COMPANY TOWN : THE BIZ : Producing ‘Stinks’ With Out-of-Pocket Financing : TV Veteran Breaks Rule--and the Bank

It’s not uncommon for doctors and dentists and other non-industry professionals to invest their hard-earned dollars in movie projects. They don’t know any better.

But why someone who’s worked in the entertainment business for years would willingly sink millions of dollars of his or her own personal finances into a venture as risky as a movie is another story.

One would think a writer-producer as seasoned as Jeff Franklin, who’s worked in television for two decades and created the long-running hit series “Full House,” would have known that you’re never supposed to risk your own money--just other people’s.

In fact, Franklin did know better. But, failing to find a willing investor to fund his feature film directorial debut, “Love Stinks,” he opted to pull $4 million out of his own pocket.

“My first instinct was not to empty my bank account but somebody with a whole lot more zeros in their bank account than mine,” said Franklin. “But, it didn’t happen.”

His film, which Franklin describes as “an un-romantic comedy,” about a young couple who go to war with each other when their relationship sours, is being released nationally Sept. 10 by Independent Artists Co., a recently formed distribution company, on about 1,200 screens.

Produced by Craig Baumgarten and Adam Merims, the dark comedy stars French Stewart, from TV’s “3rd Rock From the Sun,” Bridgette Wilson, Tyra Banks and Bill Bellamy.

“Everybody said the first rule of show business is you don’t spend your own money. Now, I know why. It was a silly thing to do,” said the 44-year-old writer-director, who risked shooting his movie independently last year without knowing whether he’d ever land a distribution deal.

Since there are countless low-budget independent films--some of which win top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival--that never find a theatrical distributor, Franklin considers himself very lucky.

“The odds of this movie finding distribution and returning my investment to me were one in several thousand,” says Franklin, explaining that the deal he signed with Independent Artists “guarantees we get our money back plus additional funds beyond what we spent.”

David Sheldon, the company’s chief financial officer, confirmed that Independent Artists “made a corporate guarantee to pay them their entire budget within the first year.” The distributor also contractually “committed to spending $8 million on P&A; [prints and advertising],” said Sheldon, adding “We’re going to spend $10 million.”

Sheldon said the company collected millions of dollars worth of foreign pre-sales at the last Cannes International Film Festival and he hopes to sell remaining rights at next month’s MIFED film market in Milan.

If total sales don’t cover the budget, Sheldon said Independent Artists--which he claims has $30 million in private capitalization--will make up any shortfall to Franklin.

So, at least on paper, Franklin has already recouped his investment.

Franklin said he didn’t set out to spend $4 million on his movie, which shot for 24 days last summer around Los Angeles. Originally budgeted at under $2 million, the cost shot up to nearly $3 million after re-shoots and post-production outlays.

“Once we realized we sold it,” Franklin said, “we invested around another $1 million for remaining post costs and music,” which included licensing classics by Elvis, the Supremes and Dionne Warwick.

Baumgarten, who is Franklin’s manager as well as the film’s producer, said Independent Artists was a much-needed white knight after a domestic distribution deal he had negotiated with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment collapsed when that company was acquired by Universal Pictures.

When Universal showed no interest in picking up “Love Stinks,” Baumgarten and Franklin found themselves back to square one.

All of the major Hollywood studios had previously passed on the project and only PolyGram had been willing to step up after seeing the completed film.

Franklin recalls “feeling very nervous” about “being back out on the street again” with no distribution deal in hand.

“We had pretty much made the studio rounds and weren’t exactly ready to go back and say, ‘Hey, remember us?’ ” he said.

Then, suddenly the filmmakers received a call from executives at Independent Artists, who had heard about the movie at the Sundance Film Festival in February from a former top Warner Bros. executive, Cliff Werber, who couldn’t get his studio to buy it.

After seeing a screening of the film in L.A., Independent Artists began negotiating a deal, which closed the next day.

“This company popped out of nowhere and said they wanted to buy the film,” Baumgarten said.

Independent Artists, a production and distribution boutique founded by award-winning commercial producer and director Lee Lacy, picked up “Love Stinks” shortly after merging with Mark Borde and Gene Irwin’s independent distributor Legacy Releasing.

Sheldon, who along with Lacy was one of eight executives from Independent Artists to attend the screening, said he loved the fact that the film was “a little irreverent and not stereotypical, and it has an unexpected ending.”

Franklin suspects studios weren’t anxious to take on a film that doesn’t have the happy ending that mainstream Hollywood movies often do.

Baumgarten said he and Franklin, who have known each other for more than 15 years, always believed in the film. And, certainly Franklin’s willingness to self-finance the movie, says the producer, speaks to his unflinching commitment.

“It was interesting producing a movie for a director who’s also the financier,” Baumgarten said. “Our roles were reversed. He’d come to me and say, ‘We need money to do something,’ and I was trying to protect his money.”

Franklin, a former high school substitute teacher who grew up in Inglewood, has the success of his half-hour sitcom “Full House”--which aired on ABC from 1987 to 1995--to thank for his ability to finance his own movie. He estimates the series, which starred Bob Saget and the Olsen Twins--Mary-Kate and Ashley--is worth nearly a half-billion dollars in worldwide syndication.

Franklin, who also wrote and directed the Olsen Twins in their first TV movie, “To Grandmother’s House We Go,” and is credited with creating the ABC series “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper” (1992-97) as well as redeveloping “Malcolm & Eddie,” said he’s been trying to establish himself in the feature world and hopes “Love Stinks” will be his ticket.

But would he consider self-financing his next movie?

“Never again,” said Franklin. Don’t send me scripts. I don’t want to be my own studio.”