LLC for video production [New Data]



Last updated : Sept 21, 2022
Written by : Zaida Balcos
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LLC for video production

What type of business is a film production?

A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a business that provides the physical basis for works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video.

What is a video production company?

A video production company produces all kinds of videos, whereas a movie production company produces videos for theatrical, streaming, or television broadcast distribution. Film production companies do a great number of things, mostly centered on the pre-production process.

What is the difference between an entertainment company and a production company?

A production company has some direct hand in creating the final product, such as developing a script, supervising hiring, getting the product shot, edited, and ready for market, etc. An entertainment company can be anything, run by anyone, and may deal with legal or illegal activities.

What is the structure of a production company?

You'll want to hire four positions for your executive team: a head of development (who decides what scripts to produce and guides the creative team), a head of production (who's in charge of budgeting and the physical production process), a head of post-production (who oversees the editing process), and a head of ...

Should my production company be an LLC?

For most independent filmmakers, forming an LLC is the best choice for their movie production companies since it mitigates liability, defines governance, and, most importantly, gets people paid.

How do I start a video production company?

  1. Find your niche. Determine what types of videos you want your company to produce.
  2. Create a business plan.
  3. Get funding.
  4. Register your business.
  5. Get equipment.
  6. Set up a website and social media accounts.
  7. Build a team.
  8. Set your price.

How do video production companies make money?

Just like photography, it's absolutely possible to make money as a video production company by commercializing your footage to stock footage corporations. Several corporations like Shutterstock and iStock pay for high-quality production footage.

What are the 3 main stages of video production?

The process of creating a video from concept to completion consists of three phases: Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production.

How do I market myself as a videographer?

  1. Market Research. I know this sounds boring, but it's the most basic thing you can do, and you'd be surprised how many times this is overlooked.
  2. Showcase Your Value.
  3. Networking is Key.
  4. Request Referrals.
  5. Utilize Social Media.
  6. Produce Great Quality Work.

Can an entertainment company be an LLC?

Yes. An LLC will give you personal liability protection against potential business risks as well as give your entertainment business more tax options and credibility. It is relatively inexpensive and simple to form and maintain an LLC. Learn more about entertainment LLC benefits.

What is a film LLC?

LLC's or Limited Liability Companies are an essential first step in starting your production. LLC's are legal entities that hold the liability of a production to a single container, rather than risking personal assets of the investors and filmmakers.

Do you need a production company to make a movie?

You can't start a movie without having a production company. There are many different types of production companies, but here are some of the most common: Independent Production Companies: These companies don't have any investors, so they don't have to worry about funding their projects.

How do I register my production company?

  1. STEP 1: Plan your business.
  2. STEP 2: Form a legal entity.
  3. STEP 3: Register for taxes.
  4. STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card.
  5. STEP 5: Set up business accounting.
  6. STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses.
  7. STEP 7: Get business insurance.
  8. STEP 8: Define your brand.

How do I start a multimedia company?

  1. Create a plan for your business.
  2. Sign up for media planning software.
  3. Identify your target audience.
  4. Register your business.
  5. Start creating content.
  6. Choose how you'll make money.

How do I create a production company name?

For your production company name, you can consider words like “entertainment,” “productions,” “films,” or “media” to clearly convey what services you provide. You'll also want an ideal logo that has its own set of considerations. In this video, get some essential logo and branding tips.

Do you need an LLC for a film?

While a filmmaker is not required to incorporate an LLC prior to filming a documentary, it is strongly recommended. The advantages of incorporating an LLC are two-fold: a). shields filmmaker from business debts or lawsuits against the film/company and b).

What does a media production company do?

Media production companies are businesses that produce and distribute media content. This can be anything from magazines to TV shows or even video games. Media production companies partner with brands to create advertising campaigns and other types of marketing content.

Can a film company be non profit?

The Internal Revenue Service recognizes that, like theatre companies, independent film production companies that are organized to produce or present “dramatic, musical, motion picture, and other performances,” can qualify for tax exempt – or, more colloquially, nonprofit status.

How much does it cost to start a video production company?

Depending on the caliber of equipment, a video production business should expect to spend at least $15,000 for a full setup with costs going into the hundreds of thousands for high-end equipment.

How do I start a freelance video business?

  1. Invest in the tools you need.
  2. Learn valuable associated skills, such as video editing.
  3. Determine if you want to specialize.
  4. Build a portfolio.
  5. Develop your brand.
  6. Look for opportunities to market yourself and grow.


