BUSINESS IS BUSINESS: LILA JANAKIEVSKI
There are likely many people who don’t think the title corporate development specialist/investment consultant falls under the definition of talent. Semantics aside, skill and talent are often synonymous; Lila Janakievski can be referred to with either. Los Angeles based award-winning law firm D’Alessio Law Group recently approached Lila to join as CFO & Financial Consultant because of her proven and acclaimed record of success. While Lila’s area of expertise is in making plans with financing and growth strategies, she transitioned from a highly successful career in managing public equity funds (heavily based on Canada’s natural resource sector) to that of entertainment and tech. Her early work with startup companies in the natural resource sector (specifically agriculture and renewable fuels and energy) focused on the corporate development of companies, working as a member of an executive team developing the financial roadmap for the ventures, raising required capital among investors, and participating in the operations of these companies. These early stage companies included a massive development for sustainable agriculture in the DRC, Africa, a renewable fuel operation in Liberia Africa, and a biomass energy technology that was applicable globally, and others. When Lila noticed a shift in investment returns and banking practices, she became intrigued by how well film financing fit into the investment structure she had become so adept at overseeing. Toronto’s prolific production environment offered ample opportunities for her to test out this theory and quickly vetted the approach.
Janakievski’s insight in where to place capital and how to raise it is without dispute. As an investment consultant and corporate development specialist, she has continually proven to be a key factor in transforming an idea or aspiration into reality. With equity brokerage firm BMO Nesbitt Burns, Lila led a number of multi-billion-dollar pension funds including the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, the Canada Pension Plan, the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, and others to benevolent gains. She also launched coverage of numerous companies (worth a total of $70 billion) during her time at BMO. As CFO of Bridge Renewable Energy Technologies, she led the company to an increase five times that of original value. Janakievski worked with the Buchanan Renewable Energies executive team to successfully raise over $100 million from the government agency OPIC. She extended her area of influence to aiding tech companies like GeoDigital (laser scanning technology), gaming app MyThumb, and more.
Recognizing the potential of the entertainment industry, Lila has ventured into alternative investments, developing a high yield (10-20%) credit fund for television and film. Her company Greyelle (founded by Janakievski in 2014) was paramount in creating the financial strategy which allowed the producers of the recently released dark comedy Dear Dictator to manifest this film. Through her company, Lila secured investors to raise the capital which, among other key factors, resulted in obtaining multiple Oscar Award-Winning actor Michael Caine for the title role and fellow cast members Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush, Seth Green, and Jason Biggs. Through Lila’s advisement and strategizing, investors in the film like WYSJ Media experienced significant gains. Lila plans to pursue this new venture with Greyelle in such upcoming films as Just Heloise (from the writers of the classic Mystic Pizza), and Run This Town (starring Ben Platt, Mena Massoud and Nina Dobrev).
Author: Kelly King
