The Producer generally prepares (or has a professional prepare) a Business Plan for the film project. This document is provided to prospective investors along with the Offering, Subscription Agreement and Operating Agreement for the business entity utilized for the film (i.e. LLC). The attorney generally reviews the Business Plan to make sure that there are no conflicting statements or claims between the Risk Factors contained in the Offering and any dubious promises or guarantees that might be contained within the Business Plan (such as “all the investors will make a lot of money”, etc.) that might be considered a Securities Law violation.
As a general rule, the Business Plan should contain sections along the following lines:
1. Executive Summary
2. Information about the company
3. Synopsis regarding the story of the film
4. Industry Overview
5. Market Overview
6. Distribution plans
7. Financing plans
8. Budgets
9. Cast Attachments (especially if signed by a known talent)
10. Music & Music Licenses (especially if music is known)
11. Personnel
12. Bios of all the major players
13. Comps with similar films
14. Revenue projections
15. Potential locations
16. Appendix for any information that does not fit into the above categories
The Business Plan should never be physically attached to the Offering documents.