Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California

Re: Donations over the internet

"donations" is an interesting concept. If the contribution is to be tax deductible by the donor, the film company would have to be organized as a non-profit, tax exempt organization.

If its not, the 'donation' would likely be treated as an investment.

Investment deals for film projects usually can NOT be 'advertised', since doing so prevents the company from using most of the exemptions from the Securities registration requirement.

Most investment structures involve the sale of securities, which must be either registered with the SEC (at great cost and very time consuming), or exempt, using a "private placement".

Consult an attorney before attempting to finance your project... no matter how small. If you don't, you could wind up in some real hot water... even jail.

Re: Donations over the internet

Donations would be to a tax-exempt organization, and can be tax-deductible. If you're asking for gifts to you, for whatever purpose, with no expectation of the money being returned, it would likely be treated as a gift to you. They're not tax-deductible, but they're also not taxable if the amount from any individual doesn't exceed $13,000 to you in one year.

If, on the other hand, the people contributing money have an expectation that it will be returned in some way, or it's a gift with strings attached, you should tread carefully and review the proposed arrangements with an attorney.