Our Team
Stephen Hays
Stephen Hays is foremost an asset manager and a fiduciary. He has spent his entire career, over 35 years, deploying capital in a range of asset classes in both the public and private marketplaces. Stephen founded 120dB Films in 2004 after 18 years in the securities industry. Since inception, the company has acted as a senior-secured lender to over 100 films and TV series and has achieved superior risk-adjusted returns with minimal losses. The company has deployed capital on behalf of a large New York-based hedge fund, a Fortune 500 insurer, an iconic family office, and a consortium of high net-worth investors. Prior, Stephen was co-founder and General Partner of Seneca Capital, a New York-based hedge fund (1996-2003) with a focus on event driven investments including risk arbitrage, capital structure arbitrage, spin-offs, recapitalizations and distressed securities. Before Seneca, he was a Managing Director at Furman Selz, a NY-based investment bank with a similar investment strategy (1987-1995). Stephen's first position on Wall Street was at Laterman and Co., a risk arbitrage-oriented hedge fund (1985-1987). He received a BA in History from Kenyon College in 1983 and gained a Masters of Science in Accounting and Finance at the London School of Economics in 1985.
Stephen is a founding sponsor and former Board member of the Woodstock Film Festival and serves on the Board of Directors of Green Chimneys School for disadvantaged youth where he chaired the Investment Committee for many years. He is an active supporter of numerous other charitable and non-profit organizations, and is a passionate advocate for organizations focused upon social justice and human rights.
Stephen is an extreme sports fan and partakes in wake, kite and snowboarding (when his body is cooperating), and enjoys creating electronic music. His personal film projects have taken him from the jungles of Gabon, and the townships of Capetown, South Africa, to the stock car dirt tracks of upstate New York, where he currently resides.
Peter Graham
Peter Graham has been actively involved in financing entertainment companies and film production for over thirty years. Since 2005 he has partnered with Stephen Hays on 120dB Films. Before 120dB, Mr. Graham was a Managing Director of the Lewis Horwitz Organization (LHO), one of the premier companies specializing in financing independent film and television production. Prior to LHO (1997-2005), he was a Vice President with Union Bank of California's Entertainment Department (1992-1997) lending to independent film productions. Mr. Graham began his entertainment financing skills with First Interstate Bank from (1990-1992). He is a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy and has an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.
Mr. Graham has expertise in complex international film financing and distribution. He has also provided consulting services for debt restructuring. His specialty is developing creative deal structures encompassing both debt and equity. He has been involved in financing over 350 independent movies and television programs including Monster, Jeepers Creepers, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Virgin Suicides, and The English Patient.
Mr. Graham previously served on the I.F.T.A Board of Directors and has served on the Advisory Board of Directors for the American Film Institute Festival. He is a frequent speaker on industry panels and a lecturer for university courses.
Brandon Fidanque
Brandon Fidanque has been an analyst at 120dB since 2013. Prior to joining 120dB, Brandon worked for 6 years at the Los Angeles accounting firm Miller Kaplan Arase LLP in the royalties and licensing division. While there, he conducted royalty audits on behalf of film and TV producers, recording artists and video game developers to ensure they had been properly compensated. He graduated from Stanford University in 2002. An avid film fan before he worked in the industry, Brandon loves helping independent films get made.