Using your house as film location - the reality!

It is easy to focus on the glamorous side of using your house as a film location - seeing your house in a film or in a TV drama; a chance to meet your favourite stars; and of course the opportunity to earn some extra income. But using your house as a film location isn't just money for old rope - not unless you have another house to retreat to and someone to take care of the whole event for you. The reality of using your house as a film location is long hours, inconvenience and if you are hoping for a chinwag with your favourite star, lots of hanging around waiting for them to appear and then (if you're like me) being too embarrassed to talk to them!

The reality
Do you remember that scene in ET, when ET is lying upstairs dying in the bathroom, and the mother of the house opens the front door in order to escape with the kids? All of a sudden their house is taken over by government officials in white suits who simply storm in and take over proceedings while the family watch helplessly at the side? Well, that's what using your house as a film location can feel like (but without the white suits)! Often a film set can number upwards of over 50 people, all with a job to do within a certain number of hours - they have hired your home for the day and they need to get going. They literally take over your house.

The hours
Typically a film day is 12 hours long but you should always factor in overtime as things rarely go to plan. So even if you are expecting to get your house back by 7pm, you could still find yourself sitting around waiting for the last people to go several hours later (don't worry - you can charge extra for overtime. At Lavish Locations we usually agree an overtime rate of 10% of the day rate per hour).

The disruption
You will have vans parked outside and people coming and going all day long. You may have your furniture moved out and your walls painted. We even know of one recent production that put in new bathrooms so that the location fitted their brief! At Lavish Locations we make sure that you are aware of exactly what will be happening on the day so that there are no nasty surprises.

And finally some good news!
The good news is that all the people using your location are professionals and they will be experienced in planning the proceedings, managing the day and then reinstating your property to exactly how it was before the film shoot. So by the time it is all over you will have your house back to how it was, plus a sizeable cheque for your trouble. And if you've hung around long enough and plucked up sufficient courage, you may even have got an autograph or two as well!