Accomodation Etiquette

B

baquajim

Well-known member
I wanted to get everyone's opinion on this. What do you think about renting a private house to house cast and crew versus putting them in a motel room?

Reason: Save money.

Everyone would have their own private room, but would have to share a bathroom in the house.

At a motel, Holiday Inn Express, they would have a nice continental breakfast everyday, their own room and bathroom, etc.

Shoot is four weeks.

Thoughts?
 
That might not be a bad idea.... depends on the size of cast/crew. But what I would do, is ask the cast and crew members if they felt comfortable with that; because in the end that would be the final decision. Maybe the people that agree can stay at a rented house, where as people that don't want to do so, can stay at a hotel/motel..... you'd just have to see how many people would stay at the house to see if it really saves any money.
 
4 weeks is a long time not to have your own bathroom. If the crew is friends that's fine. But, if they don't know each other it may not be the best idea. Also if its a low budget job the hotel room may be a decent perk and time to get away from everyone. I wouldn't rule out the house idea - but you definitely can't expect anymore than2 people MAX to share a bathroom.
 
Another thing you have at a motel is housekeeping... I wouldn't want to clean up after the people I've worked with for four weeks...
 
Another thing would be..... are you responsible for the persons personal items in the rented unit? What if somebody breaks in and steals things? You could write up a contract that says your not responsible for any damages or loss, but just something to think about.
 
If you rent the house you must provide maid service and all towels and linens.
It will really depend on who your crew is. I'd ask them what they think. You don't want to piss off your crew by saving a few bucks on housing. I've been on projects that have done both and had good and bad experiences with both. If you rent a house you now have to (or have a coordinator) take on many additional responsibilities that may or may not be worth the hassle.
 
A while back I worked a $2.5M film that shot in a tiny town in Idaho. The producer was from LA and had recently bought a ranch in Idaho, so he was shooting a modern western there, and the entire crew was from LA. The whole crew was housed by the few local people on the crew (staying at their houses) and in unused RVs owned by locals. Some donated, some rented.

The town and surrounding area was so small, though, that the crew was actually spread out over 3 different nearby towns.

I was the loader and somehow I managed a rather nice motel room with cable and all.

You have to do what you have to do, but the crew will also have the choice of not wanting to do it.

No one on the Idaho film had a problem with it....until they found out the "3rd AC" had a nice room to himself.
 
I was thinking it might be a good idea to find a nice warm ditch somwhere too... pick up a bunch of warm blankets from sears or whatever then take the blankets back when the shoot is over... sears might not like that they're dirty, but they should take them back if you complain enough.
 
as a crew member, after a hard working day all i want is take a good shi* and shower on my own bathroom, call home privately, watch some tv before sleep on my own room, etc...this is the least your crew deserve. i´d be really upset if i didn´t have that privacy for a month... so unless you´re on a very low budget indie production, don´t do it or you´ll have problems with you crew...
good luck
 
if you do this, everyone should have their own room and no more than two sharing a bathroom.
 
lol

It's just something I've noticed recently. I was trying to find a post and remembered the guy had a dog avatar... which made me realize how many there are...
 
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