Acquaired a big lot with warehouses(3) and some offices

B

brussli

Hello kind people,
Im a 23 years old indie documentalist and lover of anything that moves inside of a frame, i've made works for ngo's and also worked for production companies and helped some friends make their videoclip.

I've never went full technical with anything since i never seem to get the money to upgrade my gear since i also dj wich is what i do. I just own a fantastic D7000 with shitty kit lens, but hey they do the job just fine.

I'll go to the point now.

I can use this huge lot with 3 warehouses 2 of them about 250mts squares and the other like 150mts squares in it wich used to be a factory, now this place is for rent, so i've figured out it would be profitable to make a studio rental company out of it since there is not one of this size over here.
So the place is for us to use as we see fit.

What im here for is for you to help me understand what would i need to make this studio works as is wich is just the bare walls and some offices or at least make it work with the less invesment posible.

What we though was to rent it to any brand, agency, production company, indie producers, out there that are making commercials, movies, photography sessions, etc. for a very friendly price

My question for you is what steps should i take to start running this business with the less invesment possible to make it grow and upgrade. From the bussiness presentation if it should be a power point or anything else to the people i should talk to make a good cyc and plans if they're available. Any information would be much apreciated even if i already might know it.

I also though it would be fun for everyone to learn what's necessary to make a studio of this size run.

And sorry if this isnt the place for this.
 
Heeeee. I am not at all a business person, so I should just keep my mouth shut. But I sometimes have a hard time doing that.

It's an exciting idea. Such an idea has flitted around my tiny cranium on occassion. When I see huge, abandoned warehouses I think, say, wouldn't it be cool to create a studio in the Midwest? ...

Anyway. I want to be careful not to assume such matters, things like liability or maybe what the law might say about your obligations to carry insurance or not, are the same in Paraguay as they are in the U.S., since I'm completely ignorant about that. But here, anyway, I would think that your insurance carrier would have a lot to say about what you could and could not do or get away with on your property. Maybe more to the point, I imagine it would depend on what you could afford. Just like any business...up here, anyway.

For instance, I'm thinking of something like this. Say you rent your studio to filmmakers who want to do some green screening including suspending their actors from wires. Who's liable if there's an accident and someone is hurt while doing that on your property? Your business? The filmmakers? Both? And can you afford the insurance to allow such activities on your property, or to provide the facilities to suspend actors and stunt people from wires? Just curious.

Maybe Robert Rodriguez's business is a bigger, more complicated animal than the one you're thinking of pursuing at this point. Troublemaker Studios is a production company with a lot of services and facilities, looks like. You're only talking about renting out studio space. Still, if I were in such a position as you, I'd probably be curious how they do it, how they started out. Might be some tips and pointers in that story to learn from. There are some cool stuff about them in the extras of Predators, by the way...fun stuff, though, not the nitty gritty of business so much.

Bathrooms. Descent bathrooms. The more the better, I'm sure, depending upon just how large these studios are and how large the productions are that will be using them. And dressing rooms. Storage. Temporary for your renters. Long term for you.

Hey, good luck! Hope it works out.
 
sfoster said:
you're going to need good wiring if you want to power some of those hollywood lights. thats all i know about studios
Click to expand...

Actually, even the large Hollywood soundstages can't power all those lights. They'll have "house power"; enough to power the kitchen, general interior overhead lighting & some sockets for the offices - but the actual movie lights are all powered by portable generators located outside the buildings. By portable, I don't mean the Honda 50cc from down at Home Depot, either. These are the size of a trailer, and get towed around like one.

Many departments are not fixed, either. It's often easier for Wardrobe to stay in their long trailer (complete with onboard washers & dryers) than unload into the building; especially 'cos the next day they might be needed to shoot elsewhere. Same for paperwork/office trailers. Sometimes even the dining halls! Small productions on a studio backlot might get away with the on-site bathroom facilities (sometimes shared with other buildings), but a larger one will certainly be bringing in their own porta-potties.

On the studio backlots, the soundstages are essentially large, sound-insulated shells. Productions might build some permanent sets inside, but almost everything is arranged to be ready to transport at the drop of a hat - lights & power included.

None of y'all mentioned food yet, btw. Nothing happens without food. :cool:

.
 
What sort of clientele are you wanting to attract?

First and foremost: the fact that there's no 'studio' in your local area could mean a lot more than you think. It could mean that there simply isn't a demand for such a thing. You would want to absolutely make sure that there is some market for studio rental before spending any outlay - and you want to be sure that it's a market that's going to be sustainable for a decent amount of time.

You're going to need basic facilities - kitchen, bath rooms, green room and office.

The reality is - a lot of your investment is going to be based on the clients you want to attract. The more you invest, the larger the production is going to be able to shoot in there. With a minimal investment, you're opening up to very small productions - and you need to ask yourself if the investment you're going to need to put forth is worth the return that small clients might be willing to pay.

Personally, there's about 6 times I can think of where I've seen a space I'd love to transform into a soundstage, and/or backlot, but the reality is the investment to get it to a point where it's workable and usable by large productions is not something I could ever really afford.

I think it would be a safer bet to rent out the studio and office space as part of starting up your own production company - and using the space for your own studio and offices. Then, you could hire out the studio to whoever wants to. At least then, if you find your studio is dark for 9 months, you still have income from the production company to keep you afloat, and you can use it as part of your prodco, meaning it's not necessarily a waste.
 
I would forget of turning it into soundstage, most likely than not as it requires piles of cash. Use it as photo studio/location and for music vids or fashion as they don't care about sound.
 
The real question here, before you get into cost, needs etc...is...do YOU need a studio to make your work? IF so, is it cheaper to build one, or hire space in somebody elses? ie a recording studio for sound, a green-screen studio for your own work. Just because you are not aware that one exists, does not mean that one definitely does not, and if there is one already set up that meets your needs, it may be easier and cheaper to rent as needed rather then be the big kahuna that is held down by all of the financial baggage involved in keeping the lights on.

If your camera ( and I disagree that it is shitty, I think thats a great camera ) is a pointer at your financials, then perhaps you would be better suited to upgrading your lighting, or sound gear, which costs a lot less then building an entire studio.

If money is tight, think more about what you really need to make some of the footage you have in your mind ie an editing computer powerful enough to run some good editing software ( I use an older version of Sony Pro ) Some special effects software such as Adobe After effects...or perhaps you could write your first films based around ideas that you can do on the cheap and that won't require special effects. Take "Reservoir Dogs" for example, Maybe 5 locations from what I can tell, zero special effects, a camera that the D700 probably beats for picture quality, and its a master piece of good film, it carries itself effortlessly in an entertaining story. ( I only notice the lack of locations etc because I am a film maker and I analyze these sorts of details ) Also, remember that the best film in the world would topple without good sound quality. Perhaps upgrade your sound gear to get crisp, clean lines delivered down the mic.

Further I would point at networking with what you have. Start a Facebook page for your local community to find you. give it a "film production" orientated name. In this way, you can start to meet people in your area that are interested in doing the same things you are and may even have projects that they want you to help with, or vice versa. No doubt you will have facebook trade pages for your town/city, a facebook page that is a copy of ebay or craigslist. Don't be afraid to join those groups and post links to your movie production page. It gets the word out fast that you exist, and helps interested parties find you. In this way, you may find that others have gear that you don't have, and by working together you can do film projects in a way that is cheaper for all involved. If you then discover that there is a huge amount of people that are interested AND have cash to spend...THEN maybe look at building a physical premises for them to come to.

Hope this helps. Just trying to save you some coin.
 
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