STARTING A FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY WITH YOUR OWN IP…

Starting a production company is a lot of hard work.  I talked to an esteemed colleague that helped point me in the right direction.  I agreed not give out his name online, but can mention his initials, A.P. He and I work together and he has given me insight into some elements that I may need to consider when starting a production company with your own Intellectual Property (IP for short).  

There are factors that you have to look out for when starting it.  Especially if you’re starting a film production company (especially in dealing with feature films) and want to avoid as many liabilities as possible.  After speaking with a fellow colleague, the best way to go in creating a decent business plan that could help you avoid liabilities along the way is to make sure that you would have a decent IP’s (Intellectual Properties) to start with under your belt.  It’s best that you start with material that you have created.  In this case, you can avoid the pitfalls of liabilities of using someone else’s work. 

            Having your own, I mean by writing your own material, whether it would be a screenplay or treatment.  Starting with your own is the best way.  It also helps as well (if you can) to have lawyer that can work with you.  A while back, I attempted to start my own production company dealing with just my own material and the end result is that I had a hard time getting things off the ground because at the time, I couldn’t afford it and I thought (with my hubris) that I could handle things the way I wanted to, on my own terms.  You know what people say, “Pride goeth before the fall.”  Little did I know that the world doesn’t operate that way (or I was too stubborn to see).  Without having a lawyer to look at the contract for my first film, RECOIL, I didn’t pay attention to some of the liabilities that I could have avoided.  Ultimately, circumstances didn’t work out the way I thought  they should have gone for the simple fact that I didn’t know any better. 

            Additionally, the main issue that I felt I got right was that I wanted to shoot films under my production company was my own material.  With that being said, I didn’t have to worry about licensing out other people’s material or deal with anyone else’s headaches but my own.  I feel that when I do it again, I will circumvent (hopefully) some of the issues that I went through when I shot my first feature film in the initially.  The liabilities I want to avoid this time around are very crucial to my production company’s development especially when it comes to owning your own IP or creative property.