A bid to bring a slice of Hollywood to Bermuda will be launched today.

The Bermuda International Film Festival Purpose Trust is to highlight the advantages of the island as a base for film financing and production.

Patrice Horner, a Biff Purpose Trust trustee, said: “We want to encourage people to incorporate film companies in Bermuda.

“We’ve done this over the last year, talking to various industry members and local service providers as the BIFF Purpose Trust.”

Ms Horner, a financial consultant with a background in film production and finance, said that film giants Disney and Paramount run distribution and some licensing out of Bermuda.

She added that an increase in alternative distribution channels like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu had fuelled demand for more movies to be made, but at a cheaper cost than the blockbuster budgets from major film studios.

And Ms Horner said that, with the financial expertise already available in Bermuda, it could become an industry hot spot for film professionals looking for efficient corporate structuring, financing and investment opportunities.

The Biff Purpose Trust is to host three panel discussions starting tonight to turn the spotlight on the island as a hub for the film industry.

Dan Barnett, chief commercial officer for the America’s Cup, will discuss managing international marketing and broadcast rights for the 2017 race series.

Tomorrow, representatives from law firm Appleby, the Bank of Butterfield, the Bermuda Stock Exchange and professional services firm KPMG will look at the legal structures and financing options in Bermuda, which could help film makers manage international royalty streams and give them administrative efficiency.

The panel will also look at the Bermuda Stock Exchange’s mezzanine financing, which can provide mid-range financing for company listings on the BSX and attract investors.

On Friday, there will be a panel discussion on BidSlate, a global content rights marketplace and online platform for buying and selling distribution rights which targets the independent film sector, while IT company Fireminds will outline the island’s electronic infrastructure.

Ms Horner said: “There will need to be more quality films, which means that, because of the economics, films will have to be produced more efficiently.

“A lot of the cost of films is the contracts up front and negotiations for financing.”

She added that Bermuda’s separate accounts company legislation could also be attractive to film makers.

Ms Horner said: “Bermuda is a unique locale for becoming an international media hub, not necessarily filming here, although that would be great, but incorporating here and creating business for law firms.

“It would also support the accounting and advisory firms like KPMG.”

She added: “Companies can get access to private equity through the Bermuda Stock Exchange. That provides an added level of comfort to investors because they know the companies are vetted, properly established and adhere to sound regulations.”

Ms Horner said: “Bermuda is looking to pursue new business opportunities and this could very well be one of them — and it will help the Bermuda International Film Festival be more relevant.

“Fireminds are involved because we believe we could actually digitally store and disseminate films from here once the rights are purchased.

“It’s also possible to have a pay-on-demand system as well because there is so much optical cable available from Bermuda.”

The Mezzanine Film Market — Going Independent series of discussions will be held at the Biff Lounge, 46 Reid Street, Hamilton, between 2pm and 4pm over the three days.