Jeff Steele Email & Phone Number

Currently, performing as Executive Producer. I strategically utilize expertise in tax credit assessment and monetization, as well as develop and avail business opportunities, evaluate financing structures, monitor pre-production, physical production, and post-production, and steer cost control. Responsibly lead and direct cross-functional teams to maximize productivity and profitability. I am overseeing and managing film finance packaging to ensure cost-effective processes. Thoughtfully devise and implement strategic financial plans and recoupment schedules, confirming timely deliveries. Adhere strictly to international standards for media entertainment.Some of my most significant achievements and contributions within this job role include:• Delivered effective entertainment finance advisory with specialized expertise in structured finance for mainstream, independent feature film, and television projects.• Performed in high-volume production and financing environments, offering exceptional outcomes.• Sourced millions of dollars in completion funding for independent features and television projects - allowing them to finish production on schedule.

BA for Jeep and client is a direct signatory to SAG-AFTRA. Worked collaboratively, as a partner with Producers and Account teams to ensure that all talent and third-party rights for all creative assets are secured, licensed, and compensated in accordance with Legal, Industry Guidelines and Union Agreements; as well as intellectual property, third party rights, privacy and publicity laws, copyright, and trademark laws, and an awareness of content management and contracts/licensing.BA for live action TV commercials shot in Arizona, Toronto, and Barcelona.Assisted in negotiations for talent, music rights, name & likeness and all other contracts for all platforms. Responsibilities:• Managed and consulted on all things related to hiring and tracking rights associated with talent and third party rights.• Callouts / Reviewed commercial concepts and recommend best method to hire performers and advise/consult on the most cost-effective way to produce/execute a creative asset.• Help determine the third-party rights needed and flag any issues. • Be organized, manage talent budgets and consult with agency producers on estimates & monitor talent and production budgets for TV, Radio, and integrated/digital production jobs.• Knowledgable with SAG/AFTRA commercials contract, union waivers to reduce client costs, i.e., Low Budget Waivers, Internet Only, etc.). Procured SAG/AFTRA waivers (i.e. Low-Budget, PSA, Experiential Coverage, Experiential Social Media). Prepared performer contracts/releases. Reviewed all executed contracts, licenses, and process session payments.• Providing Accounting with internal estimates, purchase orders and invoices.

BA for Burger King (BK) and 7/11.Oversee entire Font Licensing and Compliance Process for Dentsu Creative US• Maintain suppliers relationships, secure vendor quotes, and manage ongoing license agreements, along with legal.Independently support producers on non-union productions, domestic and foreign• Support VP on high stakes/high budget union and non-union productions.• Work with producers to create estimates and assess talent requirements per project.• Worked on social, influencer and digital productions.• Experience with online and social media usage and rights in all facets for business affairs for all social and digital work within the integrated production department.• Work with legal to ensure teams are following process for vetting all materials for infringement risks.• Work with clearance service to vet anything related to an execution.• Advise account team on talent and third- party rights agreements that will come up for expiration.• Draft purchase orders, production contracts, releases, affidavits, music rights agreements and other production/vendor documents together with agency legal counsel.• Resolves production billing-related questions from staff, clients, vendors, and performers.• Understanding insurance requirements and special insurance needs for productions.• Work with production companies and all third- party vendors in obtaining all COI's or client's insurance companies to provide insurance to vendors when needed.• On-board / setup freelance crew within Extreme Reach Crew Services payroll company.• Familiar with network clearance process.• Experience working with third-party payroll companies and ability to create all necessary session and usage payments for processing through the payroll company.• Knowledge of copyright and licensing of rights for commercial usages.• Ensure appropriate rights are secured to protect the agency and client from potential infringements• Work with producers and A/P to setup new vendors.

Chicago, Il, Us

Supported the Business Affairs team managing signatory and non-signatory clients.Creating estimates, booking VO and OCP talent. Researched crypto and NFT projects.

Chicago, Il, Us

Firebrand Collective is a lifestyle brand that builds community around activism and social change, focusing on amplifying marginalized voices.

BA for Modelo Beer.Agency is signatory to SAG-AFTRA.Supported the agency's production process (for their Beer and and Wine brands), by putting to use best practices to ensure an efficient, reliable and accurate workflow.Built a strong and positive working relationship with Producers, Creatives and Account teams to review work, resolve issues, and provide solutions.Managed procurement of all production services, e.g., Bid Specs, Production Contracts, Purchase Orders etc.Worked with internal accounting processes, procedures and relevant software.Developed skills in creating and reviewing performer contracts and releases, reviewed finished commercials to ensure all rights were obtained, developed final cast reports / completion reports, and renegotiate contracts when necessary.Supported other business production needs as they arise.Worked collaboratively with production and post production teams.Working knowledge of the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract and the American Federation of Musicians Contract. Some experience with integrated, non-broadcast and offshore productions.Exceptional organizational skills.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

Managed administrative and compliance for legacy non-profit and new for-profit startup entities, including GDPR and other regulations governing global membership data. Facilitated non-profit audits, spearheaded employee and contractor onboarding and termination policies, operations, and strategic plans. Setup and admin for Google Suite, Slack, Basecamp and other administrative and operations software solutions.

