The Production Company: Establishing a Legal Entity

These are the steps I have determined necessary to establish a film production LLC in San Francisco, CA.*

1
Decide to
Make a Movie

2 3 4
File Articles Apply for Business Government Level:
of Organization Obtain Federal Registration Certificate State
(LLC) w/CA Employment from the Office of the Federal
Local (City & County)
Secretary of State Identification Treasurer & Tax Collector
$70 filing fee Number (EIN) Fee based on payroll tax est.;
Establishes official bus. from the IRS register w/in 15 days of start of
name business

5Open Business
7 8
Banking Accounts
Obtain CA
Employer File Statement of
Account Information
2b 6
Purchase Insurance Policy Number from the Form w/CA
Create Limited Standard film policy includes producer’s Secretary of
Employment
Liability package and general liability. State
Development
Operating Filming on gov’t property, including roads, $20 filing fee; must be
requires specific coverage levels; e.g. SF Department filed w/in 90 days of
Agreement File w/in 15 days of
Documents allocation of requires general liability, commercial auto submitting Articles of
liability and workers comp w/min. $1M paying a cumulative Organization
profit; does not need to $100 in payroll
be filed w/state, but kept coverage for each incident.
at bus. location Worker’s Comp may be purchased as part of
general policy or through a payroll company
* I am not a lawyer, nor have I consulted an entertainment lawyer.