“It’s offered a mirror to check how we’re doing,” Caspian Films on Investment Readiness and giving female auteurs a voice
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Creative Enterprise Investment Readiness is designed to give founders all the advice they’ll need to successfully navigate the often complex world of investment. However, for one of its cohort members, the journey has been slightly different. As the founder of the independent production house Inceptive Films, Dominique Webb was delighted to be faced with an investment offer before her time on the scheme had reached its halfway point – but she quickly discovered her involvement with Investment Readiness was a particularly useful tool.
“While this investment opportunity happened separately from my time on the programme, I think I would have been in a very different situation without its guidance,” admits Webb, speaking as the ink on her investment offer was drying. “It’s been incredible to have a mentor to talk to and bounce ideas off because I’m doing it for real. Having them say things like ‘stand firm’ and ‘remember your value’ – and having a respected organisation like Creative UK behind me – it just adds a level of respect,” she adds. “It’s been brilliant.”
Webb started her career as a producer for TV commercials and music videos. Over the years, she’s worked in all corners of the industry, from documentary and video journalism projects to drama fiction on the big and small screen. After some time working as a university lecturer, Webb returned to producing with Inceptive Films to develop a slate of film and TV projects that boasted eye-catching subject matter and mainstream appeal.
“I saw lots of indie studios producing quality work that was quite niche in subject matter and scale. I was very interested in creating ambitious content for all platforms and wide audiences which was still high quality,” explains Webb, unpacking Inceptive Films’ driving ethos. “I also wanted to be a disrupter in the industry in that I didn’t want to be solely reliant on things like BFI funding. I wanted to sit between the independent and the commercial sector.”
The idea to diversify came as a result of launching during Covid, the ripples of which are still being felt across the film and TV sectors as far as financing is concerned. “Building on the skills I had in the commercial world and the independent filmmaking sector enabled me to be confident enough to pivot when Covid hit,” she continues. “I now work in TV as well as film.” Citing studios like Warp Films and Working Title as key influences, Webb wants to produce work that showcases ambitious stories that “hit the heart of audiences.”
However, with the sector still reeling from the pandemic, Webb has had to be equally flexible when it comes to raising finance. “The industry’s never been in this situation before where there’s so little funding and so little being greenlit, whether it’s for development or production,” she tells us. “For a small company without independent wealth behind it, it’s incredibly challenging. The funding models we’ve seen over the past 10 or 20 years are being dismantled; streamers want branding deals and financial capital partners – and that’s exactly what we’ve been trying to do,” adds Webb. “We’re pivoting into that model to be ahead of the game.”
After graduating from Creative UK’s Female Founders scheme, Webb decided to use the sector’s fallow financial period to focus on herself and her business. “The thing I was missing was having the development money that a company needs to take projects and yourself to the next stage – and if the industry isn’t funding that, how do you find it?” pondered Webb. “My main motivation for coming onto the Investment Readiness programme was to learn how to speak the language that investors want to hear and also how to connect with investors.”
Webb soon received the advice she was after: “We had a great session that gave us a comprehensive overview of what investors might ask us, how to value key things and what questions to ask at the end of a pitch,” she says, remembering one useful Investment Readiness panel. “Understanding the language that investors use, what specific terms mean and the pros and cons of various elements for creative companies was invaluable.”
With an industry mentor on hand to provide insight that they had gleaned from personal experience, Webb was able to navigate her own investment journey with ease and confidence. As a result, she feels the process has not only benefited the future of Inceptive Films but the way she operates as a creative founder.
“It’s definitely deepened my knowledge of being a business owner,” says Webb. “Beforehand, I thought finance was a scary unknown but being forced to focus on it has made me feel really empowered,” she smiles. “I feel valid in my negotiating abilities and understand the whole process. I’m much more confident talking to investors and raising investment, which is something I definitely intend to do in the future. It’s hard but it’s worth every bit of work you put in,” says Webb on whether she’d recommend the Investment Readiness scheme to others. “It’ll make you stronger as a business owner – and way more investable.”
Words and interview by Simon Bland