Renting Out Your Home as a Film Location?
I was contacted today by Law & Order: SVU — the show on NBC. They’d like to use my house as a set for an upcoming episode. I’m looking for input re:people’s experiences in renting out their home for filming in general and if possible, to Law & Order specifically (I heard that they film…
I was contacted today by Law & Order: SVU — the show on NBC. They’d like to use my house as a set for an upcoming episode.
I’m looking for input re:people’s experiences in renting out their home for filming in general and if possible, to Law & Order specifically (I heard that they film so much that they’re a well-oiled machine.)
Opinions?
I’ve had a TV show and also a movie in my place filming 4 times. Overall, it was a good experience, but like childbirth, if you remembered the pain you’d never do it over again.
1) A good contract – they’re pretty good about this but make sure to read it. I had a clause that could have made it so that any photo or painting that I ever took of my own house forever belonged to the production company instead of me (I am a visual artist).
2) Let them pack stuff up and move it – don’t do it yourself. They’re really good at this. Take photos when you can – it can help later.
3) Keep out of their hair, but don’t desert your house. Check in more than once a day if possible. They usually will put you up somewhere. Don’t forget boarding pets, etc.
4) Make sure you’re compensated for cleaning afterwards, as well as in between if its a “shoot for a week, break for 2 weeks then shoot for a week again” kind of thing.
5) The location manager will be on your side in most cases. Remind him/her this is your home and things like coffee cups and cutting boards are not for them to “borrow” unless you know about it.
6) Make certain someone is posted in your house AT ALL TIMES. This does not mean the cone guy sitting in his car watching a DVD while all the crew is out somewhere for lunch and your doors are wide open. We were robbed (just some minor stuff) once, but once the place becomes their workplace instead of your house, they’ll be disrespectful.
7) These people are NOT your friends, no matter how much they are paying you.
This process is brutal on your house, paint job, plantings, heating bill, you name it. Overall patience and a laid back attitude will help you in the long run.
Good luck!
My neighbor let SVU film in her apartment a lot and it was amazing. Not only did they pay her but they put here in a hotel for the three days that they were there.
They went into her apartment and took pictures of everything, then moved everything out and when they were moving everything back in they consulted the pictures to make sure everything was back in the right spot.
Totally worth it and they were really nice to us.
If you do it, make sure you stipulate in advance:
– polaroids (or digital) to be taken of how the house/apt was BEFORE anything was done
– no bathroom use
– decide whether you want the crew wearing shoes in your house (they can put protective booties over the shoes)
– electricity – using their own? yours? building?
– insurance coverage (L&O SVU will have this, no problem)
– overtime charge?
– if they want to paint, then stipulate exactly what kind of paint is to be used to return it to it’s original state
It’s disruptive, for sure, but potentially lucrative.
If it lasts more than one day, your neighbors will be wildly upset at the loss of parking. They’ll be upset even if it’s one day.
Law & Order filmed in my workplace a while back. Indeed, it was quite disruptive and essentially shut down our place of business for a day. However, you will forever be able to say (in future RE listings) that your home was used as a set for the show.
If it’s convenient, do it. Otherwise, move on and don’t give it a second thought.
It is quite disruptive — our coop in Brooklyn Heights turned down a film crew who wanted to film in our very beautiful brownstone building around the holidays = this was about 10 years ago. We said no because it would have really shut down the entrance to the house, the hallways, and the street for 2 days when we were all busy.
But since then down on the beach in Staten Island a little beach community my family has been a part of has experience with Law and Order and they are a good group, apparantly. Neighbors contracted with them for several shows. But it is distracting and doesn’t pay much money.
I am with Bob Marvin. I have no use for that myself.
No one could pay me enough to allow that in my house.
i had a film crew at my place
was overall a good experience – mainly because i needed the compensation and took the hassle involved in stride
They did have to do a lot of prep – emptying out my place and storing half my stuff in my back room (which meant there was no where for me and my cat to go) and painting and then they did end up using some of my stuff and it got mixed in with the rented props and so some stuff was hard to get back (may have lost some books)
Also by the end the crew was passing around the flu to one another and cranky fighting with each other so it was a little rushed putting all my things back in place (bookcase was put back together incorrectly and paintings were rehung too high)
The main problem is it can be a big disruption in your life when they take over your home and move all your stuff in storage
please tell me who contacted you. i would rent out my house in a heartbeat!