 percent of Graymark's outstanding shares as of Dec. 31.
    Simonelli, who owned 12.1 percent of Graymark's outstanding shares on Dec. 31, is Graymark's only full-time employee.

    The movie production company lost $2.2 million last year and then posted a $181,356 net loss in the first three months of 2007, regulatory filings show. The company has generated an accumulated deficit of more than $4 million.

    Graymark commenced operations in August 2001, but didn't generate revenue from a movie production until it had signed distribution deals in 2005 for "Cloud 9,” a Burt Reynolds comedy, according to the company's regulatory filings. The company has completed filming four other movies, "The Hunt,” "Surveillance,” "Soul's Midnight” and "Fingerprints.”

    The company was formed to turn out low-budget movies, costing from $250,000 to $3 million to produce. After the planned merger, the name of the company likely will change, but no name has been selected, Simonelli said.

    "The problem is that we originally formed the company to be in the movie industry, and we made five films, and it just takes so long to get those out in marketplace,” Simonelli said. "It was not working well for shareholders.”

    Gray Frederickson, Graymark's president and chief operating officer, likely won't head the merged company. Frederickson, an Academy Award-winning producer, is part of Graymark's production team, which also included director Fritz Kiersch and casting director Fred Roos. Kiersch and Roos are on Graymark's board of directors.

    "I know that Gray is very interested in keeping the film industry alive here in Oklahoma, and he has my support in doing that, and we will do whatever we can,” Simonelli said. "But it probably will be outside Graymark. We probably will not be doing that in the public entity.”

    Graymark Productions's shares traded sporadically on the over-the-counter market, recently selling for 30 cents a share.

  2. Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    Well as a part-time actor I'd say this bites. But thanks for the news.

  3. Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    Hey...I met those guys!

    I was an Evil Henchmen in "The Hunt".

    Or more specifically...I was one of the guys on an ATV chasing the good guys around the forest one cold a$$ night out in Buttcrack, Oklahoma for the filming of it anyway.

    That was a fun night

  4. #4

    Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    This doesn't concern me too much. I predict that the Industry in Oklahoma will explode over the next 10-15 years.

  5. Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    Quote Originally Posted by JWil View Post
    This doesn't concern me too much. I predict that the Industry in Oklahoma will explode over the next 10-15 years.
    I suppose you mean "explode" is a good thing JW. I also think film has a good future in Oklahoma long term because of all of the young filmmakers doing pretty decent work locally, but what leads you to your conclussion?
    The Old Downtown Guy

    It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
    downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
    dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
    to observe and participate in the transformation.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    Yes, explode as in "good."

    As for my conclusion? Well, nothing concrete, just my own personal projections. I have an acting background (SAG) and keep up with it locally. I just hear good things and know people who want to make Oklahoma a magnet for film.

    If Austin can do it, we sure as hell can. The fact that Oklahoma has 11 different eco-regions is the biggest magnet we have. Films could be based in OKC and drive three hours in any direction and find just about any geographic look they were needing.

  7. Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    Yeah, I'm sure we will continue to grow, it's just a bit of a blow that one of our indie film companies has folded and another is struggling (that being the Greens' Every Tribe Entertainment).

  8. Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    Quote Originally Posted by JWil View Post
    The fact that Oklahoma has 11 different eco-regions is the biggest magnet we have. Films could be based in OKC and drive three hours in any direction and find just about any geographic look they were needing.
    That's a good point JW. There are lots of excellent locations in Oklahoma. However, so much real estate within line of site of a highway is being spoiled by the increasing number of billboards, I wonder how this effects location selection in Oklahoma for films not set in a contemporary time frame.

    Are you planning on catching any film or workshops at deadCENTER this year? A lot of local filmmakers do the workshops, so it seems like a good situation for talent to get a little personal exposure, do some networking etc.
    The Old Downtown Guy

    It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
    downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
    dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
    to observe and participate in the transformation.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    At one point a year or two ago the state legislature was trying to put a caveat in all the public funding for films that the films could not be rated R. I was wondering if anyone knows if that passed or not? Seemed like a potentially crippling blow to me.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    I was going into class a couple of days ago and saw a movie being filmed over on 23rd street. Just FYI.

    -- anyone know what movie?

  11. Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    I just noticed that the movie Bug that just came out is supposed to be set in Oklahoma, but wasn't filmed here. I wonder why? I would think it would be cheaper to film here than California and New Orleans, which is where it was shot.

  12. #12

    Default Re: Bad News for Oklahoma's Film Industry

    Quote Originally Posted by Midtowner View Post
    I was going into class a couple of days ago and saw a movie being filmed over on 23rd street. Just FYI.

    -- anyone know what movie?
    Yeah, I think so. If it was at OKC University, it was a student film. I saw an ad for it on craigslist.com . They needed students and others as free "extras". They were advertising for free extras to be there 10 hours. It was for a student film project that will hopefully air at independent film festivals. I forget what it was called.

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