In order to raise $17million to build Disneyland, Walt Disney was confronted by critics who believed he was insane. He mortgaged his home and sold a third stake to ABC TV.
Today, Disney counts as a Dow Component. A small entertainment company now wants to follow the same model. Independent Film Development Corporation (OTCBB : IFLM), a publicly-held company, has a small television and film library. IFLM hopes to transform distressed resort properties into themed hotels that are surrounded by theme parks by using Hollywood magic.
“We want to make a resort that can appeal to kids of all ages,”Jeff Ritchie, co-founder of IFLM, said it. “The resort will be themed as a haunted European Manor, rife with Hollywood-designed supernatural encounters.”
This tiny company’s move was inspired by Ritchie’s dream: to turn existing resort properties into family-friendly holiday destinations. Ritchie, a Hollywood veteran of 20 years, hopes to imitate Disney’s theme parks, which are among its largest profit centers.
“Ghosts, ghouls, zombies and cryptids like Bigfoot, will haunt the resort, the rides and the grounds,”He went on. “This resort makes real all the good-natured fun people love about things that go bump in the night.”
IFLM signed a memorandum to acquire its first development project on a joint venture basis. The 500-acre property is located in New York’s Catskill Mountains and includes a hotel with 320 rooms, a spa, a golf course, and a gym, as well as a lake, and a forest. Tentatively named “Hilltop Manor,”They plan to build a themed resort hotelIt is designed to offer guests an unforgettable and memorable vacation experience.
“The inspiration comes from two places,”C. David Pugh, Marketing Director at IFLM, said the above. “First are the classic horror films of the 1930s, ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. The second inspiration is a bit more modern, and they’re seen every night on cable. Programs on bigfoot, river monsters, exterrestrial encounters and unsolved mysteries are everywhere. People must like it. It occupies a lot of prime space in prime time.”
While some may think the company is too ambitious, George Ivakhnik (CEO of IFLM) believes otherwise. “if you build it, they will come.”IFLM is not content with one project. IFLM also seeks out other properties that are in poor condition or casinos that have potential for development.
“We see the resort as a lens that focuses on the mysterious things that live in the woods and under the waves,”Pugh. “Besides, we’ve got zombies and little green men — what’s not to like?”
Benchmark Advisory Partners
Timothy Connor
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