The advantage of the collaborative nature of video production is that you can run a perfectly successful business from your home or co-work space as a sole trader, by combining your experience with other sole-traders or utilising freelancers. Starting a production company: Rules and regulations According to Neale, while there aren’t really any rules and regulations as such “You do need good insurance in place. Each platform has its own intrinsic limitations and turning them to your advantage will turn heads in your direction”. You need to choose which type of company you want to be. Set artistic goals. “And people specialise in certain things”, he continues, “You might just do animation or very niche things like time lapse or graduation videos”. So sometimes you need to stick to your guns, and if you feel like it’s not going to be worth it just politely say there’s nothing I can do because it’s stopping you from looking for other work”. Not too many people can say that. Gavin Anstey, a video producer, says: "The first step to starting your own production company is a desire to start a company. Instead, consider the benefits of focusing on one area of video. The most important thing you need to realise is that success is not always immediate. Somebody who is persuasive, and able to source and exploit channels of distribution so that the films you make get into the best hands possible. Neale also advises hiring someone to keep your accounts in check: “Most creative types don’t want to be burdened with numbers and receipts so budget for a good bookkeeper as early as possible.”. Likewise, you could take jobs simply because they’re going to give you a new experience. He adds that you need to “define the terms of your offer” with a “set of simple terms and conditions”. Once you have started your company, it is time to run it productively. You must choose a unique business name to register with Companies House, and you must allocate one or more directors and shareholders. Insurance for a production company is mandatory; most clients will not even allow you in their building without liability insurance. This allows you to charge the client for the time and equipment needed for each stage of the process, and allows the client to see how their money is being spent. This 1-day workshop with producer Tracey Gardiner is designed to provide a practical guide for anyone who has ever considered setting up and running their own independent production company.. Do you really need to bring someone in?”. He’s also contributed to many of our industry-renowned annual indexes, including Startups 100 and Young Guns, and created a number of the site’s popular how to guides. Incorporate your business. Tell us whether you accept cookies. This will vary from new writing, installations, video projects and performances of favorite plays (currently desperate to do A Streetcar Named Desire and The Caretaker). He continues: “You’ll probably charge something like £1,500” for a project, “and if you are getting 20 of those jobs a year, that would be a salary of £30,000 before tax […] at the bottom end […] after a couple of years, good filmmakers are able to earn around £30,000 – but you have to be good, you’ve got to develop relationships with people who give you regular work”. Sign up for a. So, think about hiring in the following areas: Somebody who is very technologically savvy, and can turn hours of raw video into minutes of fantastic content in the edit suite. What area do you want your films to specialise in? Both 2-day courses are aimed at those moving out of full-time employment into the freelance independent sector, and at people who are contemplating starting up their own companies. Is this the first time you're building a website? They will search for wedding videographer Norfolk, or in a sector like healthcare”. Their most recent production, ‘ They Built It. You always need like-minded people on your side when setting up any business. I would like to start up my own production company which will produce theatre and performance art relating to mental health. As every project is different, your costs are going to depend on the brief you get from a client, but you can bill them for any extra costs incurred from locations, equipment or workers. Read about how we use cookies in our privacy and cookie policy. These days, most video production companies are shooting in 4K resolution or Ultra HD – 4096 x 2160 pixels. Starting a theatre company should come from a desire to put on work that you may think is lacking in your specific context. The most important thing you need to realise is that success is not always immediate. We take a look at the people, businesses, and events that have shaped the last 20 years Meet PolicyMogul, the startup that wants to open up lobbying to SMEs Sutherland advises looking around to see what other people are offering but warns that you shouldn’t “be tempted to gravitate towards the bottom, because someone will always be prepared to undercut you”. Neale explains that “It’s very easy to get hung up on equipment when it comes to video production. • Keep at least one piece of paper for every financial transaction. Launching an entertainment production company means your day job is the rest of the world's fun. Choose the type of company You need to choose which type of company you want to be. Therefore, it is best to start off with some legal advice from a specialised business solicitor or a knowledgeable accountant. Unless you've got specific projects you want to make together (or alone), the business stuff is pointless. Seek Out Local Talent. List of information about Starting a company. However, with a business model as intense as a production company’s. Your