What is the Role of the Location Agency in Representing Your Property?

You may be one of the lucky ones - one day you get a knock on the door and it is a location scout looking for a property just like yours for the latest Guy Ritchie movie. And while this can happen, it is very hit and miss and you could end up waiting hopefully by your front door for a very long time!

If you want your property to get seen by the decision makers in the film business, then you need to increase your chances and register your location with a film location agency. So what will a film location agency such as Lavish Locations do for you?

First and foremost we make sure your property gets seen. A good location agency like Lavish Locations will have a great website with a state-of-the art search function. Before you register with an agency take a look at their website and use its search function to see if you can find properties similar to your own. If you can't find them, it is unlikely that others will be able to either.

Second, we have experienced teams of location bookers whose job it is to match locations with what our clients are looking for.  Virtually every film being made in the UK will pick up the phone to Lavish Locations at some point or another. It is our job to interpret the brief and put forward a selection of suitable properties. If yours fits the brief then it will be one of them!

If the film production likes the look of your property then it is the location agency's job to arrange viewings (what we call recce's) so that the directors, producers and other crew members can decide how to make your location work for their production.

If this step is successful and your location is still in the running, then it is at this stage that the location agency can really come to your aid in helping to negotiate an appropriate fee. It may surprise you to learn that not all film productions have multi-million pound budgets, but also that  some of them are not as poverty stricken as they would have you believe! It is our job to get the best price we can for your location and we can do a better job of this than if you negotiated with the film production company directly.

So, they like your location and a budget is agreed. It is now our job to make sure that the dates the film production wants to use your location are reserved exclusively for them and that we explain fully what to expect on the day/s. 

One of the risks, although small, during filming is that something gets damaged in your home. Before any filming takes place we make sure that we have copies of the production's insurance so that should the worst happen you are fully covered.

We will then draw up a contract which has been especially written by specialist lawyers which is designed to protect all parties and to ensure that everybody delivers what has been agreed. 

And finally, the most important job of all - making sure that you are paid for the job! We generally insist that we are paid by the production company before filming begins. You then have the security of knowing that you will be paid for all all the disruption.  

When you see the hours of work and negotiations that can take place behind the scenes before any filming takes place you can understand that there are many traps and pitfalls that an inexperienced location owner could fall into. The real benefit of registering with a location agency such as Lavish Locations is that we take all this work off your shoulders. 

Find out soon why our clients use a location agency like Lavish Locations.  

Using your house as a photo-shoot location

When most people consider registering their property with a location agency they do so with filming on their minds. But there is another market for beautiful locations - that of stills photography. Just think about it, virtually every catalogue you open, every magazine you read and every advert you see, has used real life locations as the backdrop for their photographs. And the great thing about this market is that they need locations time and time again - every time they publish a new edition. So unlike filming, when your location might be used fairly infrequently, if you have a location with the right look, it can be used several times a month and in some cases several times a week. 

So what are the differences between using your house as a film location and using it as a photo-shoot location? 

The main difference is the level of disruption. Whereas a film day is 12 hours, a photo-shoot day is typically 9am until 6pm; whereas a film day can mean a crew size of up to 30 people or more, a photo-shoot day is often less than half that number; and whereas a film day can mean your house is unusable by your family while filming is taking place, you can pretty much go about your daily business if your house is being used for a photo-shoot.

The other main difference is in what you can earn, as rates for photo-shoots are generally lower than for filming.  Whereas a film day might start at £1,500 per day, this would be the real top end for a photo-shoot, with many photo-shoots, say for editorial magazines, paying much less than £1,000 per day. However, if you have a popular location, you can easily earn a good income through a regular volume of photo-shoot work with far less of the hassle that comes with filming.

So what are the secrets of success for photo-shoot locations? We will be telling you more about what makes a great photo-shoot location over the next few weeks. 

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!

What can my house earn as a film location?

There is no single answer to what your house can earn as a film location - that depends on so many variables such as: what sort of filming is it for; what is the client's budget for a location; how many crew will there be, how disruptive will it be, how many days will they want it for; what type of location is it?



What type of filming is it for?

At Lavish Locations we get requests for locations for every type of filming, whether a feature film with major movie stars, to a student film for a show reel, or a pop promo for an unknown band. As you can imagine, budgets for such a variety can be very different. For a feature film we would expect our locations to earn upwards of £1,500 per day, whereas most pop promos have very small budgets. With this type of job we count on location owners having children who are keen to meet their idols! In every case it is our job to make sure that we match the client's budget with a fair price for the location.



How disruptive will it be?

The level of disruption can also impact what your house can earn as a film location - and in most cases for filming the disruption factor can be high! From crew sizes of upwards of 30 people; to catering lorries in the front drive; to your furniture being removed and stored; to lighting being rigged up in your neighbour's garden. And people taking over your house for at least a 12 hour day. However, in most cases you will be well rewarded for the disruption, and it is our job to make sure that you know exactly what will happen on the day.



A successful film location can earn a very useful income - indeed we have many locations on our books where this is the owner's primary source of income. Over the next few weeks we will be telling you more about what makes for a succesful film location and what you can do to make sure that you maximise your location's chances of being selected.

Locations Wanted

We have a client seeking a house with a wall safe for a photographic shoot. Needs to be in London or within the M25. If you think you have what we are looking for send in your photos to locationswanted@lavishlocations.com

So you'd like to use your house as a film location.

The credit crunch is well and truely upon us and the papers are full of ways to make some extra money. Lavish Locations is being inundated with calls from journalists running features about how to turn your house into the film star and get well rewarded for doing so. So are they right? Well, yes and no. It is true that for some very special locations (and you will learn over the next few weeks what makes a film crew want to come back and back again to the same location) they can earn significant sums of money year after year for allowing their house to be used for film, TV and photographic shoots. However, for many locations it is something of pot luck.

But there are certainly some things which will help your house get selected - the first of which is making sure that it is with a film location agency. For virtually every film, advert, magazine photoshoot, or TV drama, the first place they will come to for a location is a location agency. And for a residential location, the first place they will come is Lavish Locations, as for over 20 years we have been representing the largest and most diverse selection of residential locations in the UK.

Over the next few weeks you will learn about the reality of using your house as a film location; how to choose the right agency; what a good location agency will do for you; why our clients use a film location agency; what's hot in film locations; film location no no's and much much more.

Our blog is here to help you make the most of your house as a film location.

Not only that, we wil be regularly posting "looking for" bulletins so that you can volunteer your location if you see it fulfills the brief we are looking for.

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