Client: Northern Light Productions

“She’s invaluable. My endorsement of Susan’s work with us comes from a very ‘hands on’ approach to learning, knowing the uniqueness of the business activity and then transferring comprehensive, useful business and accounting principles to that unique enterprise. She’s a straight-talking, fun loving energetic individual who ‘gets’ what’s going on and makes sure that we as business owner’s and senior management get it, too.” - Bestor Cram, Executive Producer/Creative Director

Business Challenge
Northern Light Productions needed a financial and operations reporting structure to better understand the information associated with making sound decisions around resource allocation

The Approach
Susan helped the senior management team develop a corporate budgeting and reporting structure. She developed an in-depth knowledge of the many different facets of a film project so that they could be appropriately represented in the financial model.

The Work
She conducted extensive interviews and reviews with key personnel and provided in-depth operational consultation with the CFO. Managers taught Susan about the film industry and she taught them how to apply good business and accounting principles to the business. As a result, she was able to help the organization think differently about risk and resource allocation, and provide an understanding of the predictable “ebbs and flows” of the business. Through her work, she helped senior management discover ways to make projects more profitable.

The Results
The organization has become much more focused and disciplined in their review of the business. Their increased understanding of their finances has aided them making more informed decisions about the future. Through the structure Susan created they have a better understanding of their overhead and capital expenditures, and have made adjustments that will help them become more profitable. Susan’s operations and financial expertise educated management on how to quickly focus on the most important numbers and act on that information immediately.