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‘Rust’ Producer’s Key Adviser — Her Dad — Pushed Tax Shelters and Hid Income, IRS Says
For the last few years, Emily Salveson has been touting a new model for investing in film. In interviews and in public appearances, she has said that the model was able to “solve the problem of risk” for investors.
It’s a pitch that’s been heard before in the film industry, and it tends to end badly. But her company, Streamline Global, has nevertheless come from nowhere to help finance more than two dozen films in the last four years. She has done it thanks to provisions of the tax code that help wealthy clients defer their tax obligations.
“These massive tax cuts seem too good to be true,” Streamline said on its website, “but they are battle-tested by the Silicon Valley elite, many of whom are Streamline clients.”
One of her films was “Rust,” the Alec Baldwin production that has been shut down since Oct. 21, when the actor fired a prop gun and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Salveson, an executive producer on the film, and her business partner, Ryan Donnell Smith, have each been sued for allegedly failing to ensure a safe set. The tragedy has brought intense scrutiny on all aspects of the production, including Salveson’s proprietary financial model.
Financing films is hard, and even Oscar-winning producers and directors routinely struggle to scrounge up funding for their passion projects. So when someone appears to be raising money without breaking a sweat, it tends to raise eyebrows.
“Every few years somebody gets something that’s too good to be true, and people think they’ve discovered a pot of gold,” says Sky Moore, a veteran Hollywood attorney. “There’s no way it makes sense.”
For the last few years, Emily Salveson has been touting a new model for investing in film. In interviews and in public appearances, she has said that the model was able to “solve the problem of risk” for investors.
It’s a pitch that’s been heard before in the film industry, and it tends to end badly. But her company, Streamline Global, has nevertheless come from nowhere to help finance more than two dozen films in the last four years. She has done it thanks to provisions of the tax code that help wealthy clients defer their tax obligations.
“These massive tax cuts seem too good to be true,” Streamline said on its website, “but they are battle-tested by the Silicon Valley elite, many of whom are Streamline clients.”
One of her films was “Rust,” the Alec Baldwin production that has been shut down since Oct. 21, when the actor fired a prop gun and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Salveson, an executive producer on the film, and her business partner, Ryan Donnell Smith, have each been sued for allegedly failing to ensure a safe set. The tragedy has brought intense scrutiny on all aspects of the production, including Salveson’s proprietary financial model.
Financing films is hard, and even Oscar-winning producers and directors routinely struggle to scrounge up funding for their passion projects. So when someone appears to be raising money without breaking a sweat, it tends to raise eyebrows.
“Every few years somebody gets something that’s too good to be true, and people think they’ve discovered a pot of gold,” says Sky Moore, a veteran Hollywood attorney. “There’s no way it makes sense.”
