What Makes Financiers, Buyers & Talent Say Yes?
Even the industry’s most prolific companies are reassessing what they’re looking for and what earns a “yes.” Leading financiers, buyers and talent representatives lift the curtain on what’s breaking through in today’s marketplace, what’s driving financing and packaging decisions, where priorities are shifting, and what it takes for a project to get the industry behind it and move forward.
Panelists:
Bill Way, CEO, FVV Media
Jess Lacy, Partner and Head of Film Finance and Distribution, Gersh
Jake Carter, Partner and Co-Head, Range Select
Speakers
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Bill WayCEO, FVV MediaBill Way is the Managing Partner and CEO of FVV Media, an award-winning independent production company and financier working across film, television, and theater with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and London.
Under Way’s leadership, FVV Media has built a growing body of acclaimed work, including National Geographic’s Academy Award-nominated SUGARCANE, HBO’s Peabody Award-winning REALITY and Neon’s Academy Award-nominated ARCO, as well as upcoming HOLD ON TO YOUR ANGELS, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal and THE PAINTED BRIDE, starring Jeremy Allen White, Mandy Patinkin, and Isabella Rossellini.
Way has expanded FVV Media beyond individual productions by building long-term partnerships and ownership positions across the independent entertainment media ecosystem. FVV Media has producing partnerships with Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas-led MountainA and Adam Driver-led Jury-Rigged Pictures, as well as equity in additional film distribution and production companies.
Before founding FVV Media, Way spent 26 years at Accenture, ultimately serving as Managing Director, and later help found MCE Social Capital
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Jess LacyPartner and Head of Film Finance and Distribution, GershJessica Lacy is Partner and Head of Film Finance and Distribution at Gersh. Previously she was at Range Media Partners, where she launched and led Range Select, the company’s in-house film finance and sales division. Prior to Range, Lacy spent more than two decades at ICM Partners as a Partner and Head of the International and Independent Film department, where she built and led one of the most influential independent film operations in the industry.
Across her career, Lacy has overseen the structuring, financing, packaging, and distribution of films premiering at Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, SXSW, and Tribeca, brokering sales for many of the most acclaimed titles on the global festival circuit. Recent highlights include Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour, which sold to Netflix for $10 million; the Alan Ritchson–starring revenge thriller Motor City; Sundance 2025 selection By Design; and Raoul Peck’s Cannes award-winning Ernest Cole: Lost & Found.
Additional recent and upcoming projects include Raoul Peck’s Orwell: 2+2=5; Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin’s Billy Joel: And So It Goes; She Rides Shotgun directed by Nick Rowland and starring Taron Egerton; Guy Nattiv’s Tatami and Harmonia; and Casey Affleck’s directorial debut Company. Gersh and Range will work together to co-represent several upcoming titles, including Frank & Louis directed by Petra Volpe and Family Movie, directed by and starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.
Lacy’s earlier career milestones include negotiating the record-breaking acquisition of CODA, which became the highest-priced Sundance sale in history and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as Drive My Car, Cha Cha Real Smooth, One Night in Miami, and I Am Not Your Negro.
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Jake CarterPartner and Co-Head, Range SelectJake Carter is a Partner and Co-Head of Range Select, the film finance and sales division of Range Media Partners. Carter spent the past five years as an agent in UTA’s Independent Film Group in LA and New York, specializing in global film finance, distribution and marketing strategies for independent and co-financed features and TV, helping the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers see their work reach global audiences. Some of the films on which Carter arranged financing and sold while at UTA include Oliver Hermanus’ History of Sound, Todd Haynes’ May December and Na Hong Jin’s Hope. Prior to UTA, Carter was at 30WEST, where he oversaw production on the company’s slate and Black Bear Pictures, after beginning his career at Sloss Eckhouse Dasti Haynes LawCo.