Independent Film Production · New York

A Production Company Flak Happy
Films

Stories worth telling, told with the discipline to get them made.

The Company

Films that
earn their
weight.

Flak Happy Films is an independent production company built on the conviction that the most durable films are the ones that start with a story worth telling — and the financial and creative discipline to tell it.

We work at the intersection of personal storytelling and structural rigor. Our projects are developed with institutional-grade financial modeling, experienced crews, and a clear-eyed view of the path from page to screen to audience.

The company is led by producers with decades of on-set experience across independent film, documentary, and television. We believe the best independent films aren't smaller than studio films — they're more focused.

The People Behind It

30+
Years Combined Experience
100+
Combined Film & TV Credits
1
Feature Film in Development

New York  ·  Los Angeles

Current Production

Flak Happy Films' first feature is TURRET — a contained WWII survival thriller produced in Spain with an incentive-anchored budget and international sales representation through Moonrise Pictures.

Enter the Film ↓
FLAK HAPPY · LUCKY STRIKE · DAMDIFINO · BERLIN PLAYBOY

Flak Happy Films  ·  A Feature Film in Development

1945  ·  English Channel Turret

A young American airman. A jammed hatch. Thirty-five thousand feet. His thirty-fifth and final mission.

Scroll
The Film

One Man.
No Way Out.

Staff Sergeant Paul Campbell has survived thirty-four missions over occupied Europe. He is twenty-five years old. Tomorrow he goes home to his wife, to the daughter they are about to adopt.

On his thirty-fifth and final mission, the Lucky Strike is ambushed by Luftwaffe fighters. Engines ablaze and losing altitude, the crew bails out. The ball turret hatch is jammed. Paul's interphone is dead. His crewmates, believing him lost, jump without him.

What remains is one man, in a four-foot steel sphere, dangling from the belly of a dying aircraft over the English Channel. This is where the fuck we are.

"Just this last one."

— Paul Campbell, S/Sgt., Ball Turret Gunner
Production Illustration — The Set
40,000+
American Airmen Killed
In WWII bombing campaigns over Europe. Among the least depicted, most vulnerable soldiers of the war.
4 ft
Diameter — The Ball Turret
Plexiglas and aluminum. Twin .50-caliber machine guns. One man, near-fetal. No means of escape if the hatch jammed.
35
The Final Mission
Thirty-four completed. One remaining. The number that should have meant freedom — and instead means everything.
Storyboard / Concept Art

The Approach

Shot from inside the turret. Spain's world-class LED volume stages — the same infrastructure used in productions from The Mandalorian to Game of Thrones — let TURRET put the visual scope of a $25M film on screen for a fraction of the cost.

Directed by Rosemary Rodriguez. Sales representation: Moonrise Pictures.

The Market

Contained.
Profitable.

Buried
2010 · Spain
Budget: $2M
$19.4M
9.7× return
One actor. One coffin. The template for TURRET's model.
Fall
2022
Budget: $3M
$21.8M
7.3× return
High-concept single location. Closest structural comparable.
Locke
2013 · Tom Hardy
Budget: $2M
$5M
Strong ancillary & streaming
Critical darling. Proves single-location character studies find their audience.
127 Hours
2010 · Danny Boyle
Budget: $18M
$60.7M
6 Academy Award nominations
Prestige ceiling for the survival genre. TURRET's aspirational benchmark.
Fury
2014 · WWII
Budget: $68M
$211.8M
Tone reference
Proves global audience appetite for contained WWII action.
Arctic
2018 · Mads Mikkelsen
Budget: $2M
$4.2M
Strong streaming performance
Low-dialogue survival. Proves international market for the form.
1917
2019 · Sam Mendes
Budget: $95M
$390M
3 Academy Awards
The ceiling of war/survival cinema. A proof of concept for the form.
Turret
2026 Production · Spain
$7.7M gross · $4.7M equity
TBD
Cannes 2027 Target
Virtual production + survival thriller + WWII. The combination has never been made at this level for this budget.
The Opportunity

A Film Built
to Return.

Spain's refundable tax credit reduces investor exposure by $3M before a single frame is shot. The equity raise funds the net budget. The story does the rest.

Equity Raise$4.7M
Gross Budget$7,714,119
Spain Tax Credit($3,050,536)
Net Exposure$4,663,583
Preferred Return120%
Minimum Investment$500,000

Why This Film, Why Now

Contained survival thrillers are among the most consistently profitable films in independent cinema. Buried returned nearly 10× on $2M. Fall returned 7× on $3M. The genre rewards focus — and TURRET is nothing if not focused.

Spain's virtual production infrastructure — LED volume stages used in productions from Game of Thrones to The Mandalorian — allows TURRET to put the visual scope of a $25M film on screen at a fraction of the cost.

