You can start off as a sole-proprietor company. All your assets are the same as the company and you can start trademarking your logo and getting your name out there. It's easier on your taxes if you're doing it all yourself.

Then when you get a little bigger and want to hire on a staff member or bring in a partner, you can change your company status and file as a LLC, or S-Corp. The S-Corp is a little more forgiving on the taxes but the LLC will release a lot of the liability from your personal assets.

Me, I'm still a Sole Proprietor company and will make the switch to an S-Corp next year after my first film is released.

David Schatanoff
D Studios Productions

David thanks for your information. What would your thoughts be on general partnerships?

Nothing fancy, just honesty.

I would recommend you create a short business plan first. that being said, I'm usually not an advocate of large business plans for start ups because companies evolve quickly during their first stages of development so over-analyzing the market is usually counter-productive. You'll likely find that starting a production company is a very embryonic process and will change on a month to month basis. Ideas come and go, some are bad, some are good.

I think it's better to just write 5-10 pages about the company you want to build. The most important thing would be to identify your growth strategy and your USP (unique selling proposition). What make your production company different from the thousands of others? But spend most of your time actually growing and producing, not thinking and strategizing.

As for legal set up. I agree, start off with a sole proprietorship / or partnership and then incorporate when you get to about $30,000 in revenue (it's beneficial for asset protection and tax rate).

I hope this helps.

Lights Film School
www.lightsfilmschool.com

Think in terms of you goals. If you're just starting a production company, what do you hope to accomplish? If you hope to create feature films under the umbrella of your primary company, then perhaps all you need is brand identity. You can then reserve the extensive planning for specific projects. However, if you're planning a company to creates music videos, television commercials and corporate videos, this may involve planning and refining the overall company.

www.filmmakingstuff.com

Thanks guys for your input, late response...I know. Sorry.

Just so you're aware..and if anyone reads this, I talked to my accountant as well (from primarily an unbiased POV).

She agreed with David and Moving Camera, start off slow with a partnership so I know what I am getting myself into. If things really start going, then incorporate if necessary. Thanks again for confirming my own thoughts.

One More Question for FilmmakerStuff - outside of costs and length, why would film identity be any different from a more corporate identity?

Nothing fancy, just honesty.

quote:

---

She agreed with David and Moving Camera, start off slow with a partnership so I know what I am getting myself into. If things really start going, then incorporate if necessary. Thanks again for confirming my own thoughts.

---

It is always hard to convince others to share your vision and invest in it, ESPECIALLY if you don't have a track record. That is why David and Moving Camera are so right on the money with their advice. Start small, see what happens and try to grow from there. Sitting down to write and perfect a biz plan is going to waste valuable time when you could be planning and producing projects that will establish a track record to potential investors and sponsors in the future.

quote:

---

One More Question for FilmmakerStuff - outside of costs and length, why would film identity be any different from a more corporate identity?

---

A corporation, LLP or sole propietorship is more of a legal/financial choice. All major and independent films are one of the three - usually a corporation or LLP. You can very easily incorporate and still project the image of a "regular guy or girl making films." Being incorporated doesn't mean you have to wear a suit and tie to the film shoot. As long as it doesn't change you or your vision, you're not "selling out" or "going corporate."

John
Shoot Yourself
?code? http://www.shootyourself.net?/code?

When you start a business, any business, you have to know how you are going to run it. I would start with a "business outline" which will be probably about 10-15 pages long. Covers pretty much what a business plan does, but not as detailed. Think of it as an overview of your funding, marketing, distribution, etc.

--------
http://www.greattalents.com/profile/162/_/default.aspx