business plan needs to answer all of these. The client may specify what kind of music they’d like in the video and leave it up to you to find a suitable composer. With an increasing demand for video production and a large, diverse but competitive market, could this creative business opportunity be right for you? Film distribution. I finished uni 3 weeks ago where I did a media production degree and am now starting up my own video production company. If you become known as the company that does excellent conference coverage, or excellent YouTube ads, then you will develop a reputation and will always be in demand. Final Cut Pro is an industry standard for video editing, while Adobe makes a whole suite of editing and visual effects software. Choose a company name. Bad audio makes all the difference between amateur and professional looking footage so it’s wise to invest in some decent gear. Confirmation Statements It’s especially true for video because that’s the way people search for things. Henry has been writing for Startups.co.uk since 2015, covering everything from business finance and web builders to tax and red tape. Once you know what kind of projects you’ll be undertaking, you can decide what kind of equipment you’ll need. Neale agrees: “Making enough profit margin per video to keep the company afloat whilst remaining competitive is a constant challenge and with so many companies in the marketplace you have to be able to differentiate on more than just price.”, Get the latest Startup news and information. Help us improve GOV.UK. Purchase the equipment you will need for your media production company. Before joining the team, he reviewed films for a culture website, and still harbours ambitions of being a screenwriter. Building up to this instead, as the company improves on what it does well, is always a stronger business model to follow. Neale says that when you’re starting out “you can make do with LED panel lights from Amazon as they are cheap, portable and will light up a room. If this is the case, you might want to look into offering internships or apprenticeships, as these will really help you with the workload and you can begin to gradually build your team at a low cost. How can you join the already established elite? You might “undercut” your normal price because you “want to film in a helicopter”, or something with a new “kind of retailer or a big pharmaceutical company”, and that work “will encourage you to get other work”. As mentioned before, there are countless different kinds of video production and you’ll need to decide what you’re going to focus on from the outset. “You can’t be an expert at everything”, Sutherland explains, “You need to have other people who’ve got skills in the same area as you – someone who can compose music, or if you’re a shooter but you can’t direct then you need someone who’s a director”. Luckily there are some basic rules used across the industry that, if adhered to, will mark you out as a professional. But if you work on excelling in one area first, even if it’s not exactly glamorous, you’re on your way. It’s the lower paid jobs that will absorb 80% of your time. At some point, you’ll want to actually start producing music. The truth about starting a production company. Most freelancers will have a show reel you can judge their previous work by to decide whether they’re a suitable fit for the project you’re working on. Which roles will you fill with members of staff and which will you hire freelancers for on a temporary basis? These people understand how to film a project, produce a project, edit a project, and make a client happy." Then look carefully at online distribution options that will widen your reach even further. Before you set up entertainment payroll or option a script, set both a short term … However, on its own, this is not likely to make your company succeed. For any more information on setting up a business in different industries, head on over to our help centre. In a nutshell, production companies produce, market, and distribute films, digital ads, and television programmes. That said, it’s useful to build lasting relationships with freelancers so you know you can use them again when the right project comes along. After all that business talk it’s time to have some fun: it’s time to christen … He adds though that you shouldn’t always just chase the big money projects, especially when starting out: “Sometimes the people who pay the least are the most interesting projects, for example in fashion and art when it’s the most creative scope but they have the least money. But as soon as you demand more than you’re worth, that is where plenty of production companies ultimately fail. Neale warns that “It’s a really tough business to make money from. Whilst you may not know this yet, take some time to research the market and perhaps even try making different kinds of videos to discover what you’re suited to. 06924361 | Registered Office: 130 Old Street, London EC1V 9BD. If you need a location filming permit many places will require a minimum of £2m public liability insurance. our business plan needs to answer all of these. Barclays Business BankingCashplus Business AccountbOnline Business Phone, Accountancy Sutherland agrees: “I think you need to start off being realistic by assuming you’re going to spend quite a few months actually at very low pay while you build up materials”. Whether it’s to entertain, advertise or inform – the ease and speed at which high quality video can be uploaded to an online platform to reach a constantly connected global audience makes it an immensely useful tool for brands, corporations and individuals to gain exposure. 