Film company

C

Crazings

I want to have my own indepentent film company so i can use the name on my productions,
What is involed in this process? Im a bit of newb to stuff like this
 
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Many of us have just picked a name and run with it... you can make that legal (in the states) by getting it registered as a DBA (Doing Business As), you can protect yourself financially from lawsuits etc. by getting an LLC (Limited Liability Company) for a bit more - and a bunch more paperwork... or go all out and incorporate, but that's much larger than I know about -- others here have done it though.
 
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If you (unintentionally) screw up legally (I'm not just talking criminal here), anything less than an LLC will make you financially liable for the problems... You could be sued for just about anything and are choosing to take that risk.

LLC and higher makes the company a separate entity from you personally and will take the hit financially, but you and your own property will be protected.
 
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knightly said:
LLC and higher makes the company a separate entity from you personally and will take the hit financially, but you and your own property will be protected.
Click to expand...

This is why studios and production companies create a separate LLC for each individual film production, to isolate the entire corporate entity from the production.
 
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Wait..so I can't just use a random original name for a film company and go with it? If I just wanted to make shorts for fun and thought of a cool name of a production company that wasn't taken by any real company could I get sued for using that name?
 
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@that1guy, ask a lawyer if you're really concerned. but if no one has the name trademarked or copyrighted, then it would be pretty hard to sue over the name.

The point about LLCs was more for if you get sued for something like liability or if you infringe copyright in your film and other stuff like that.
 
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Crazings said:
If anyone is aware of any UK sites that can make my name legal give me a shout :)
Click to expand...
http://www.ukcorporator.co.uk/business_names.php
http://www.start.biz/home.htm

that1guyy said:
Wait..so I can't just use a random original name for a film company and go with it? If I just wanted to make shorts for fun and thought of a cool name of a production company that wasn't taken by any real company could I get sued for using that name?
Click to expand...
No. You cannot be sued.

Well, technically, anyone can sue anyone for anything. But the
very worst that will happen is a company already using the name
you picked will tell you to stop using the name. You stop - everything
is fine.
 
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It's worth setting up a Limited company for your production, but only if you're doing it pretty seriously and investing quite a lot of money into it...

In the UK it costs (overall) about £500 to create a Limited company, provided you don't go all out in getting lawyers and accountants to manage it for you, so it's a fair old price, especially if you're just making films with friends and like-minded amateurs.

But if you want to start a production with professionals (actors, cinematographers, investors...etc) then I would say it's almost a must. I don't think many people who are working in the industry for their living would take a production company seriously if it's limited. And that's not even to mention the potential liability advantages of registering the company.

I've been weighing up whether to register my website/production company (if/when I start producing anything :) ) and at the moment I'm erring on the site of not doing it, simply because of the extra cost. But if and when I start making either movies or money then it'll be one of the first things I do.
 
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