How to form a C-corporation for Entertainment

Introduction

As an entertainer, you may be wondering how to form a corporation. A corporation can help protect your personal assets in the event of a lawsuit or bankruptcy. It also offers some tax advantages over other business structures, such as sole proprietorships and partnerships. Read on for more information on how to set up a C-corporation:

Determine whether you need to hire a lawyer

It’s important to note that you may require the help of a lawyer, accountant, and insurance agent if you are starting a large business. You can do it yourself for small businesses—but don’t try to build a skyscraper without at least consulting an architect first!

If you already have a large corporation or LLC, this process should be easier because you already know what forms are required. If your company is new and hasn’t been operating at all yet, then it’s best to consult with an attorney who specializes in corporate law before making any decisions on how to structure your business entity.

Reserve your business name

You can do this by registering it with the state in which you want to incorporate or form an LLC.

If you want to register a C-corporation, this will cost $100-$300 depending on the state in which you choose to incorporate. This will also involve filing articles of incorporation and paying the initial franchise tax fee.

Start the incorporation process

You should start the incorporation process by developing a business plan and choosing a name for your corporation. You can then file for incorporation with your state government and create corporate minutes, as well as issue stock certificates.

File an IRS Form SS-4

In order to create a C-corporation for entertainment, you’ll need to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). An EIN is essentially the IRS’s way of assigning a unique identifier to your business. You can apply for an EIN online or over the phone.

Once you’ve received your EIN, it’s time to file Form SS-4 with the IRS. This form will help establish your company’s legal identity as well as its eligibility for tax exemption status if applicable. The main requirements include:

• A description of how long you expect to continue doing business under this name;
• Names and addresses of officers; and
• A signature by one officer confirming that all statements are true and correct (the penalty for perjury).

Designate your board of directors

The board of directors is the group that governs a corporation. The board is in charge of setting the company’s overall direction and policy, adopting bylaws, hiring and firing the CEO and other officers, approving major business transactions or contracts, reviewing financial statements, and determining whether to pay dividends to shareholders.

The number of directors varies from state to state; most states require at least three directors on a board—and many also require that two-thirds be independent. If you’re forming an LLC (limited liability company), then you don’t need a board because there are no shareholders or owners—but if your business will have investors (people who invest money in exchange for ownership shares), you’ll need boards so they can vote on major decisions such as mergers or acquisitions.

Prepare bylaws

These are the rules for how your business will operate. They should be written in plain language and reviewed by your lawyer before you submit them to the state government. If the laws change or if new regulations are introduced, your business can quickly adapt if it has an effective set of bylaws.

Create corporate minutes

Corporate minutes are the official record of all major decisions made by your corporation. These documents will serve as evidence that you’ve gone through the necessary steps to form a C-corporation and will be helpful in establishing corporate governance, which is how you’ll make sure everyone involved knows how they’re supposed to act when it comes to decision-making.

You can create corporate minutes using paper or software programs like Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

Make sure you have all the necessary legal paperwork and filings in order to operate legally as a corporation

The first step to forming a corporation is to hire an attorney. You can’t just fill out the paperwork yourself, because you have to have someone who knows exactly what they are doing review your paperwork and filings. You need to make sure that everything is in order so that you operate legally as a corporation.

The next step is making sure that your business has all of the proper paperwork and filings in place prior to operating legally as a corporation. This includes having articles of incorporation filed with the Secretary of State (or equivalent), obtaining trademarks or copyrights on any media properties or characters associated with your C-corporation, registering with state tax agencies, going through required audits and inspections from various government agencies such as labor unions, etc., all these things cost money! If I were you I would wait until after my company started making money before hiring an attorney so at least there would be some revenue coming in for them to work off of instead of working for free until we got our first check from investors.

Conclusion

We hope this article has given you a good idea of how to form a C-corporation for entertainment. The process is not difficult, but it does require careful planning and attention to detail. We recommend that you hire an attorney who specializes in corporate law if possible. If not, we hope these tips will help guide you through the process.