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Accountant uses EIS on Liverpool FC film

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10th May 2013
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Liverpool FC fanatic and accountant Farook Owadally couldn’t resist the opportunity to get involved with a film about his favourite team’s biggest win.

Owadally’s firm is financing the Cannes-bound One Night in Istanbul, based on the play of the same name.

The film follows two Liverpudlian taxi drivers as they travel to the Turkish capital with their sons to watch the team play the European Cup Final in May 2005.

On their way they experience kidnappings, stumble across a large bag of counterfeit cash and two ruthless crooks. The film features former Only Fools and Horses star ‘Denzel’ Paul Barber and The Syndicate’s Steven Waddington.

Owadally said the movie’s theme appealed to him when Stray Dog Films approached his firm Owadally & King in 2010 by, but he also saw the business, investment and tax opportunities.

The financing structure was based around Big Ears Entertainment, of which Owadally is one of the directors, in association with Stray Dog Films and nearly 30 other investors, including Liverpool FC players. The use of the enterprise incentive scheme (EIS) made it possible to bring in a wider number of investors, Owadally explained.

“We chose EIS as it enables the investor to claim EIS tax relief of 30% on their investment. If anything goes wrong the investor can write off the balance in year three, reducing the risk to 42p in the pound for a 40% tax payer. If applicable the investor can also claim CGT deferral relief,” Owadally said.

Shooting started in Istanbul in September 2012 and finished in Liverpool in November.

Owadally said the whole experience has been “exciting”, but he also put in a lot of hard work to ensure the project met HMRC’s requirements for EIS before issuing an offer document to potential investors.

He now has two more films in the pipeline, but cannot say what they are.

A preview version of One Night in Instanbul will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival this week. Below is a short trailer of the film, featured on its official website:

One Night in Istanbul Teaser from Stray Dogs Films on Vimeo.

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