A Financial Advisory and Capital Placement Firm NEW YORK - ATLANTA
About Us
EFA's founders have over 90 years of finance and entertainment experience and have been immersed in the entertainment, media and technology sectors. Since forming in 2009, EFA has been retained by over 200 clients to arrange capital and advise on mergers and acquisitions, complete industry analyses, business plans, divestitures, investment opportunities, restructuring plans and general business strategy.
Ralph Willis - Managing Partner
Ralph has been in the finance sector for over 35 years. Prior to forming EFA, Ralph was a Managing Director for GE Capital where he founded and led the entertainment unit of the Media, Communications & Entertainment business from 2004 to 2009. He was responsible for leading a team of sales and risk professionals that closed and managed over $3 billion of transactions in the entertainment sectors including film exhibition (theaters, digital cinema), leisure (theme parks, ski resorts, FECs, sports), production (film, music), and casinos.
From 2001 to 2004, Ralph was with GE as a Managing Director responsible for leading teams of risk professionals that managed a $500 million entertainment portfolio and a $500 million distressed debt portfolio. He was with Heller Financial from 1999 to 2001 where he was a founding member of Heller’s EMX group that focused on the entertainment sector. Ralph has also held finance positions with Gilman Financial Services, the financing unit of a privately held paper company, and with CIS Corporation, a technology leasing company.
Ralph is very involved with his local community. For the past 12 years he had been on the board of the Human Services Council in Norwalk, Connecticut that provides services for at-risk youth in the area. Previously, for five years he was a leader for GE Capital’s efforts with the 'Children's Connection' collecting holiday gifts for children in the foster care system. In 2008, Ralph was nominated for GE’s prestigious Phillippe Award for outstanding community volunteer leadership. He was also previously on the board of Trackside, the teen center of Wilton, Connecticut for four years. Ralph has been an ‘executive-in-residence’ at the University of New Haven for several years making guest lecturing appearances on the entertainment sectors. In 2021, he started making guest lecturing appearances at the University of West Florida.
Ralph has a B.S. in Marketing from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management and has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He has Series 7 and 63 licenses and is an investment banking representative under FINRA. Ralph and his wife reside in Wilton, Connecticut.
Brandt Gully - Managing Partner
Brandt has over twenty five years of experience in financial services. Prior to forming EFA, he was with GE Capital’s Media, Communications and Entertainment business for eight years. His most recent role with the group was as a Vice President of Originations to the entertainment unit that closed and managed over $3 billion of transactions to the entertainment sectors including film exhibition (theatres, digital cinema, 3D), leisure (theme parks, ski resorts, FECs, sports), production (film, video games) and casinos. In this role, Brandt served as GE Capital’s sole sales and relationship manager for film exhibition and established strong relationships with most theatre operators and digital cinema companies.
Prior to this, Brandt served in several other capacities in GE Capital’s media division. In 2005, he moved to London to lend his media and entertainment expertise to the newly formed European media and entertainment group as they established a presence in these sectors. During 2004, Brandt helped form GE Capital’s Special Situations Group, where he focused on originating and closing deals for companies with distressed capital structures. This role included establishing relationships with many of the major debt brokerages and financial intermediaries in order to identify opportunities.
From 2000 through 2003, Brandt served in a risk capacity where he underwrote new debt and equity deals and managed a portfolio of transactions across many sectors, including film exhibition, television programming, sports franchises, radio/television broadcasting, publishing and telecommunications.
Before joining GE Capital in 2000, Brandt served as a controller of a technology company serving the auto parts industry. Prior to that, he spent five years as an auditor for Ernst & Young, where he managed financial audits for media, communication, healthcare and manufacturing companies.
Brandt is a licensed CPA in the state of Georgia. He has Series 7 and 63 licenses and is an investment banking representative under FINRA. He received his accounting degree from Samford University in 1995. He, his wife, and their three daughters currently reside in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kenny Favre - Managing Partner
Kenny has over thirty years of experience in entertainment finance and entertainment production. Prior to forming EFA, he was with GE Capital from 2001 to 2008, most recently as Vice President of Originations in the entertainment unit of GE Capital’s Media, Communications & Entertainment business that closed and managed over $3 billion of financing to the entertainment sectors including film exhibition (theatres, digital cinema), leisure (theme parks, ski resorts, FECs, sports), production (film, music, video games) and casinos. The group delivered a unique perspective to its clients through its relationship with GE Capital’s sister company, NBC Universal, and Kenny was instrumental in establishing a wide network of NBCU relationships in the digital cinema, film production, film services, video games, music and sports sectors.
Prior to this, Kenny was a portfolio manager with GE Capital managing over $500 million of investments in the media, entertainment, technology and industrial sectors. From 1999 to 2001, Kenny was with Heller Financial’s EMX group that provided financing for the entertainment and media sectors. He was primarily responsible for underwriting new investment opportunities and managing the group’s portfolio.
Kenny brings a unique perspective to the industry with his finance experience and his years of experience in entertainment production. Prior to his time at Heller, for ten years he was a Producer and Managing Director of the Willow Cabin Theatre Company which was an Off-Broadway theatre company based in New York City. The theatre company received critical acclaim garnering one Tony award nomination as well as three Drama Desk award nominations. Simultaneously, Kenny was employed by the Howard Gilman Foundation where he was responsible for monitoring the group’s investments.
Kenny holds an MBA from Baruch College Zicklin School of Business and a B.S. in Music from Hunter College’s Baccalaureate Program. He studied graduate level media studies and film production at The New School in New York City. He is an investment banking representative under FINRA. Kenny and his wife reside in Centerport, New York.
Affiliated with Synergy Capital I, LLC (Member of FINRA and SIPC)
