Qu’Est-Ce Que Phoque Productions

Carl Nickerson & Giovanni Iuliani
Montreal, QC

The pitch

Carl Nickerson & Giovanni Iuliani from Montreal, QC, pitched Qu’Est-Ce Que Phoque Productions in Season 12, Episode 12, asking the Dragons for $25K for 15% of the company.

Asked for$25K for 15%
Valuation$167Kimplied by the ask
OutcomeDealwith Arlene Dickinson
Final deal$25K for 10%valued at $250K

Offers in the Den

Dragon	Offer	Result
Manjit Minhas	No offer, felt the valuation approach was interesting but did not want to partner	Out
Joe Mimran	No offer, could not see a path forward	Out
Michael Wekerle	No offer, concerned funding wouldn't be enough to complete production	Out
Jim Treliving	No offer, circus theme not appealing to him	Out
Arlene Dickinson	$25,000 for 10%, conditional on Hot Docs agreeing to take on the project	Accepted

Carl Nickerson, from Montreal, Quebec, returned to ask for $25,000 for 10% of his film production company, having previously pitched with Giovanni Iuliani in season eight. The plan is to produce a documentary about Giovanni Iuliani, a well known circus and sideshow performer and historian who worked with circuses including Vargas and Hanneford. Carl Nickerson explained he arrived at his company valuation by researching past Dragons' Den deals and calculating a benchmark from five dragons each investing $5,000 for 2%.

Manjit Minhas, Joe Mimran, Michael Wekerle and Jim Treliving all declined to invest, citing concerns about market size, financial planning, and the ability to complete the documentary with the funds requested. Arlene Dickinson offered the full $25,000 for 10%, conditional on Hot Docs agreeing to take on the project, and Carl Nickerson accepted the conditional offer.

Pitch details from CBC’s Dragons’ Den pitch page.