The Set Up

Establish office space and negotiate lease

Establish production company and complete all legal
paperwork
Register for local/national tax & employer compensation
schemes
Acquire public liability insurance
Hire accountant
Hire legal counsel
Screenplay rights
Review chain of title with legal counsel
Assign rights to production company
Register assigments at UK/ US copyright office
Obtain copyright to any underlying work
Obtain clearance report and revise if necessary
Register copyright of screenplay with UK/US
copyright office
Financing
Negotiate finance agreements
Negotiate sales agent and distribution agreements
Negotiate completion bond (if necessary)
Pre-production
Obtain production insurance
Obtain errors and omissions insurance
Hire casting director
Negotiate key deals for:
principal cast
director
heads of department
producer
Production
All actors and day player deals
Crew deals:
director of photography
editor
assistant directors
miscellaneous crew
Location agreements
Releases
Equipment agreements
Facilities agreements
Post-production
Title clearance
Lab agreements
Composer agreements
Music package
Other music clearance
Delivery
Register copyright with UK / US copyright office
Errors and omissions certificates
Laboratory access letters
Credit requirements lists for adverts
Physical delivery of video / sound masters
Key production and music contracts
Chain of title documents
Copyright and title reports and opinions
Stills
Trailer
Key art
Music cue sheets
Certificate of origin
Rights transfer instrument
Office Checklist
Keep track of the essential legal and business paperwork that
will be flooding your production office. This document will also
help you to be aware of the stage that your production is at,
helping you to plan your time efficiently and be aware of what
new organisational challenges are around the corner.