How do I find locations on a little to no budget film?

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Polarjee

Active member
I am a aspiring film maker and I have everything needed to make simple films but one of the things that tend to hold me back is the locations. I am sick of only filming in public streets and my tiny apartment. I recently just moved to Los Angeles so I don't really know anybody except for my friends who i live with, so until I meet some more people, getting new locations though networking isn't really a option for me. My films are usually zero to no budgets and if a budget is what it takes to get locations, then I am certainly willing to throw down for it.
Is there a certain procedure that everybody goes though to find their locations that I am unaware of? How would you get to shoot in a nice house, restaurants,
schools, library, offices, stores, etc?
Any help would help because as of now, I am clueless on where to even start. Should I just go though a yellow book and just start making random calls? E-mail places? Who would I contact? How much should I expect to pay? Should I post something on craigslist looking for places?
Thanks for any advice you can give me!!
Thank you!
 
Permits to shoot at certain places cost a pretty penny if you can't shoot at them for free. Back in Huntington Beach where my parents live, most places are $500 a day... if you're even lucky to get permission first.

I would start asking around at City Hall to see if they would help you out a bit. I dunno the details since I'm not planning to a shoot my first film until next year or later. Maybe some of the people were will be more helpful.
 
Well it sucks you moved to LA and don't know anybody. I had the same problem when I first came to Atlanta. I had to ask the few friends who I did know, what they had access to. It's hard to get locations when you don't have people to ask. Try to do a few favors for a few companies - "I'll shoot you a 30 second commerical in exchange for using your restuarant on a Tuesday night at 11PM". And always ask, all people can say is no.

As for permits, go under the radar, and make sure you don't break anything. Production insurance is expensive and if you break something it'll cost you. I've been blessed, we messed up a $2K table in an office that the guy said "don't worry about it" and messed up a desk in another office and the lady said "don't worry about it" but if you ever have to pay, those prices can quickly add up.
 
Indeed, be very careful on locations and try to get insurance...not just for situations like that but for workman's comp so that if, god forbid, anyone gets hurt on the set.

I remember an indie that I worked on years back...not my show...where my buddy who was that guy who always seems to be more 'in the way' than helpful on a set (bless anyone who's willing to help but you know what I'm saying) got hit smack on the forehead with the gyb leaving a bump and a mark for a few weeks. If that had been more serious, the filmmaker we were helping would have be responsible and liable for my buddy's injury.

So, something to consider.

But on the locations front, yeah, it's all about asking and finding a creative way to earn the right to shoot at particular locations. Like trading services, or even bringing them some business...like a Diner gets 15 meals paid for they ordinarily wouldn't on a Tuesday night and you get to shoot at a cool location...I mean, you gotta buy food anyway right?

-M
 
Craigslist locations usually charge a few hundred a day unless your looking for something very simple and common. I had to pay 150 bucks to shoot is someones garage... it's a crappy town to try and be a filmmaker in lol. GO FIGURE. Irony is sometimes and ugly biotch. But theres a million restaurants so just ask around and you'll get one for a reasonable deal.
 
Just sucks that you live in LA, because everyone around there knows film = money.

I worked on a shoot in northern california with a mostly LA crew and the reason they came up was because we got every single location for free. They were just some small town and everyone was just excited to see people making a big film in their town.

Just try and find some small whole in the walls and play up anything you've got going for you...be it the fact that you're students, or maybe the film is trying to raise awareness about something...I don't know, but I think you sort of get the idea.
 
LA is very tough. Your best bet in my experience is to be very direct and straightforward with the actual property owners. I have done a lot of door-to-door begging in my time. Need a house that looks like a certain kind of house? Find an appropriate neighborhood and start asking. Need a Silverlake bistro? Get ready to spend half a day walking up and down Sunset.

Most people will say no, of course. But you don't need most people. You just need one.

Be sincere and be prepared in advance to answer the questions they will have. Do you have insurance? (the answer is "yes," if you don't have it you might as well forget it) How many people will there be? How long do you need it for? Where will they park? Will they be using the restrooms? Will it interfere with normal business? Inside or outside?

MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN YOU GET THE FULL NAME AND CONTACT INFO FOR ANYONE WHO SAYS "YES" OR "MAYBE." I learned this lesson the hard way a long time ago, when I pleaded and explained and finally convinced a restaurant manager to let me shoot in their back room for free. I show up the day of the shoot and guess what? That guy isn't there. No one else knows what the hell I'm talking about. The manager can't be reached. Turns out he's only the weekend manager. Etc. etc. We didn't get to shoot that day, sorry to say. But it was my fault, really.

But the best advice I can give is to keep your ambitions as small as you can. Write around locations you know you can get. We did this on the feature I produced last year and as a result the production value looks significantly higher than you'd expect. Did we pay for those great locations? Not really. The writer called in favors BEFORE he finished the script. Doesn't mean he still didn't have to plead and beg, but we weren't rushing around trying to plug holes – we were just working according to plan.

Actually, that was the second-best advice. The best advice is this: get out of L.A.
 
Start with Google Earth (Ya, I know but it's good for outdoor stuff) then narrow it down to roof tops, then interiors with a GH1 so they don't know your shooting.
 
College and Universities are usually pretty cool with 'student' films. So, if you're not a student, a couple of $10 community college T-shirts can go a long way to make your crew look legit.
 
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