Finished "Film" and Business School - Got questions?

C

chrisColorado

Hey guys,

I finished my local community college's video/TV program (my "film school" experience) in 2008 and felt like I should know business better to get good jobs. So I went to business school, made it in, graduated and I'm back on the street.

Now that I know both worlds, I'm interested in helping filmmakers who have business questions and don't know that world well. I learned so much that would help filmmakers and other creatives to make more money and help others. At least in the business world, creative people like us are becoming more and more respected and valuable, if we only knew what it is they respect about us and what we can do about it.

Anyway, if you have questions, I'll be keeping an eye on the business-related forums around here.

Good luck out there!
 
Ummm... Actually, did your school teach you about umbrella corporations? I'm kinda curious if an LLC can be used as an umbrella corporation and somehow state that another named company is a subsidiary of them and not having to have that subsidiary also have to apply for an LLC.

Like linking all the accounts and financials to one LLC for multiple "companies".

Thoughts?
 
SkyCopeland said:
Ummm... Actually, did your school teach you about umbrella corporations? I'm kinda curious if an LLC can be used as an umbrella corporation and somehow state that another named company is a subsidiary of them and not having to have that subsidiary also have to apply for an LLC.

Like linking all the accounts and financials to one LLC for multiple "companies".

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hmm. I'm not sure why you would want the 'subsidiary' company to not have a valid entity of some kind. After all, the point of umbrella companies, and entities like LLC, is to prevent lawsuit consequences and taxes from getting to you, as much as possible. Doesn't the LLC umbrella/parent company want protection against frivolous lawsuits brought by devious people against the subsidiary?

I need to ask a clarifying question: What is the subsidiary's entity? You said it's a company, but that doesn't mean anything in the context of your question and I'm just trying to understand what you're trying to do.

To help you understand what I mean: the answer you give can only be one of the following -
1) Sole proprietorship/d.b.a. - I just started and I don't have a 'formal protective entity', so I pay my business taxes with the same form I pay my personal taxes with. I'm guessing this is what you have, just want to make sure.
2) General Partnership - Example: Company & Son
3) Limited Partnership - Example: Company Ltd.
4) Corporation - Company Inc.
6) LLC - But based on your question, I think it's not an LLC right now.
7) Other - very rare for most. These sorts of entities include LLP, which is used by offices of doctors, lawyers, accountants...
 
One part of the answer to your question is:

If you want all the financials together, then just have the LLC buy the other one.

However, this means the other company will 'disappear' as a separate entity. I'm guess you don't want this for some reason. Why?
 
Hmmm maybe I should try to be more exact then... I have a lawyer who can answer this, but thought I'd ask since you say you have a degree haha... so I don't sound silly later when I do ask my lawyer XD

I have an LLC on a game studio that designs and publishes tabletop games (it has employees and all).

Then I have SkyTech Productions, which is what I do my film work under, that's a d.b.a., but I was wondering if I could somehow form SkyTech Productions as a subsidiary of my game studio, even though they aren't related in terms of content outside of being entertainment.

Then when taxes come around my accountant could file all my SkyTech Productions financials along with the game studio's?
 
Thanks for clarifying!
Yes, when you go talk to your lawyer, you'll want to mention that SkyTech is a d.b.a./Sole Proprietorship right away, so they understand your question quickly.

OK...I had to rewrite my response to your question 3 times. After writing my answer 4 times, here you go... ;)

Unfortunately, I don't think there is any way to do exactly what you want. You will end up with one of two options:

1) Change your d.b.a. to another entity and then have the LLC buy/aquire the new entity, but still pay separate taxes, OR
CONS: Still pay separate taxes.
2) "Sell" your d.b.a. assets (camera, computer, etc.) to the LLC, combine the taxes but not separate entities.
CONS: Your beloved camera and computer now legally belong to your gaming company. Bummer!

See, the way umbrella companies work is that all the subsidiaries pay separate taxes. I don't know that that ever changes. Sorry! But this is a good thing, because if one of the subsidiaries goes under and has to shut down, the umbrella rides the storm through. Then the subsidiary shows up on the umbrella's taxes, but as a writeoff.

Still, I'm no tax expert...yet. So better go talk to that lawyer. And if s/he knows about entities, but not taxes, then you better go visit a tax accountant too for another opinion (and not all accountants are tax accountants, just as not all lawyers know very much about entities or taxes).

Funny that this is the question you asked, because learning this sort of stuff was why I went to business school in the first place. But it turns out that the amount of time we spent in business school on something basic and important as this was very limited and rather vague, even though I took an extra class to learn more. I learned as much if not more from the book 'Inc. and Grow Rich' by Allen, Hill, Kennedy and Sutton. In your case, the book will be overkill, but if you're interested in corporations, lawsuit protection and tax shelters, check it out. I had to buy it on Amazon, couldn't find it in the library either now or in college.
 
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It's funny how in this day and age, books are still the best source of information. The internet isn't that great to learn about something in depth, only in breadth.
 
Hey sfoster, true dat about books.

On the internet, those who go into depth about what they teach, usually charge for it and make a killing, if they are smart.
Blogs you can visit for free do tend to focus on breadth, not depth.

Then there's Wikipedia, which is pretty manipulated, from what I can tell...Whole different ball game.
 
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