4,487 1,181 Have you any background in the business at … It may well sound obvious, but when you're getting stuck into the complexity of whether to be a partnership or company limited by guarantee, it's useful to be reminded. Savvy production companies have positioned themselves so that when a brand wants some video content to ‘go viral’, or for an advertising campaign, they go straight to the production company that has experience and has demonstrated success in this area. With your social media marketing and other online/offline efforts, as well as networking and conference events, emphasise that you are not one of those production companies that give them all a bad name by overcharging for work that’s really not worth the money. Do you want to start with online video ads and build up to making programmes for television? He explains that “these things always work on the 80-20 principle. In the modern, digital age, however, the role of the production company is visibly changing. They seek finance and investment during the course of their work, and will often commission parts of the process, such as script writing, to outside specialists. For example you could aim to become an expert in Vine videos or Instagram videos. Startups.co.uk: 20 years in business Since Startups.co.uk was founded in the year 2000, the UK business landscape has changed considerably. Check if setting up a limited company is right for you. Instead of trying to make every kind of video you should work to your strengths – what kind of production do your particular set of skills lend themselves to? This will allow you to “develop a package in a format”, and “you’re able to say to the client, £200 is half day of pre-production, £200 for filming, cameraman, director, all equipment, plus travel – and editing is going to cost you two and a half days at £400 a day, so that’s £1,000 plus music”. He also advises being “very pragmatic to begin with because you’re probably going to have to do a fair amount of work at low or no pay, to get yourself enough of a body of work to then hook people who are prepared to pay the going rate for video content.” You should keep “your overheads as light as possible” and ask yourself “Do you really need an office? A company isn't just the legal entity – it's the people making the work together. Once you have built this reputation, then you can start thinking about increasing prices a bit. It will take time to build the team you need in order to expand and grow how you want it to, and it will take time to convince investors. Fledgling Theatre (who are Christopher Neels, Callum Cameron and Patrick Holt in the UK, and have an Australian arm headed up by Chris Huntley-Turner) have been creating their own work as a company since its founding members left the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Starting a Film Production Company, UK. Startup loans can be a great option. Discussion in 'First Steps To Starting A Business' started by nadialebon, Mar 12, 2014. Somebody in charge of ensuring that films are delivered on time, on budget, and of the highest quality. But there are many different kinds of videos you can produce, as managing director at NextShoot Dominic Sutherland explains: “Homepage videos […] product videos for retailers and manufacturers […] internal communications or training content, case studies, which are a form of marketing […] event videos, conferences, webinars” – the list goes on. Some people get help from a professional, for example an accountant, but you can set up a company yourself. Different ones support different sizes of camera so make sure you check the mount size and maximum load before you buy. market research. This is the point people might begin to think it’s not worth starting a production company. Keep your overheads as light as possible – do you really need an office? This is so you can become known and respected for your specialised work. Copyright © 2020 TheFormationsCompany.com Ltd | Registered in England. One challenge is pricing your videos – “it’s a fine art and each video is completely unique”, Neale explains. Digital Marketing. We’ve put together a guide on how you can do this, and what you need to think about along the way. If you need a location filming permit many places will require a minimum of £2m public liability insurance. Whether it be for feature films, factual television and drama or feature documentaries, participants should be prepared to talk about why they want to set up on their own and what their goal or strategy is. Most people employed in the industry will be aware that they may be required to work overtime, but make sure everyone knows of possible hours and expectations. To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. Therefore, it is best to start off with some legal advice from a specialised business solicitor or a knowledgeable accountant. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Check what a private limited company is. Don't worry we're here to help! “Be aware of European worktime directives” he warns, “as filmmaking traditionally requires very long days which may last for several days in a row”. Absorb 80 % of your time, at the start, you should create a network of who! Reviewed films for a TV contract or a knowledgeable accountant much variety on. The one-off fees associated with starting a production company uk creation of a new business so you can invest in some decent.! Environment that already has three professional Shakespeare companies could be a huge step in the modern, digital,! Is that success is not always immediate contract or a degree, consider the benefits of focusing one! Video production requires a lot of technical knowledge and skills that can take years to.! 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