Starting a Film Production Company

[Shawn Booth]

If you have not already, I would invest money in school. It takes years of good and bad experiences to understand how to run a set. There you will get contacts, who may or may not help you in your career,

You can also start working as a PA on set and then work your way up

 

[Andrae Palmer]

How much money do you really need to start a Film Production Company?

Ten million dollars.

 

[Benni Diez]

Guts and brains and a camera. But 10 millions sure could help.

 

[Michael Schrengohst]

shoot it and edit it and then what? Distribution is the hard nut to crack.
Just ask a few of my friends. Some of which spent their life savings to
"make their film" and now have to work off their 40 something asses off to pay it back.
But good luck with making "your film".
Look on craigslist and go volunteer to help make some indy flicks for lunch money.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

It's a chicken before the egg kind of thing. To get clients you need experience. To get experience you need clients. Sounds like you are starting from ground level. I recommend getting some experience on someone else's dime, establishing a nice network of contacts, and hopefully once people see what you can do, they may start to bring some work your way. Keep building this client list with good customer service and repeat business. Invest in gear slowly, building up as you go along. Rent as long as you can until it makes more sense to buy. If the business grows and you have a steady stream of clients, then you can grow into some office space, maybe increase your investment in gear. But always make sure you have more money coming in than going out. If you are into developing your own content such as films, tv shows, etc you can start to get into this kind of thing after you have built up some capital and perhaps start putting some money into your own projects. But make sure you invest in these projects wisely or they can turn your positive cash flow into negative cash flow very quickly.

Creativity, talent and people skills will win you more work than owning great gear. You need to give people a good reason to want to work with you, and I have always found that people skills factors into the equation pretty heavily. You need to be able to network too, and that is a skill in and of itself.

Best of luck with your endeavor!

 

[Priyesh P.]

Thanks for all the input.
And how much money do you think I would need minimum to shoot a film?

Jason. I seriously suggest you to make some interns, read books, speak with people of the industry, shoot shortfilms etc. for yourself - all that means: get firsthand experiences of the trade itself before trying to start a production company. You questions imply that you don`t have much experience if any at all. Starting a business is never easy, but what you first have to know is what it is you want to sell.

 

[Priyesh P.]

It's a chicken before the egg kind of thing. To get clients you need experience. To get experience you need clients. Sounds like you are starting from ground level. I recommend getting some experience on someone else's dime, establishing a nice network of contacts, and hopefully once people see what you can do, they may start to bring some work your way. Keep building this client list with good customer service and repeat business. Invest in gear slowly, building up as you go along. Rent as long as you can until it makes more sense to buy. If the business grows and you have a steady stream of clients, then you can grow into some office space, maybe increase your investment in gear. But always make sure you have more money coming in than going out. If you are into developing your own content such as films, tv shows, etc you can start to get into this kind of thing after you have built up some capital and perhaps start putting some money into your own projects. But make sure you invest in these projects wisely or they can turn your positive cash flow into negative cash flow very quickly.

Creativity, talent and people skills will win you more work than owning great gear. You need to give people a good reason to want to work with you, and I have always found that people skills factors into the equation pretty heavily. You need to be able to network too, and that is a skill in and of itself.

Best of luck with your endeavor!

I totally agree.

 

[Nathan VanderByl]

not exactly true...
even with an LLC you can be sued as an individual or owner of the company..
for example..
i was part of a film..
i was guaranteed a certain amount of money and to make it easy for the producer, i let him pay me in 3 installments..
half way through the production SAG shut the film down. (the producer is a total idiot)
anyways.. he paid me my second check the day before the film was shut down.. a week later i check my account and BOOM the money was gone.. he had purposly bounced my check..shut down the LLC..
I just sued HIM, and he will have to pay me the money.

Good post. A director of a company is still liable for its debts.

 

[Nova Invicta]

Film

Film

To be a "Film Production Company" you need to shoot on film. Everything else is a "Video Production Company" including HD / 4K et al. The word film has been hijacted to become a generic term.

 

[James T Mather]

...and not only that - the word hijacked has been hijacted