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Jeff Steele (born September 25, 1971) is an American
entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
executive. He is
founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...
and
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of the media finance company Film Closings Inc., and is publisher of the film finance blog, FilmClosings; he is a frequent contributor to ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' and
The Wrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...
.


Life and career

Jeff Steele was born in
Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and is part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census figure. Whittier ...
(in Los Angeles) but was raised in the town of
Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...
, in
Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...
, where he graduated from
Villa Park High School Villa Park High School (VPHS) is a four-year suburban public high school located in the city of Villa Park, California, United States. It was built in 1964 and is one of four comprehensive high schools in the Orange Unified School District. The ...
and became an
Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...
. He later attended
California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...
where he majored in Communications; at Fullerton he took a screenwriting class just to fill a credit and was subsequently exposed to the
entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
for the first time. Steele interned for a micro-budget
independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...
called '' Perfect Mate'', and read scripts for a local Orange County producer named Mitch Teemly.


Early professional career

Steele got his first break when he landed an
internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...
with
Lynda Obst Lynda Rosen Obst (April 14, 1950 – October 22, 2024) was an American film producer and author. Her notable works include ''Sleepless in Seattle'' and ''Interstellar''. Obst founded the production companies Hill/Obst Productions in 1986 and L ...
, a producer of major studio films who had a first-look deal with
Fox 2000 Fox 2000 Pictures was an American film production company within The Walt Disney Studios. It was a sister studio of the larger film studios 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, specializing in producing independent films in mid-range re ...
. From there Steele's early assistant career-path took him from the talent agency
ICM ICM may refer to: Organizations * Irish Church Missions, an Anglican mission * Institut du Cerveau, the Paris Brain Institute, a research center * Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling, University of Warsaw * Interna ...
, to Susan Landau Productions (at
Fox 2000 Fox 2000 Pictures was an American film production company within The Walt Disney Studios. It was a sister studio of the larger film studios 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, specializing in producing independent films in mid-range re ...
), to veteran television producer Ellen Krass, to
MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...
CEO
Tom Freston Thomas E. Freston (born November 22, 1945) is an American media proprietor, businessman, and financier. Early life and education Freston grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Michael's College and an MBA fro ...
, and ultimately to
Mike Medavoy Morris Mike Medavoy (born January 21, 1941) is an American film producer and business executive. He co-founded Orion Pictures and currently serves as chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures. He previously held leadership roles at TriStar Pictures a ...
at Phoenix Pictures (from 2001–2003). After Phoenix Pictures, Steele joined indie production company Plinyminor, where, as head of co-productions and finance, he went on to produce the Primetime Emmy Nominated Movie ''
Mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...
'' for
NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...
's Sci Fi Channel ( SyFy) and the documentary ''
Who Killed the Electric Car? ''Who Killed the Electric Car?'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Chris Paine that explores the creation, limited commercialization and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the ...
'', which premiered at the 2006
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
and was released theatrically by
Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American arthouse film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloo ...
. Off the success of ''Mammoth'', Plinyminor landed a five-picture deal with Sci-Fi Channel. In 2006 Steele joined Screen Capital International as director of film finance, where he focused on gap, pre-sale, tax credit, and bridge funding. SCI, a structured finance company specialized in structuring and facilitating cross-border tax-advantaged financing for major motion picture producers, was preparing to launch Aramid Entertainment, a $300m debt fund specializing in pre-sale, gap, bridge, and tax credit lending in the United States and around the world. Aramid financed 35 films over two years, with budgets from $10m - $45m. SCI went on to create Incentive Entertainment, which wholly finances independent films with budgets from $5m - $15m.


Current professional career

Film Closings specializes in packaging and closing independent
film finance Film finance is an aspect of film production that occurs during the Filmmaking#Development, development stage prior to pre-production, and is concerned with determining the Valuation (finance), potential value of a proposed film. In the United ...
deals and is based in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. In 2009, Jeff Steele joined Magnet Media Group as the
chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...
. Steele is an expert in
film finance Film finance is an aspect of film production that occurs during the Filmmaking#Development, development stage prior to pre-production, and is concerned with determining the Valuation (finance), potential value of a proposed film. In the United ...
, but also has a portfolio of hands-on producing credits. He is a frequent panelist for film financing forums, and he's known for telling audiences what they need to know, but do not want to hear. He has also been published in popular online blogs The
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
and ''
TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...
''. He currently is a professor at
Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...
in the Business and Entrepreneurship department.


References


External links

*
Film Closing blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Jeff 1971 births Living people American chief executives American bloggers American entertainment industry businesspeople