We're the People Who Make the Deals Make Sense
Act One Media structures film investments with real downside protection — built by an attorney who also writes and directs the films.
Act One Media structures film investments with real downside protection — built by an attorney who also writes and directs the films.
Most film investments are structured badly. Producers pitch passion. Investors take all the risk. Nobody talks about downside protection. We thought: what if someone built film deals the way private equity builds deals — with real structure, real collateral, and real math?
Act One Media was founded by Carmelo Chimera and Syed Ali Saeed in Chicago. Carmelo is a University of Chicago Law School graduate and former AM100 private equity attorney who also works as a writer, director, and producer. Ali is a founding partner at Saeed & Little, LLP, an Indiana University School of Law graduate with a mechanical engineering background. Together they combine deep legal expertise with hands-on production experience.
They use tax-efficient structures, secured debt with conservative LTV ratios, state incentive programs, and profit participation models. They structure deals where investors have real downside protection and producers get the capital they need.
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To create win-win film investment strategies that give investors better returns and elevate the independent film industry by helping good projects provide concrete value propositions to sophisticated investors.
We believe that structuring win-win financings is the key to unlocking greater investor interest in independent film. By aligning the incentives of investors and producers, we aim to enable higher-quality, more profitable films — strengthening the independent film ecosystem as a whole.
These aren't marketing slogans. They're the rules we work by.
We draw from a range of tools — tax-efficient strategies, secured debt, state rebates, profit participation — and tailor each deal to the specific project and investor. No cookie-cutter structures.
Every deal we structure is built on full disclosure. Investors see exactly where their capital goes, producers understand every term, and all parties consult independently with qualified tax advisers. We require full transparency because trust is the foundation of repeat business.
Investors get real downside protection and meaningful upside. Producers retain creative control and get funded on terms they can live with. When everyone wins, everyone comes back.
Legal expertise, financial structuring, and hands-on production experience.
Co-Founder & Managing Member
A University of Chicago Law School graduate and former AM100 private equity attorney, Carmelo focuses on corporate structure, film financing, and securities. He has worked in the film industry as a writer, director, and producer. His credits include Sin Eater, Name The Demon, and the upcoming Every Fiber of Your Being (Alec Baldwin) and Good Side Of A Bad Man (Emile Hirsch, Harvey Keitel). He is currently in post-production on Unarmed (Tzi Ma, Martin Kove, Kirk Acevedo) and in pre-production on Deify.
Co-Founder & Managing Member
A founding partner at Saeed & Little, LLP, Ali is an Indiana University School of Law graduate with a background in mechanical engineering. He serves as general counsel for small, medium, and publicly traded companies, and has negotiated settlements worth over $85 million. A Super Lawyer nominee every year since 2016, Ali brings sophisticated transactional and litigation experience to Act One Media's deal structuring and investor relations. He is a recognized civic leader and recipient of the Access to Justice Award.
Whether you're an investor exploring opportunities or a filmmaker seeking financing, we'd love to hear from you.
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