I have a new media company and we’ve expanded into a new show with a host we’ve hired. He’s the first on our team who isn’t directly on the LLC. We’ll have a 12 month contract for 12 episodes of the show and they’ll be payed a portion of the post-expense profits rather than upfront payment.

I know he is “work-for-hire” in that we own the final product. But does this make him a freelancer if we have a year contract? Does it make him an employee?

How do I even start to learn the HR requirements of hiring someone on a basis like this?

We are a very small operation and I come from a film production background, no ability to consult anyone legally