I am a high school student and an avid film maker. I have built up a crew of dedicated people and want to start my own production company where we could make our own films as well as film local comercials and non profit programs. How do I get started?
Things to know when starting a company
- Thread starter iuhoosier336
- Start date
The short answer...
Read, practice, and do it.
Here's a few books that might help:
Read, practice, and do it.
Here's a few books that might help:
- Pre-Production Planning for Video, Film, & Multimedia - Steve R. Cartwright
- The Complete Film Production Handbook (3rd Edition) - Eve Light Honthaner, Hienemann T Butterworth
- Independant Feature Film Production: A Complete Guide From Concept Through Distrobution - Gregory Goodell
- The Producer's Business Handbook - John J. Lee
- Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen - Steven Katz
- IFP/West Independant Filmmaker's Manual - Nicole Shay LaLoggia, Eden H. Wurmfeld
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Thanks, this is a big help
Definitely get a real job, and run this on the side. My dad had a real steady job, and started his own business on the side. Ran that for about 4 years until we could live off of his business. Now we're Stupid Rich White Men! Sharing the wealth with those less fortunate! (well, depending on Nov. 2nd's results)
Satires aside, DEFINITELY get a real job, and use money from that to fund your production company. Get some talented staff and make something great for your demo as others have suggested, eventually, with enough time and talent the production company will become self sufficient and will (depending on success) be able to support itself and you, and your staff. So work hard (thats what my dad did, 80+hours a week sometimes) Hopefully you'll catch some breaks, not get edited by mgmt. on taxes and you'll make it big!
(might want to apply for an LLC license too)
Satires aside, DEFINITELY get a real job, and use money from that to fund your production company. Get some talented staff and make something great for your demo as others have suggested, eventually, with enough time and talent the production company will become self sufficient and will (depending on success) be able to support itself and you, and your staff. So work hard (thats what my dad did, 80+hours a week sometimes) Hopefully you'll catch some breaks, not get edited by mgmt. on taxes and you'll make it big!
(might want to apply for an LLC license too)
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Was that a racial slurrr!? 
I have to agree some of the others... Start it on the side.. when you have enough money, make an LLC.
If you want to make money with a business, you need to know business. Write a business plan.
If you have a good foundation for a business, it will stand the test of time. We know you have a group of friends and have been making things, but business is business!
I used to throw raves in the SF Bay area. The name of the company was Cyber Illusions. No business plan, just a bunch of friends throwing parties. Then we started creating our own music, psychadelic trance music, so we changed the name to Psyber Illusions. Still no business plan, just a bunch of friends throwing parties, making music. Then we changed the name to Psyber Illusions Media. So we started doing flyers, music production, websites, and more... STILL NO BUSINESS PLAN... Then it happened... It was decided to produce an artist. I stepped out because I saw no business plan, just a bunch of friends. I had taken a couple business college courses and learned something about it. I had also had my own nationwide business at the age of 16.
I warned my friend about doing it without a plan in place. So I left and he went forward. He dropped over $7000 on the project and it went nowhere. A total loss of $7000.
So I've branched to creating my own startup, CootDogProductions.com.
My friend still has the domain name Psyberillusionsmedia.com but is doing rap music...
When we work together, it's for the betterment of both businesses. But it's business.. Contracts are signed, notary and lawyers are involved. It's a business deal. There may not be any money involved, but there are contracts.
Build the foundation, and you and your friends can be the pillars of a great start to a great business. Without the foundation, the pillars will fall.
I have to agree some of the others... Start it on the side.. when you have enough money, make an LLC.
If you want to make money with a business, you need to know business. Write a business plan.
If you have a good foundation for a business, it will stand the test of time. We know you have a group of friends and have been making things, but business is business!
I used to throw raves in the SF Bay area. The name of the company was Cyber Illusions. No business plan, just a bunch of friends throwing parties. Then we started creating our own music, psychadelic trance music, so we changed the name to Psyber Illusions. Still no business plan, just a bunch of friends throwing parties, making music. Then we changed the name to Psyber Illusions Media. So we started doing flyers, music production, websites, and more... STILL NO BUSINESS PLAN... Then it happened... It was decided to produce an artist. I stepped out because I saw no business plan, just a bunch of friends. I had taken a couple business college courses and learned something about it. I had also had my own nationwide business at the age of 16.
I warned my friend about doing it without a plan in place. So I left and he went forward. He dropped over $7000 on the project and it went nowhere. A total loss of $7000.
So I've branched to creating my own startup, CootDogProductions.com.
My friend still has the domain name Psyberillusionsmedia.com but is doing rap music...
When we work together, it's for the betterment of both businesses. But it's business.. Contracts are signed, notary and lawyers are involved. It's a business deal. There may not be any money involved, but there are contracts.
Build the foundation, and you and your friends can be the pillars of a great start to a great business. Without the foundation, the pillars will fall.
what kind of a buisness plan would be good for me? like a goal in the number of clinents or just what we want to acomplish?
CootDog said:Was that a racial slurrr!?
The racial slurr was edited out by me.
Just so everyone knows ... any comments that are deemed offensive - be it vulgar, racial or whatever - will be dealt with harshly!
Now, back to the topic ...
Poke
iJack said:
I agree totally!
One of the things I said was:
CootDog said:
Don't let writing a business plan stop you from going out there and filming and learning and practicing and getting things started. When my friends and I started throwing raves and that, we never had a business plan. We just had a bunch of equipment, DJ's and a location. that's it! AND like iJack suggested to you, we did it for free. While Raves and making a video production are different, they are still businesses.
Right now, you may not have a defined plan but by going out there and DOING something, you will learn where you want to go. Then you'll come up with a plan on how to get there... Write it down if you want. If it changes, change what you wrote. From my standpoint, things would have moved a lot smoother if each of my friends and my roles were defined and spelled out on paper. Decided how to devide up money and expenses and the such. From my standpoint, a plan would have worked for me and the outcome could have been better.
I have to commend you. You and your friends are in HighSchool and are already talking about this. I wish I had!
What you have here is golden and you guys should learn all you can, by doing all you can.Good luck!
If you EVER have any questions, you came to the right place. This community is awesome! I've learned a lot and everyone is here to help eachother.
Gotta agree with you though, I can definitely tell that it will pay off 
