Examples of a Production Services Company?
- Thread starter FilmBoy77
- Start date
Neighborhood Studios
Active member
Specifically, are you referring to something like a production house, a group that has all the resources to create media? To me a group that would fit this definition would be those that create mainly advertising/marketing content or live event coverage for corporate clients. Some locally for me that seem to fit the bill are:
http://thinkmediastudios.com/
[URL]http://www.stonekap.com/[/URL]
http://thinkmediastudios.com/
[URL]http://www.stonekap.com/[/URL]
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
I disagree. What you have described is what I would classify as a "Production Company". I believe that a "Production Services Company" is any company that provides needed services for the production of media. Companies that provide honey wagons, grip and lighting gear, production accounting services, entertainment lawyers, catering, set security or many of the other services or equipment a production needs would fit that bill.
craigbowman
Veteran
David is correct.
Thanks yea David that's what I was looking for. That sounds right. Do you (or anyone) know what the best way of finding out how to contact these companies within your state and different states that you may be interested in filming in? On our film commission website they seem to only list actual production companies (like the links provided by Neighborhood Studios in the second post) and there doesn't seem to be a standard for quality, looks like anybody with a camera can list their company for free. No mention of production services companies. Unfortunately google seems to pull up the same type of results as well unless I'm just not looking close enough.
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
Yeah, I would think that the film commissions should have that info. Like a lot of state agencies, they are short of cash right now and may not have up to date websites. I would make a list of what services you are looking for and then call the state film commissions you are interested in dealing with and ask them about the services available. Direct contact may be the way to go. I have noticed that their are many regional filmmaking communities popping up who post on the web, you may want to try narrow web searches for specific regions and see if there is anything on the web. A lot of sites will have additional links that are very helpful. If you have a list of production companies in the area that you are wanting to shot in it may not be a bad idea to call a few of the bigger ones up and ask them for recommendations about production services in their area. They may also be more apt to keep you from dealing with some shady service providers also. Good luck.
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
Yes, I have used production services companies before, renting cameras, lighting and grip gear, used lab services, etc. The experiences have been great actually. If you stick with service providers that have been around for a while then they usually have a good reputation and take there business', and customer service, very seriously.
Steve House
Veteran
They also handle things like payroll services for the crew, taking time records from the production and handling things like withholding taxes, employment taxes, union dues payments, etc, and issuing the actual paycheques on behalf of the production company.
Yea that's what I initially started with, everything's broken out into individual services though. The woman I spoke to at the film commission said "I've never heard of a production service company like that" and had no clue what I was talking about. She wasn't aware of a PSC that provided what others have mentioned so far. Interesting. After researching Louisiana for about 5 minutes I pulled up several PSC companies though. Maybe we don't have any here.
That sounds like an invaluable service.
David G. Smith
Steak Knife Member
What services are you looking for exactly? It was my understanding that Louisiana had a pretty decent production community. I lot of films have been made there. Of course, I know their have been some tough times lately, but you should be able to find production services down there.
Actually I was referring to Georgia when replying to Martay since we're in the same state. I'm actually looking closer at Louisiana now and read on another forum the PSC's there are able to cash flow any tax credits toward your production allowing you to use the money toward your budget which is not how it works in GA.
Andrew McCarrick
Carbonite Member
You could talk to a tax credit broker and get an advanced from the tax credit. Find a tax credit broker in GA. You should be able to do this in any state. From what I understand it's basically an advance/loan on the tax credit, at about 70-80% loan to value.
SUMMER OF '76
Member
Yes a PSC can handle an advance on State tax incentives... They can actually line up all your production needs in a particular state, including acting as Line Producer and making a complete line item budget for you. I know people who had this done for free for them... But you need to spend some bucks in their state and of course your project will need to be bonded.
SUMMER OF '76
Member
Yes the Bond will be in place before any funds are disbursed. In the case of first time or inexperienced directors, Bond companies will want to see a bankable cast and experienced Producers on the project because they are assuming all the risk. They will step in and take the picture over from you if you go over budget more then 10%. The upside of being Bonded is that your investors know that the project will be completed. If a first time Director works with a PSC right from the start and they do the budgeting and set up all production aspects for the project... a Bond will probably be easier to get in place.