I know this is a long shot and a big dream of mine.
But honestly if I had unlimited resources I would love to create my own Studio and just start making films.
Places like The Line and small shows like Smiling Friends and seeing the success and just amazing work they put out really makes me want to see if this is a possibility for me in the future.
There are obviously a lot of questions I have and I have no idea where to even start with this research or who to reach out to for more information, but I’ll see what I can find out.
How To?
So firstly I’d need to register my business.
For a Studio I couldn’t register as a soul trader, which is what I’ve been working as before with selling art and freelancing.
I think I’d need to register the Studio as a Limited Company. That way you can hire an accountant and your personal finances are separate from the business.
I talked to my uncle who started and runs his own business and he addvised me to use Campanies House, to check if the business name is avalible and there are also a bunch of research and advice avalible for start ups.
I’d also have to look into types of insurance I’d need for the business.
I need to have Employers liability insurances if I was to start employing people outside the initial start up.
Other than that I think the only other insurance that would seem like a good idea would be Cyber insurance
I’d also need consider if we would work from a sit or we would work from home. Obviously this is an additional cost that would be considered a luxury and wouldn’t be viable until the Studio was making any money. If we work from home you can also claim back things like heating, electricty and Wifi on tax.
Going back to potentially employing people. Id need to look at how to do payroll, playing for National Insurance and so on. These are all things I think a professional could help me with, but I should have some idea of what they are at least are talking about and what goes into it.
Also hiring an accountant would be expensive and the more I know the easier it would be to save money. Apps like Quickbooks and just doing your own book keeping will save you money but also be an easy resource to share with an accountant.
Creating a Client Base
A studio is a nice idea but its pointless without a client base.
I’d love to just use this Studio to make make movies, but that would require a lot of time and money. We could probably get some from funding and investors but in the long run this would be a passion project we might have to run on the side of commercial projects.
But looking at places like The Line and Shotopop most of their work comes from music videos and advertising.
Funding
The Uk has very few film funds in comparrison to other countries like France and Japan.
I know the BFI, Film4, and the BBc have a few funding options you can apply for.
There are also a few regional options. I remeber my boss Gustavo applying for a bunch of welsh film grants while we were storyboarding for his current film.
It would probably be worth reaching out to him again in the future and seeing how easy or it was to apply.