Here is the summarized and structured Q&A summary of the Vitrina podcast interview with Phil Hunt, CEO of Head Gear Films, focusing on the company’s journey, current focus areas, and the challenging state of independent film financing.

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Head Gear Films CEO Phil Hunt on the State of Independent Film Financing

1. Vitrina: Can you provide an elevator pitch for Head Gear Films, detailing its lines of business and its evolution from its founding?

Phil Hunt: Head Gear is approaching a quarter of a century old, having started as a production company. I and my co-founder, Compton Ross, are now the most highly credited producers ever in the UK since records began in 1906, having financed around 550 odd movies. After initially attempting production, we shifted focus to lending, deciding to “put money into people who really know what they’re doing”. In recent years, we’ve expanded our footprint as a producer, packaging projects on behalf of other producers. This side involves acting almost as their business affairs team, handling legal, financial, and running finance plans. Our original business remains structured lending, which focuses on a deal point of view rather than being purely creative.

“I believe Compton and I are now the most highly credited producers ever in the UK since records began in 1906. So we’ve been hard at work.”

2. Vitrina: What is Head Gear Films’ sweet spot in terms of project selection, considering genres, markets, and budgets?

Phil Hunt: Our sweet spot is projects that “the market really wants”. We do a lot of volume, about 35 to 40 movies a year, which gives us a lot of data and deep relationships with buyers and sellers. Today, a movie has to be “completely exceptional,” as there’s no room for anything less. Predominantly, the genres that are working are action, thriller, and horror. Drama is “not really working” in the independent world. We are looking for low cost, high concept within those working genres, combined with A-list and successful directors.

“The bull’s eye is tiny. That’s what we’re looking for.”

3. Vitrina: How has the digital revolution and the collapse of traditional windows impacted the independent film business model and the valuation of movies?

Phil Hunt: The digital revolution “has screwed it completely,” leading to “no windows, nothing,” and values plummeting. Previously, there were distinct windows: cinema, rental (VHS or DVD), purchase (DVD/VHS), and eventually free TV. Today, it has all collapsed into one, and physical media, which generated a “huge amount of revenue,” is gone. The industry is now controlled by a handful of streamers. Crucially, if a film is non-theatrical, the income returning to the film investment level has gone down by 90%.

“As soon as your film is non-theatrical, the income that you get back to the film investment level has gone down by 90%. It’s crazy.”

4. Vitrina: Can you describe the size and composition of the projects in your annual portfolio, and how your approach has evolved, given the current market?

Phil Hunt: We approach our portfolio with a “hedge fund” mentality, being “so process driven” and using complex underwriting tools, focusing on “portfolio management” and being conscious of concentration risks. Our average budget movie is probably around $8-9 million, with most falling in the sub-$10 million range, though we have done films up to $80 million. We do a mix of debt and equity. We’ve seen a shift where ‘gap’ (senior equity) is becoming the new equity, which is a higher risk that many competitors are avoiding.

“Head Gear Films has become is almost like a hedge fund because we’re now so process driven, which then this all sounds very dull, I guess, from a creative perspective.”

5. Vitrina: How has the monetization and exploitation of film intellectual property changed in the last five years, particularly regarding the role of streamers and distributors?

Phil Hunt: COVID-19 sped up pre-existing market trends. Theatrical has been a “massive struggle” and has never recovered. The B2B market changed considerably when streamers stopped buying films from all rights buyers/distributors and started making their own originals. Most income for distributors traditionally came from the Pay One window (Subscription Video on Demand/SVOD sale). When streamers stopped buying from all rights buyers, these distributors lost the money needed to advance on independent films. The film’s value has plummeted massively because the Pay One and Pay Two windows amounted to “like 75 % of what the film’s value is”.

“The Pay One and Pay Two must have amounted to like 75 % of what the film’s value is. So yeah, I mean, I’d say that’s the big, big change in the past five years.”

6. Vitrina: What is your perspective on the viability of micro-budget films in the current climate?

Phil Hunt: Micro-budgets can work if you are “controlling a lot of that value chain” and making it in a territory that supports its own “homegrown movies,” such as India or France. However, the general problem is the inability to afford “star power”. We are living in a “celebrity conscious world” where people choose a movie with a star over one without, even if it’s not as good. With production costs globally increasing and revenue decreasing, true micro-budget movies are “really hard, certainly in English language”. I advise every producer to “cut their budget in half”.

“And right now you’ve got increasing production costs globally, but decreasing revenue.”

7. Vitrina: Given the financing crunch, what is your outlook for 2026, and what advice do you have for independent producers?

Phil Hunt: We are receiving “huge amounts of submissions because people are just not getting their films made”. The problem is that many of the finance plans are “pie in the sky” and won’t work. We are frequently telling producers that their budget “needs to come down massively” or that they should “just don’t do that movie”. The market will never “come back” to what it was; it will only change. The core advice for survival is to keep overheads as low as possible, retain as much capital as possible, and avoid making big risks.

“The problem is their finance plans are just pie in the sky. They’re not going to work… Your budget needs to come down massively or just don’t do that movie.”

8. Vitrina: How does Head Gear Films approach international appeal, particularly for the English-language projects it backs?

Phil Hunt: Everything we do at Head Gear Films is for the international market. While we are a British company based in London, we are “completely international” in our business focus. I constantly build projects to ensure they have maximum potential for the international market. We primarily do English language films because, when dubbed or subtitled, English language “does export to pretty much every territory around the world”.

“I’m constantly building projects up to ensure that they have maximum potential for the international market.”