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LLC for video production


Comment by Lamar Stanforth

if you're a solo videographer or creative trying to figure out if you should start an LLC or be a sole proprietor this is the video for you what's going on guys my name is Ryan snod it rhymes with odd and welcome to this week's video I make youtube videos every single week to help you grow your brand with video help videographers grow their own business and a ton of stuff like that so if you're into that make sure to hit the subscribe button below and we're gonna get directly into this week's topic which is sole proprietorship vs. LLC also before you leave a comment thank you for the compliment on the shirt love this shirt and marketing hell yes I'll tell you guys a little bit about my story as well as way some of the pros and cons for you in terms of some of the benefits and the not-so-good stuff that comes with starting an LLC so if you have any questions make sure to leave them in the comment section below and just a quick disclaimer guys I'm not a legal adviser if you have some serious questions about what you should do legally you should go consult with a business attorney or CPA or somebody that is better equipped to handle to some of these questions I'm just going to be sharing some of my personal experience to give you guys some guidance on what other people are doing out there so let's get into it five or six years ago I started my freelance videography business when I was still in college I was operating under the name Ryan snod productions which was just me making extra money on the side which is a great place to start if you are just a beginner or somebody that is kind of feeling this out to see if this is something you want to do more of so i operated as a sole proprietor under ryan snod so when people would cut me a check after making the video they would just make it out to you ryan snod so when you prepped for taxes you just file that as extra income and you're pretty much set when I was starting out I didn't really charge sales tax I didn't have any kind of formalized documents I was just kind of out there freelancing making videos I'd make a video for somebody and they'd pay me and that was pretty much the end of it so I operated like that for about three or four years and then some main things changed for me which made me want to start an LLC so reason number one and probably the main reason that I started an LLC was to separate and divide my finances and my assets to protect them and if you're kind of looking around like I don't know what any of that means basically it means that I wanted to protect my personal property and make sure that if somebody were to sue me for something that I did legally they couldn't come after my personal assets so my house my car or my fiancee or i's property that we worst-case scenario somebody trips on a cord while you're recording something like a light cord and they fall and hit their head and they sue you for damages the last thing I want is somebody to come after all my personal property when I was operating as a business so this adds an extra layer protection with an LLC which is a limited liability company that's what that means and basically adds a layer of protection from yourself to your business so it separates things out so that was the main benefit the second reason that I started in LLC was to keep my branding and my business more professional so if you're operating as a sole proprietor just as yourself you might get this a lot where people kind of look down on you when they're comparing you to somebody else who has a legitimate business for me I was missing out on gigs and things that I didn't have because I wasn't professionally branded and I wasn't an official business and for me a lot of my clientele are more those small to medium sized businesses here in Iowa and a lot of them didn't take me seriously when I was at that point so I decided officially I wanted to incorporate my business as a limited liability company there are a bunch of other legal entities that you can create like an S corp or a bunch of other things like that I'm not gonna go into those in this video because an LLC is the most common for a business in America so it's the most common that we're seeing with somebody that's a sole proprietor so now my business is a sole member LLC and basically gives me that layer of protection that I want but it also allows me to be more branded so I created my business snob media group LLC which is more of a shell company for all the things that I do both videography wise as well as my online business it can all operate through this one organization and I can keep all my finances separate now the branding piece you can do buy as a sole proprietor which is not a big deal but for me I just wanted to have that official business that I could use so when I'm invoicing people it's legit it's not fake it's not some kind of like guys or anything like that it's something that people can trust now some of the downsides of having a sole proprietorship definitely is going to be the risk that you take in terms of legal action so if you're flying your drone around doing real estate videography and you crash your drone into some kids face when he's riding a skateboard and the parents sue you for physical damages they could come after you if you're in college and you're in debt they can come after you and take all of the money that you don't have but if you have you know a car or a house or an apartment they can potentially come and try and take that or see you for damages which could be tens of thousands of dollars see do take on the risk of just being a sole proprietor in that regard so that's really the big downside of a sole proprietorship is the risk factor but also when you get to a certain level of income if you are still a sole proprietor it does kind of increase your tax brackets so you're gonna get taxed heavier if you're kind of at that certain level so say you're making you know six-figure income on the side as a freelance videographer as just a sole proprietor plus you have a full-time gig that pays you know 50 to 70 thousand dollars a year you're probably gonna be in that higher-end tax bracket of wealth where you're gonna be taxed higher so that is just something that you want to kind of look at both with your accountant or an attorney and say okay what's the best option for me so to start an LLC there are a couple steps depending on which state you're in it does change a little bit but the first is really incorporating so if you're in the States you're gonna want to go to your secretary of state website for your state that you live in and for me to start up my business I went to a business attorney and ii got taken care of for like 500 bucks or so so I got incorporated got all of my documents that I needed got my taxes set up and all that type of stuff so that's more of the legal side to kind of keep it legit but then there's the other part of it as well which is setting up the banking information so if you're gonna have an LLC you need to keep all of your finances separate so you're not you know getting a check for like three grand for video that you made and the


Thanks for your comment Lamar Stanforth, have a nice day.
- Zaida Balcos, Staff Member


