Starting a Movie Company…?
Question by TexasLSUTiger: Starting a Movie Company…?
and I need help finding investors. We have 4 independent movies really to be made and we’re going to make them all at the same time (to save money, and reuse cast with rotating contracts). I need to find people who would be interested in investing in the company or in the films – any amount of investment helps.
Please help with any suggestions, even if they are you or your friends – anything from $ 1-$ 1,000,000 is fine. We just need help getting the company and films off the ground.
Best answer:
Answer by legalbeagle
tough, tough questions.
I’ve known about folks who started a production company, but never a movie company. a production company makes movies. a movie company advertises and distributes films.
to make a movie, most filmmakers start an LLC – limited liability corporation. (yeah, you need a lawyer for that) it’s the llc that owns the script and is responsible for payments, profits and debts. most folks do one llc per film so if there are problems with one flick, it doesn’t affect the production of the others.
as far as finding investors – the guys I know who’ve done this created a trailer and held a fundraising dinner ($ 100 per plate) and let potential investors meet the stars and see the trailer.
but they had a real movie star tied to the project.
Dentists are known to be good candidates because they seem
to have a lot of disposable income.
other filmmakers have hit up their family for cash. and the actors. Many offer people who pony a lot of cash a “producer” credit.
But before you even start this, you need to break down your script (s) and determine how much you need to make it happen. How many shooting days? How many rolls of film? (Film? or Video?) Developing, transfer, editing, sound track, music, etc…
People who are not related to you will probably not part with less than $ 50 without knowing what their return on investment might be? Are they investing in a film? Several films? A movie company? You need a business plan to hope to succeed with any of those. If you’re investing money in anything, you’re typically expecting to make money.
Then, how do you suppose to get the films released? Are you going straight to DVD? Are you going to do the film festival circuit? most independant films never get released.
BTW, you must know that once you go the LLC route or you sign up investors, you must do everything legally. that means permits to shoot in public places. completion insurance. liability insurance on camera and crew. union approval such as SAG (depending on where you live). contracts for everything. you’ve got to document all monies coming in and all expenses. when you do this, you’ve crossed the line from making films to joining the film business. there’s a big, big difference between the two.
I’d recommend you pick your best of 4 scripts and figure out how to get that one produced. Find a university near where you live and talk to some film professors. They can give you lots of great advice on preparing your business plan.
Having notable actors, director or cinematographer attached to any project will help considerably.
good luck
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