Opening a film production company in SF. Thoughts?

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by Chuck5000

Instead of saying "hmm, thanks for the zoning tip, we should investigate zoning and building types and look at availability in the areas in which we're interested", you went on this trip about knowing and not being stopped because....well, because.

They most definitely can and will stop you, because zoning is enforced, and it's residential, commercial, and mixed use. Mixed use is rare outside of large cities, and getting variances is not always quick and easy thing. Nor is finding the right property and site. In a non mixed-use zone, you can't buy a site with two buildings and expect to live in one building and have a commercial establishment in another. You will be caught. And if it's mixed use, you must convert according to code.

You have a lot of real estate research and learning to do. A good broker can help you. You may well find that you won't be able to get what you want - no matter how much money you have - outside of larger old industrial areas like Richmond or Oakland, and it may only come with substantial time and expense. Probably not the scale you're operating on,, but I just remembered the Wayans brothers wanted to build a large studio in Oakland, with major backing from investors, and needed incentives and help with zoning. It didn't happen for a bunch of reasons. In NYC, where I used to live there were multiple starts and stops for Steiner, Silvercup and Kaufman Astoria studios before they finally got shovels in the ground.

So again, you don't know what you don't know, and you make assumptions that you can roll in to some place and do what you want. You need to learn a ton of business 101.

You are attempting to offer some business management insights to someone who has not even demonstrated any operational knowledge or even the slightest insights into feasibility of his idea. It's merely, "hey, I'm in film school and I like living in mild climates--I think I'll open a multimillion dollar business in San Francisco when I graduate. Is my idea sound?"

The best thing that can happen for the OP is to fail quickly, hard, and meaningfully. This business almost demands it. People who rise in it are scrappy and determined. They find ways to learn from mistakes made in ignorance, such as, "Gee, I didn't know I couldn't live there," or "What do you mean, there are union rules to follow in hiring crews?" or "I had no idea I'd have to market a professional reel before landing a project. Isn't my student reel enough?"

They find work-arounds. They learn. They invent. Or, they don't. This OP has much to learn. That knowledge will likely be expensive and painful, but it will provide the clear answers to his original question that he seems reluctant to hear here.

[TheDaveMaybe]

I didn't mean to sound like an *******, I just assumed, and I assumed wrong, I guess. I was reading about zoning laws and, unfortunately, you're right. I think it's dumb that you can't live on your own property. And I'm not an idiot, obviously we won't be able to open our studio anytime soon, we were just exploring the options is all. All we asked is if SF would be a good place to open a film production company. If we can't live ON studio property, then we will live nearby, so we still don't want to open our production studio in LA. We will look into Crescent City, and then live near the studio. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by TheDaveMaybe

I didn't mean to sound like an *******, I just assumed, and I assumed wrong, I guess. I was reading about zoning laws and, unfortunately, you're right. I think it's dumb that you can't live on your own property. And I'm not an idiot, obviously we won't be able to open our studio anytime soon, we were just exploring the options is all. All we asked is if SF would be a good place to open a film production company. If we can't live ON studio property, then we will live nearby, so we still don't want to open our production studio in LA. We will look into Crescent City, and then live near the studio. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

My point is, your posts all center on your living arrangements and not your business model. Not one of your replies to people who have attempted to give you useful information has addressed anything related to your vision (or lack thereof) of opening a production company (or studio). You are posting about mild climates, and ignoring the business climate for a very expensive and difficult industry to break into.

There are certainly valid reasons for opening a production company outside LA, but you don't demonstrate that you have a handle on what they might be. Perhaps if you articulated your vision more clearly than stating your preference for mild weather, you might get more usable advice.

[TheDaveMaybe]

Originally Posted by dalparadise

My point is, your posts all center on your living arrangements and not your business model. Not one of your replies to people who have attempted to give you useful information has addressed anything related to your vision (or lack thereof) of opening a production company (or studio). You are posting about mild climates, and ignoring the business climate for a very expensive and difficult industry to break into.

There are certainly valid reasons for opening a production company outside LA, but you don't demonstrate that you have a handle on what they might be. Perhaps if you articulated your vision more clearly than stating your preference for mild weather, you might get more usable advice.

Like I said, we won't be opening this business ANYTIME soon. We will have to wait until we, hopefully, get work. My friend is doing some stuff with Disney, and is hoping to get me involved. Our production company is a dream. We both know we will have to have the money to open such a place. As for the business climate, well, we just don't like LA (we live there now). We both hate this place. If, and when, we can make a production company, we want to be back near home, for sentimental reasons. We plan on doing our hiring from LA, and paying said people to move up here for the studio. We want to write, produce and direct all our films, so we don't NEED to be, I think, in LA. We will most definitely be shooting there, and we will have homes there for that reason, but the main concern will be finding a distributor for our films. I probably should not have used the word studio. We will be merely a production company where all the business involving the film production takes place. But yeah, long story short, we want to do all the writing and producing and directing ourselves, we will just need studios to distribute the films. But yeah, our vision is to make our own movies with 100% creative control. We will even make our company an independent production company if we have to.

[Chuck5000]

I know just a small bit about the film and TV production industry; real experts can tell you the real deal with authority that I can't muster. But I can tell you now: from what I know, and what you just said, and I'm confident re: saying this: you are high on a cosmic, galactic dream of mega-omniversal dimensions.

You'll learn, as dalparadise said.