Veteran financier Joseph Newton Cohen joins Pollack Films as Managing Director of Film Finance
LOS ANGELES, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pollack Films today announced the launch of a new film finance fund and the appointment of Hollywood producer and financier Joseph Newton Cohen as Managing Director of Film Finance. Cohen's credits include Brokeback Mountain, 12 Years a Slave, Sicario, La La Land, Point Break and Malcolm X.
The fund gives institutional and private investors access to motion picture structured finance. Its lending spans bridge loans, finishing funds, tax credit monetization, gap loans and marketing financing (P&A) of finished films. Cohen and Pollack expect to grow the fund with capital from banks, family offices and private equity firms, and anticipate financing as many as fifty films over the first year with exponential growth thereafter.
"Film lending is one of the few genuinely uncorrelated assets. It does not move with the stock and bond markets, and our returns come from contracted collateral, not from whether a film performs at the box office," said Cohen. "You can make attractive returns investing in film on a systematic basis, but only if you are highly selective and apply rigorous underwriting standards. Michael and I have each developed tried and proven criteria that every project must meet before we advise an investor to deploy capital. We work to minimize risk and to maximize returns."
Cohen and Pollack have worked behind the scenes for decades, advising directors, producers, production companies, financiers and distributors from development through distribution since the 1980s. Together they have played a part in more than 100 films that have won Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTAs and earned over $5 billion at the worldwide box office.
The fund will lend into a large and growing market for film finance at a time when traditional bank capital has retreated from the sector, leaving disciplined specialist lenders to fill the gap.
"Joe and Michael have been active and successful in the development, finance, production and distribution of film for over forty years," said Eric Hatzimemos, Chairman and CEO of H/L Ventures, a prominent New York venture capital firm whose advisory arm, H/L Strategies, has worked closely with Pollack Films for years. "They mitigate risk by analyzing each film as an individual business, without sacrificing artistic integrity."
"Reading Joe's book, Investing in Movies: Strategies for Investors and Producers, reinforces that he is the authority on risk management in film finance," said Pollack. "Joe and I both started financing films in the 1980s, when investment firms were high on Hollywood. Joe was in London and I was in New York. After a long hiatus, we are enthused to bring this financing model back to the street."
The pair continue to meet with the world's leading talent agencies, management firms and independent filmmakers to assemble a portfolio of opportunities for investors.
About Pollack Films
Pollack Films is both a production company and a specialist film finance firm providing structured, asset-backed financing to the motion picture industry. Led by Chief Executive Officer Michael Pollack and Managing Director of Film Finance Joseph Newton Cohen, it pairs institutional finance experience with deep film and television expertise.
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