Chicago, Il, Us

Taught four courses per semester, at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the Business and Entrepreneurship Dept.:-- Created the popular Executive Producing for Film and TV Practicum (Graduate and Undergraduate)-- Business of Film and TV (Undergrad)-- Entrepreneurship (Undergrad)-- Strategic Management (Undergrad)-- Strategic Planning (Grad)Coordinated the Film Business BA Concentration.Member of the Departmental Curriculum Committee, DEI Committee, and Student Engagement Committee

Chicago, Il, Us

Instruct the following courses in the Business and Entrepreneurship Department:-- Executive Producing for Film and Television Practicum (Teaches executive producing, financial management, deal making, and investor/lender relations for film, TV & digital media fields.)-- The Business of Film and TV-- Entrepreneurship

Chicago, Illinois, Us

Helped launch the 3DPX (The 3D Printer Experience), which started as a pop-up shop, and grew to become the top high-end, retail, product innovation and 3D printing service bureau in Chicago. 3DPX services all of Chicago's top advertising and marketing firms, airlines, universities, architects, designers, crowdfunding entrepreneurs, inventors, and more. 3DPX was sold in 2018, but is still going strong!I was the founding general manager, where I created and managed business operations, overseeing 11 employees at its peak, which included 3D modelers, 3D printing technicians, administrative and retail staff. Also setup and managed Quickbooks, POS and Salesforce systems as well as other operational technologies.In 2015 I segued from GM to advisor to the Founder/CEO, until the company was sold in 2018.

Making social enterprises sustainable and measurable.The MetaSpace is a social enterprise ecosystem that helps social-entrepreneurs launch for-profit businesses that have social missions, by providing impact-funding, back-office support and shared resources.

$60m Equity & Distribution Fund specializing in higher-budget, mainstream, feature film and television properties that were produced and distributed by its affiliate companies: Magnet Media Productions and Dignity Distribution.Assessed the commercial viability of film and television projects that were submitted for financing. I would also identify other lending and investment parters for projects under consideration. Also performed tax credit assessments, recommended U.S. and international tax incentives for physical and post-production. Assessing budgets and performing revenue analyses.Executive Producer on "Dark Tide":-- MMG was the equity investor for $14m feature film starring Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez. Directed by John Stockwell.-- I facilitated the UK and South African bilateral treaty co-production, so the film could shoot physical production in South Africa with post-production in the UK.-- Structured, managed and closed highly complex, six-party financial closing that included 35 foreign presale contracts.Other film that MMG invested in and produced were "The Experiment" starring Adrian Brody and Forrest Whittaker; and "13" starring Mickey Rourke and Jason Stathem.

Managed $93mm US tax credit pipeline:-- Successfully facilitated the certification of $40mm in gross tax credits and rebates.-- Served as in-house tax incentive expert.-- Provided signoff on amount of tax credits to be advanced.-- Applied production experience with granular knowledge of statutes to provide line-item analysis of production budgets, so as to determine exact amount to be advanced to producers, as well as appropriate hold-backs and turnaround times.-- Provided statutory risk assessments for each state, country or other jurisdiction.-- Developed and maintained reporting on tax credit funding commitments, loan tracking, production and contingency status, delivery, etc.-- Advised producers on the best locations and spending to maximize incentive benefits.-- Forged long-term relationships with film commissioners and film offices.-- Leveraged relationships to expedite numerous tax credit filings and certifications.-- Successfully prevented the recapture of a $3mm rebate.Oversaw $150mm of production financing of 15 US-based pictures that were financed over a two year period, with production budgets ranging from $4m - $40m:-- Instrumental in sourcing and vetting material for financing, as well as monitoring production spending, delivery, sales, and recoupment. Also, involved in day-to-day of the $200mm, non-US, loan book.-- Worked with foreign sales companies to assess sales estimates and pre-sales, as well as follow-up for payment on US-based films.-- Worked with collection account managers to track sales payments and recoupment.-- Worked with senior lenders to get best rates on pre-sales, gap, etc.-- Developed in-depth financing models, which were applied to each project to assess risk, pricing, and the requisite amounts of equity, debt, and incentives, as well as analyses of ROI and timeline projections.Sign-off on each project's finance plan, which became a standard part of the credit approval process.

Created funding models, budget projections and investment decks for tech company specializing in online video search technology and online video distribution.Video Distribution Platform:-- Hot Potato was a video distribution & licensing platform for professionally produced factual video content, which used our precision video search technology to also function as a video Wikipedia.Precision Video Search Technology: -- Conceived of and helped develop a proprietary video search technology allowing web-crawlers to index professionally produced video content. Not just the words, but the music, action and more.MPEG-M: International Standard for Timecoded Post-Production Deliverable Documents-- Helped strategize and develop MPEG-M, an international standard for time-coded, post-production deliverable documents for MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group).

Through the use of foreign and domestic tax credits/subsidies, foreign co-productions, and equity/gap/banking, I was in charge of procuring financing and other co-production opportunities for company's projects. In 2006, Plinyminor produced the Emmy nominated films "Mammoth" for NBC Universal's Sci Fi Channel as well as the hit theatrical documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" (released by Sony Pictures Classics).

"Who Killed the Electric Car?"​ is #53 of the PBS Top 100 Documentaries of all time!http://archive.pov.org/blog/news/2012/12/the-25-greatest-documentaries-of-all-time/Feature documentary that premiered at Sundance 2006 and was nominated for Writers Guild and Critics Choice Awards for Best Documentary. Released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics in Summer 2006. Has gone on to become a Congressional cult classic in the hallowed halls of the Capital.

Co-Produced and procured the financing for the Emmy nominated film, "Mammoth", which premiered on NBC Universal's Sci Fi Channel in April 2006. Film starred Tom Skerrit, Vincent Ventresca, and Summer Glau. Directed by Tim Cox.

Executive assistant to Mike Medavoy.

New York, Ny, Us

My humble beginnings...

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Arts Management

Master Of Business Administration - Mba, Business Administration, Management And Operations

Education record