Christopher Petzel is a media entrepreneur and the CEO of
Broadside Capital, an investment banking, advisory and private equity firm with a focus on the entertainment and media industries.
In addition to leading Broadside's advisory capacities for third parties on complex corporate and project-related transactions, Petzel guides the strategic direction of Broadside's corporate portfolio investments, comprised of
Fierce Entertainment,
Fierce Models,
Showbizdata.com, and
Clandestine Service.
Petzel founded
Fierce Entertainment, a film and television production and management company, in 2001 and continues to serve as its CEO. The company develops original material and has produced, executive produced or associate produced a number of theatrical features including "Rambo" (Sylvester Stallone) and "War" (Jet Li and Jason Statham), as well as television films including "Marvel's Man-Thing" (Sci-Fi Channel) and "Shadows in the Sun" (ABC). On the management side, Fierce represents writers, directors, actors, investors and independent film and television distributors.
In 2007, Broadside acquired online film portal
Showbizdata.com is a tiered subscription service providing useful tools for entertainment industry professionals, as well as information of interest to the general consumer.
In 2008, Broadside launched the feature film and television sales agent and asset manager
Clandestine Service and in early 2009,
Fierce Models.
Petzel has lectured extensively on film production and financing at various institutions, including the American Film Institute, University of Southern California, the University of Berlin, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, the University of North London, and the Swiss Forum of Communications Law.
As a former member of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin's entertainment investment banking practice, Petzel managed such transactions as the sale of Centropolis Effects, GRB Entertainment, and the equity raise for Bob Cooper's Landscape Entertainment. He also completed assignments for DreamWorks, Pacific Data Images, Sundance Productions, Constantin Film AG, VCL Film + Medien AG, Castle Music and others. In 1999, he was one of the principal members of the team advising The Walt Disney Company in valuation matters pertaining to an arbitration with Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Petzel worked for the media finance department of Berliner Bank AG (London Branch), where he was responsible for the marketing, analysis and structuring of project loans and secured corporate debt for film, television and video game industries. While there, he was involved in the financing of "End of Days" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Roman Polanski's "The Ninth Gate", Ken Loach's "My Name is Joe," and "Waking Ned Devine."
Petzel began his career at Goldcrest Films International, where he served as a sales executive and executive assistant to the CEO. After Goldcrest, he spent a year as an independent producer and film finance consultant for an attorney specializing in independent film. During this time he developed, financed and produced an independent feature and raised seed capital for a format television start-up company on behalf of a senior Pearson executive.
Petzel studied business administration at the Universities of Barcelona (Spain) and Fribourg (Switzerland), where he graduated summa cum laude, ranking number one in a class of over 400. He is fluent in German, English, French and Spanish.
