about the biracy project
“ultimately, we’d love to end this piracy problem by making the pirate a buyer”
the biracy project™ is a social experiment in crowdfunded filmmaking. The project is the pilot program built on the new social utility platform SoKap by the folks at Binoir Media, Inc. SoKap will be made available for qualified producers of digital media to allow them to crowdfund, crowdsource and define their audience while incurring no debt in the creative process. You can preregister as a producer at www.sokap.com
Binoir Media is based in Vancouver, Canada and has associates in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and Calgary.
Binoir Media specializes in building innovative funding models for projects within the digital media realm.
“let’s make a sustainable industry and allow the people who support it to benefit from the rewards.”
the team
“resistance is futile!”
david geertz | founder, chief executive officer
Dave worked in production, then he worked in post production. Then Dave worked in manufacturing of media and then he worked in media distribution. Dave then learned how to budget and arrange financing for media projects with a hope that one day he would produce his own film. That day came and Dave had his project almost 100% funded. One day after countless meetings, trips, and trade shows Dave got a term sheet from an investment group. They were going to fund his film – providing he remove his cast and fire the director and put the investor’s girlfriend in the role of his leading male. Dave went to work on creating The Biracy Project so that no one with a creative vision would ever have to replace their male lead with a female girlfriend of a middleman again. Dave makes mustard in his spare time… you should try it.
“where’s the money lebowski?”
murray swales, ca | founder, chief financial officer
Murray has nearly 35 years business experience (can he really be that old?) as a Chartered Accountant in Canada. During that period he has served his varied business clients, as a partner in local and national accounting firms, and has actively managed his own ventures. As an innovator in business finance and business development, and after listening with his clients to “no”, “no” and “no” to requests for financing well thought-out businesses, supported by well documented business plan he created a “crowdfunding” model for his inspired (some would say inspirational) clients.
The successful implementation of the model allowed those clients to fund their projects/expansions. His connection with Dave, and his ideas, created the spark that fused their backgrounds into the biracy project™. Murray’s experience as both internal management and external auditor of public companies (not at the same time) has ensured good business, control and reporting practices (and a good dose of fun) are part of the biracy project™ mind-set.
“everybody relax, i’m here.”
philip j. botana | sales maestro
Phil is an entrepreneur with over a fifteen years experience in film production, finance and distribution. He recently served as Executive Producer on “Attack of the Sabretooth” for Universal Television Networks (starring Robert Carradine, Brian Wimmer and Stacey Haiduk).
Previously, Phil served as Head of Sales for International Film Group where he oversaw worldwide sales of “Warriors of Virtue: Return to Tao” (Miramax), “Sabertooth” (AMC Films / Lionsgate / Sci Fi Channel), and “Beneath Loch Ness” (Dimension).
Phil served as Producer for “Beneath Loch Ness” (Patrick Bergin and Lysette Anthony). He also produced the Sci Fi Channel’s number one made-for premiere of 2002, “Sabretooth” (David Keith Vanessa Angel and Josh Holloway).
Prior to IFG, Phil served as President of Acquisitions for Brimstone Entertainment where he acquired over 20 films. He also produced the Nickelodeon premiere “My Brother the Pig” (Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson) and served as Co-Executive Producer on “Russell Mulcahy’s Tale of The Mummy” for Dimension (Jason Scott Lee, Shelley Duvall and Christopher Lee).
Phil Botana is a graduate of The American University (1990) with a BA from the School of International Service. He speaks fluent French and Spanish and conversational Italian.
