Film Finance Law 101

Neville L. Johnson, Los Angeles Attorney – John Cones has long been the definitive word on investing in motion pictures. I worked with him for years and rely on him exclusively -- recommending him unequivocally.

Levie Isaacks, Cinematographer – I have known and worked with John Cones over my 30 year career in Hollywood. He did the legal work on my first film which launched my cinematography career. I have read many of his books and he has a complete grasp of how Hollywood finances work.

Carmen Patterson, Education/Workshop Coordinator, Women in Film Arkansas – We recently held a film finance workshop with John and it was a huge success! John is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced. He was able to relay a lot of information in a clear and concise manner. We have had nothing but positive feedback from the people who attended. The workshop was incredibly helpful and the support John offered to our organization and the filmmakers here in Arkansas was invaluable.

Many independent filmmakers need to raise funds from investors in order to develop, produce and/or distribute their feature and documentary projects. However, most film schools do not teach film finance and certainly do not delve into the complexities relating to securities law compliance. To make matters worse, most indy filmmakers do not recognize that they are likely selling a security in their efforts to raise funds from investors, and thus need to comply with the securities laws in order to conduct a legitimate offering and avoid regulatory compliance issues and/or criminal penalties.

When filmmakers seeking to raise funds from investors are not aware that they may be selling security, they tend not to make any effort to comply with the securities laws. That means they may be selling an unregistered security which is a felony. Even in those instances where the filmmaker realizes he or she is selling a security and wants to comply with the law, it is difficult to work through all of the misinformation floating around in Hollywood regarding this highly specialized area of the law.