Things I need to know (as told by you!)
 

Okay...so a good friend of mine and I have started a production company. This company will be a place that will enable people to invest in future theatrical length productions. We're aiming to create films that will hit theaters....(we're going to start off small of course and just hit up the festival circuit). We already have a great deal of money ready to be invested through several investors into our first project..and also some investors ready to invest in the company itself.

Now, I gladly welcome any advice from the pros at this forum ranging from advice on equipment to advice on payroll and all in between. We do have a lawyer and accountant handling most of the complicated business part, but I would also like some input on the film business aspect of it.

Thanks guys!
Jeremiah

protect your ASSets & your investors ...
do a LLC or a INC ... make sure you have enough liability insurance to protect ALL - that means 1 mil liability is not going to do it ...
make sure all persons are covered by workmans comp ( including those that work for free) ...
put all agreements in writing ..
follow SEC rules when looking for investors - for a movie you pretty much have to tell them in writing that they should kiss their $$ goodbye - as in they will never see a dime ...

and have fun ....

A lot of non-film people will come to you with an idea, and suggest that you produce it and finance it and do all the work, and you should split it 50/50 just because they had the idea. Don't ever, ever touch it.

Stay away from "friends" with ulterior motives. Don't end up being used for your time and equipment with no return. Find a niche, you'll need it as this is quickly becoming a saturated market. There are too many people with $200 DV cams and FCP that think they can do better, cheaper -and undercut like mad. The client isn't the wiser because they never saw your superior footage and editing. They then expect this undercut-rate from everyone in the industry regardless of quality-argh!

Working for free is fine, as long as the project is worth it.
Working for free on projects that are crap, ain't worth it.

Very true, some of my best times and work were done on projects with no $ involved. It's the projects you "think" or are told you are going to get paid and don't that I was leaning toward. :-)

"We're aiming to create films that will hit theatres..."

I'm not real clear on your business plan, so I'm assuming you've made it much clearer to your investors.

Are you a "Producer" or a "Production Facility" or a combination of both? You can 'make' movies without ever owning a facility or a piece of gear. In fact, it's usually cheaper to rent the first time around. (Start the flames.)

There are tons of books on 'how to make a movie on ten cents and your credit card'. Some usefull forms and information in them.

But the main ticket is...

What's the story?


Do you have a film, that people will pay money for?

Do YOU want to see it? Do people who read the script get REALLY REALLY EXCITED about it? Do THEY want to see it made? Are your investors excited about your scripts?

It's one thing to say 'Hey, put your money in our company, we're going to make famous movies', IF you've already made some. I'll put money in that, trusting your track record of success. (And even then, it's a crap shoot).

It's another thing to convince people to gamble their money on a project they haven't seen yet. "Give me your money, trust me to find a winning script and bankable actors and put it together in a package that's going to get picked up for distributrion... even though I've never done it before."

Not saying it can't or shouldn't be done... the attempt to do so happens every day. The SUCCESS at doing so is much smaller. Getting all your ducks in a row (as the other posters have said) is really really key. Do all the 'unsexy' work of insurance, union negotiations, culling through a thousand scripts, finding a project, CREATE A BUDGET - shoot some sample scenes or trailer footage - THEN GO SELL THE SIZZLE.

Everything I've described can be done primarily with B.T.U's. Butt Time Units. Put together a package... a 'slate' of maybe three projects that are in hand, and 'doable' - then approach your investors.

Just my thoughts based on my own experiences.