Comment by Mariam

if you get in front of a client and your main selling points is price image quality and experience this is what I want you to do I want you to go on Craigslist I want you to list your camera for sale because you're not gonna make it today we're gonna explain why stay tuned [Applause] what's going on guys it's your boy ty Turner over at flies Film Academy the only place on the web that's teaching you the business side of content creation and not just how to take don't pictures because dopes pictures don't pay bills however business knowledge does make sure you guys watch it to the end I have some exciting news about a new free course that will be offering today we're going to talk about something as simple as your approach to making money in this industry why you got it all wrong and how we can change that let's be real straight up camera men are dying and there's a reason why a high-end camera man you paid 50 60 maybe 70 thousand and the director is taking home millions there is a little small print in the differences between the two that you should know about being able to properly expose a picture being able to go there and just light it being able to film it is no longer the commodity it's no longer the important part of what we do it's something that an iPhone can do without even trying I guarantee you if you cut on the photo mode in your iPhone or photo app it will properly expose an image so that skill set alone is not going to bring you money it's not going to set you apart from your competition it can also provide 4k 60 you can provide very good quality especially in sunlight or with the proper light so if that is your big selling feature your camera you're not gonna make it cuz camera phones aren't getting worse they're getting much better and a lot faster than DSLRs and mirrorless cameras I mean look at how fast the image quality is improving over time you can go back just to iPhones and see a big difference you can't go back to Maryland's cameras and see a huge difference in quality often a lot of you push image quality as your value when I look at your horse Oh Leo's and your demo reels you're just showing really good clips and music and that's a whole nother topic that we're gonna get into but that isn't a selling feature anymore often you're mad because you have this great image quality and clients don't want to pay for it because in your mind you're providing great quality for price in their mind it's not that much different from their camera phone you need to get this camera man mentality out of your vocabulary out of your mind stop being just a camera man and start offering solutions to problems that your clients have like hey how do I my viewers on Who I am and what I provide offering that solution is way more valuable than just offering a guy to come set up a camera and light me talking times have changed where you're not only just the guy behind the camera but you're the agency you're the film crew and you're the marketing company and you need to go into creating content with that in mind don't offer your client video production service offer them a video production solution offer them a photography solution let me give you some examples I recently did a video for a local college it was for their business school they wanted a video to help increase enrollment that's fine we can do that for you we didn't just offer the ability to film what they had in mind we went in like the subject matter experts to help them determine what works the best for them and in doing so we developed two videos why why would we do two videos one video was aimed at students it was shot completely different edited completely different music was different it was completely different than the second video that went after parents stepping into a client's office and trying to get an understanding of their target audience and what works for their target audience makes you seem a whole lot smarter than a camera guy it makes that five ten fifteen thousand dollars you want for that shoot a whole lot more worth it compared to a guy that's holding a cow that wants $2,000 understanding that a younger audience wants faster shots more colorful shots they want to hear about young people who have experience being educated here who like living on his campus who enjoy being far enough from parents but not too far from parents they want to know if the young experience of the students that's a completely separate video whereas the video for adults want to hear about how safe the campus is they want to talk money they want to talk about what's put in place to ensure that their investment is worth it those are two separate videos you can't cover that on the same video we didn't even edit the videos the same the young kids video was quick cuts moving fast the older video for adults was slower paced sots hold that shot longer wide shots establishing shots medium shots then close-ups we didn't just shoot him the same one was MTV one was CNN what got me the job was that every other filmmaker or videographer or company that went into their only offer video production service they only said yeah we can shoot it yeah we can do it Oh 4k we got it they didn't offer a solution to the problem that the client presented and sometime clients don't know they're presenting problems however if you always go to a client with the idea of offering a solution and not just video or photography then you become a subject matter expert and that is way more valuable than just a cameraman clients don't want a video they want a solution stop selling them videos videos are played out clients want solutions sell them the solution when it comes to branding videos ask them who's their ideal client and know that hey if your ideal client is men over 50 maybe we should get a female spokesperson maybe a female spokesperson can hold their attention a little bit longer and help explain what they have to offer you think that don't work you ever watch ESPN ESPN didn't have competition 20 years ago so old guys at a desk work now that there's a lot of other sports channels you ever notice how beautiful the sports anchors are getting all of a sudden because guys like beautiful women and when there's a beautiful woman on the screen and she's talking about sports you're like huh I mean I'm not gonna turn the channel the Fox cuz Fox got guys the Fox got smart and they started throwing females in and it's working go into a meeting with the client looking for their pain points there's a reason they're coming to you to create this video often they went to their cousin at their friend or do you know somebody they'd always they go that route they create some trash video for 200 bucks and then they call us in to finally open their wallets for some quality if you go in there expecting the client to know everything you're going to fail miserably that's why it's hard giving quotes to people because they don't know but if you go in there with the idea of letting me find out what works for you hey your target audience is younger we may want to stick to a 60-second video instead of a four-minute video that you have


Thanks Mariam your participation is very much appreciated
- Zaida Balcos


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