Spain's refundable incentive is monetized through senior financing repaid directly from the government rebate. It does not flow through investor returns. Equity investors receive their full 120% preferred return from distribution revenue, unaffected by the tax credit structure.

Recoupment Waterfall
01
Gross Proceeds
100% of all revenue from exploitation of the film
02
Off-the-Top (CAMA)
Collection fees, guild reserves, distribution legal & marketing
03
Tax Credit Senior Repayment
Repaid from Spain rebate — not from distribution revenue
04
Equity Investor Recoupment
100% capital + 20% preferred return — pari passu among all equity holders
05
Net Profits
50% to equity investors pro rata  ·  50% to company
Offering Terms
Security TypeEquity — Non-managing
Minimum Investment$500,000
Preferred Return120% (100% + 20%)
Return StructurePari passu
Net Profit Share50% to investors
Tax TreatmentPartnership — K-1
Funds HeldEscrow — milestone release
Budget
Above-the-Line$1,519,224
Below-the-Line Production$3,724,555
Post (incl. $1.9M VFX)$2,387,051
Insurance & Legal$83,288
Gross Total$7,714,119
Spain Tax Credit($3,050,536)
Net Investor Exposure$4,663,583
Timeline
Fundraising & TalentQ1–Q2 2026
Pre-ProductionQ3 2026
Principal PhotographyQ4 2026 · Spain
Post-ProductionQ1–Q2 2027
Target PremiereCannes 2027
Sales AgentMoonrise Pictures
Lead Executive Producer
$2M+
Lead EP credit · dedicated set access · exclusive premiere invitations · direct access to director & key team
Executive Producer
$1M–$2M
EP credit · set visit · festival premiere & private screening
Co-Executive Producer
$500K+
Co-EP credit · premiere invitation · production updates
The Team

Assembled
for This Mission.

Director
Rosemary Rodriguez
Sundance Independent Spirit DGA 100% RT SXSW
Director Photo

Rosemary Rodriguez is an award-winning director and producer known for navigating both prestige television and independent film with consistent critical recognition. Her debut feature Acts of Worship premiered at Sundance and earned two Independent Spirit Award nominations. Silver Skies, executive produced by Fred Roos (The Godfather), won multiple festival awards. Her most recent feature, Hail Mary starring Jack Huston, premiered at SXSW with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Her television credits include Your Honor, The Walking Dead, Peacemaker, Jessica Jones, and The Good Wife. She served as Executive Producer/Director on Apple's Home Before Dark.

She brings the formal precision of prestige episodic television and the emotional authority of her independent features to every project — the exact combination TURRET demands from its confined perspective and demanding 20-day shooting schedule.

Photo
Lead Producer
Lauren Bratman
The Stanford Prison Experiment (Sundance · Alfred P. Sloan Award), Mainstream (dir. Gia Coppola), The Accompanist, C.O.G., Crash Pad, Return to Sender. A proven champion of director-driven, character-focused storytelling.
SundanceSloan Award
Photo
Producer
Ted Lehane
30+ years across independent film, documentary, and network television. Co-founder, Flak Happy Films. Credits include Spanking the Monkey, High Art, Madam Secretary, and Manifest. This film is personal — and it shows in every decision.
Flak Happy Films30+ Years
Photo
Writer / Cinematographer
Timothy Bellen
DP on Apple's Dear Edward, Amazon's As We See It, HBO's Veep, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Bottleshock, Montana Story. Directed Fox's Almost Family. The writer who sees every frame before writing it.
AppleAmazonHBO
Photo
Co-Writer / Producer
Chris Haifley
Eight years in the U.S. Army. Ronnie — Slamdance finalist. Military-based TV series in development with Bryan Cranston and Moonshot Entertainment. The writer who has been inside the pressure this story demands.
U.S. Army VeteranSlamdance
Photo
Executive Producer
Bob Lehane
Partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP (New York). Managing Member, Flak Happy Films. Director, META Advisors LLP. A lifelong WWII aviation historian whose passion for this story is in the DNA of the project.
Kelley Drye & WarrenMETA Advisors

"A team assembled not for convenience, but for conviction."

Request the Full Packet
The Beginning

Request
the Deck.

TURRET is seeking accredited equity investors. The full investment packet — budget detail, waterfall structure, comparables analysis, and subscription documents — is available upon request.

This offering is available only to accredited investors as defined under applicable securities law. Minimum investment $500,000.

David Wallis
Financier
Ted Lehane
Producer — Flak Happy Films
Bob Lehane
Executive Producer — Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Investor Inquiry

All information shared is confidential and for investment purposes only. Formal subscription documents are available upon request.

Thank you.
We'll be in touch within one business day with the full investment packet.