“For example, you might have to have a C corp to be able to take advantage of certain tax credits. “A filmmaker must know where they plan on filming and having post-production because certain states are much more beneficial in tax credits.' “It can vary by state,' says Shaliz Sadig Romano, co-managing partner of Romano Law. Many filmmakers use state tax credits to finance a film, and having an individual LLC that deals with only one film allows for a smoother process. It's important for intellectual property rights and getting that limitation of liability early on.' Do LLCs affect taxes? If you are at the phase where you are entering into contracts and bringing on investors, partners, and key allies, you should consider putting together an LLC, according to Sadig Romano. It winds up being much simpler and more straightforward accounting if each film is its own entity.' “Frequently, back-end deals are structured slightly differently for each film. “Also, to work with the various film unions, e.g., Screen Actors Guild, there's extensive paperwork that includes LLC and chain-of-title information.'īig actors and key crew members negotiate for a piece of the back end, and “it's much easier to keep track of that if the film has its own LLC,' Mirvish notes. “To get distribution, each film must get errors and omissions insurance, and it's much cleaner to get that if all the potential liabilities are self-contained in one LLC,' Mirvish says. “A film can continue eating revenue from sales for years after, and it is crucial that those are not mingled money from other films.'Įach film project typically has different casts and crews, and the associated risks change with each film.

“LLCs allow you to keep the accounting for each film separate, both when the investment comes in and when returns from the movie come back,' adds Dena Hysell-Cornejo, a filmmaker, writer, producer, and director with Rumpus Room Productions. “Another reason to keep things separate is each film must show a separate chain of title, for example, showing who controls the copyright, and each film must show chain of title to distributors.'

If another film is a bomb, those investors lose,' says Los Angeles-based filmmaker and author Dan Mirvish. “If one film is a hit, those investors make money. One reason to form an LLC for each movie project is to prevent commingling investors.

California movie production companies