You will want to create a legal entities to regulate your film productions in the form of one or more production companies. This helps to protect the rights and livelihood of each partner in the film’s control structure.
Commonly filmmakers would like to have an ongoing company that encompasses multiple projects, while having individual films covered by a separate company. This is in order to keep the finances, organization, and chain of title legally separate so that if you have legal or financial trouble with one film, it doesn’t affect your other film(s).
One of the most popular choices of business structure among filmmakers is the Limited Liability Company (LLC). This is because the LLC limits your liability if you get sued to the assets of the company and not to the shareholders. However, some corporations also have limited liability, so your choice of business structure really depends on things like who will control the business and the funding sources you will use. See “Films as Startups: A Legal Guide for the Indie Filmmaker” from Boston College Law School’s Legal Service Lab for a description of the various types of business structures.
There are a lot of ins and outs to this, including financial and organizational decisions to make. Please read “How (and why) to set up a special purpose production entity for your film or show” from entertainment attorney Gordon P. Firemark for a detailed rundown on how to set up an SPE (Special Purpose Entity, a general term for the type of legal entity that is commonly used for film production companies). I will say that attorney Firemark strongly suggests that you talk to the same attorney that you are consulting with for the rest of your film’s legal dealings for setting up the production company. This is because they will already know all about the particular issues with your film.
Forming a production company is not really that different in essence from forming any other type of business. There are just different considerations. You can also look at the site for the U.S. Small Business Administration – the document “Choose a business structure” helps you decide what type of business you want to set up. At the bottom of that page, they offer you free business counselling through SCORE.org (“Service Corps of Retired Executives”) or the Small Business Development Center.
There are also several decent books and trainings on business and legal issues for indie film producers. Please check out the Books and Trainings page on this site.
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