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Production Company
Hey this is my first post on here, but have been reading threads for a while. I have a question about starting a production company. What do i need to do to get my production company official so no one else can use the name. Also any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Mike |
get 2 very important things.
1) A LAWYER and 2) An ACCOUNTANT These are the people you need to set up any business the correct and legal way so as not to end up owing the IRS lots and lots of money AND to insure that no other company has the name of your company |
All you have to do is file the necessary paperwork to form the company with the state and that will prevent anyone else from forming a company with that same name in your state. If you want more than that then you'd have to look into obtaining a trademark.
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Start by getting a business license with your city.
I can't speak for all towns, but in Los Angeles, the license for video prodution is much, much cheaper than the one for motion picture production. File a DBA and get your checking account. At that point, you're the sole proprietor of a privately-owned business.
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In my opinion, it's probably a bit premature to get an attorney and an accountant. Most likely your state has a very helpful small business development center. Get on Google and search for it. Mine has been invaluable in making sure I had everything I needed, including in-person counseling, helping me write a business plan, making a budget, tracking my progress and more - all free. After you've exhausted the free resources available to you, then you can start paying for them.
To address your specific question about your company name: your state's rules may be different, but here in Minnesota it involves filing for a certificate of assumed name with the secretary of state. Again, your state's small business development center can help you with that. You could take that further and register a trade and service mark, but if your company name is "Michael Rulfs Productions", that would probably be unnecessary. |
What you need, in order to protect your business name is a TRADEMARK REGISTRATON.
Filing a dba or corporation will NOT protect you against someone in another city, county or state from adopting the same name for his own business. I disagree with the view that filing a dba and opening a bank account is sufficient. You SHOULD consult with a lawyer and accountant (just to get the lay of the land)... before deciding on what type of business entity you need. Liability is a major concern in our lawsuit-happy society, so you'll want to protect your personal assets from business-related liabilities. This CAN be a do-it-yourself project, but the time it will take you to learn how, is better spent building and marketing your new business. A modest investment will pay off nicely. Most lawyers and accountants will give you a free- or low-cost consultation in hopes you'll hire 'em to help you . -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Law Offices of Gordon P. Firemark Theatre and Entertainment Law 10940 Wilshire Blvd., 16th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90024 Telephone: (310)443-4185 Fax: (310) 477-7676 Email: gfiremark@firemark.com Web: Law Offices of Gordon P. Firemark - Entertainment Lawyers Theatre and Entertainment Law -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Personal story: when I started my company, I went to the Companies Office in my city, searched my company name, search came back saying that I could use it, registered it, got confirmation and opened a bank account.
After a period of time, I registered for provincial sales tax and federal Goods and Services Tax (I live in Canada) and started to collect both. Well, actually, I ended up decreasing my total rates by the amount of the taxes and then added taxes as my clients (after 2 years of paying my existing rates) refused to pay more at that time for my services. Now HERE is the niggle: turns out that in my jurisdiction, my business model is considered ZERO RATED for provincial sales tax. I had collected 7% (sort of - see above) and remitted for a period of several years, coming out of my pocket (again - see above) only to find out when I got my media business savvy accountant that I hadn't needed to collect provincial sales tax. And since taxes collected under the guise of collecting tax, whether required or not, become the "property" of the agency that would normally collect those taxes, I was out that potential revenue. This was based on the front line staff at the government agency giving me very bad advice. The long and the short of it is: a GOOD accountant will save you his/her fees in taxes payable and/or missed writeoff opportunities. In my SPECIFIC case, my accountant advised me against incorporating as the limiting of liability given my specific situation was essentially null and void. AGAIN: THIS IS MY SPECIFIC SITUATION - do not take this as advice NOT to incorporate. Talk to a lawyer and accountant and get the "straight goods". |
this is only my opinion after being in my own business for a total of almost 38 years.
If you talk to a lawyer and accountant you will find out EXACTLY what you need to do based on the business model YOU have for YOUR business in YOUR area. This includes TM your company name if needed, finding out about sales tax issues, business license issues and anything else you might need to do to run a LEGAL business. It is my opinion only, that if you do anything less than that you could be putting both your business and personal finaces in jeapordy. It will cost very little to meet with an attorney and account to explore what you need to do but it will cost you less that tax penalties and interest or judgements placed against your business or you personally if you unknowingly break some rules and remember, ignorance of the laws or rules is not a defense. Your business, your choice. |
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That's my opinion after being in my own business for only 28 years. |
Hey Chris,
Thank you for pointing that out. I meant to but forgot. That's what happens in those extra 10 years. ;-) |
When I opened up my company last year, I googled it nationwide, actually worldwide...
Our production name is Orange Video Production, and there was nobody in the world with that name.. maybe the closest one would be Orange County Video Production. Later, I learned from one of the bride that her photographer was "Orange2 (squared)" photography... They are close, but thank God it wasn't same! So make sure you search on photographers, too, so you don't look like you are part of them. BTW, when I googled it, they didn't appear on at least first 7 pages... JJ |
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Llc, Limited Liability Company, Limited Liability Corporation, Form An Llc, Forming Llc | Incorporate.com |
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TalentPIMP - Pipeline Into Motion Pictures La Orange Video Production, Rome, Italy: LA ORANGE VIDEO PRODUCTION ITALY CERCA ATTORI-ATTRICI Roma Italia There's an Orange Video Production in Germany that produces skateboard videos. There's a Monster Orange Video Productions in Aberdeen, Scotland. :) |
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How did you discover them? Just curious, Chris. Good thing none of them is located near my area... |
I just searched for your business name in quotes so Google returned only exact matches.
I wouldn't be so concerned about your name being used elsewhere, especially since it's an arbitrary name. That means it's a real word that can be used to describe a location, a color, a fruit or even someone's name. If you want to better your chances of having a unique name then you need to create your own word, like Xerox, Exxon, Verizon and Kodak did. |
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