handling the business and legal side of filmmaking, how?

[dethhead]

hi everyone, im interested in making a digital film late next year and already own a couple of film making books but i dont know anything about the business and legal side of it. the best info i have at the moment comes from 'independent feature film production' by Gregory Goodell (great book btw) but its an american book and i live in australia so i dont know how it would relate to me. im thinking of buying either (or both) of these books

http://www.amazon.com/Independent-Film-Producers-Survival-Guide/dp/0825673186/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-1300629-9752617

http://www.amazon.com/Producing-Financing-Distributing-Film-Comprehensive/dp/0879101075/ref=pd_sim_b_shvl_img_1/103-1300629-9752617

but again i dont know how well they would relate to where i live.

anyone have any info that would be helpful? own experience or read any of the above books?

making an independent zombie flick on hddv im not looking for profit just a chance to live my dream of getting one my stories out of my head so other people can see it.

anyway thanks for any help.

[C5NOTLD]

It really depends on what type of legal information you are looking for.

Some books will probably handle basic releases for actors/etc..But if you plan on dealing with investors or handing out a percentage to cast/crew then you should consult an attorney in your area.

One of the most important things you can do is to copyright the film.

[MinionZombie]

If you're looking to get into a lot of legal related stuff, or filling out forms and pressing the right flesh, you might wanna look for someone to specifically do that stuff so you can concentrate on the creative - just pay attention to the dealings though, so you don't get screwed over, or something gets skipped over by accident.

On the basic side, I get anyone who appears in one of my films to fill out an all-encompassing release in which they agree they took part for nothing, expect no money afterwards, and release me to pimp the film on any format - basically, they allow me to do what I want...obviously, I'm using my mates and they trust me and I trust them, so it works to do it that way, but when working with new people, it's trickier and requires more convolution...so again I come back to having someone who really knows what they're on about, or finding someone who is that way inclined - in the brain, someone who thinks that way easily...forms and such.

The first link looks like it might be more up your street.

The Guerilla Filmmaker's Guidebook (Handbook? I forget which) has a whole section about the legal stuff and has example forms that you can tweak to suit yourself, but with that book (which I myself own) it goes into all the aspects of indie filmmaking, rather than those you linked to which are specific to that area. So whatever suits you, the first one of those links looks good to me anyway.