How much to pay location owners

sheeep

sheeep

Active member
Hey all,

Just curious about what is considered standard pricing for location shoots. Day rates, or does it go by the hour?

I'm planning on shooting in an antique shop, not during store hours, and I'm wondering how much I should pitch to the owner. I of course will try the "no budget student film" excuse, but it's good to be prepared.

-Omar
 
sheeep said:
Hey all,

Just curious about what is considered standard pricing for location shoots. Day rates, or does it go by the hour?

I'm planning on shooting in an antique shop, not during store hours, and I'm wondering how much I should pitch to the owner. I of course will try the "no budget student film" excuse, but it's good to be prepared.

-Omar
Click to expand...

How about offering to credit the store with a line like "Antiques Courtesy Joe's Store 123 Main St" in the credit crawl?
 
That's a definite, one of them is actually a charity pawn shop, so I'd like to give them a decent advertisement/shout out.
 
sheeep said:
Hey all,

Just curious about what is considered standard pricing for location shoots. Day rates, or does it go by the hour?

I'm planning on shooting in an antique shop, not during store hours, and I'm wondering how much I should pitch to the owner. I of course will try the "no budget student film" excuse, but it's good to be prepared.

-Omar
Click to expand...

Hi Omar,

A hard question to answer. Here's a few quickie variables:

- Will filming affect their daily business operations?

- Will the filming generate goodwill (name actors, etc), generating incremental revenues?

- Will/could the film make significant money and/or have a substantial budget?

- Could the filming result in damages, loss, inconveniences, etc. to the store?

- Does the film crew (or their friends/family/acquaintances) know and/or regularly do business with the store?

- Will the filmmaker try to "wing it" or offer the store a bona-fide contract, obtain insurance, get permission from the City, etc?

BTW, if you are lucky enough be allowed to film, strive to do all the filming in one day. Too often the crew's "oops" (damages) and inevitable inconveniences lead owners to disallow shooting at their facilities for more than one day (ditto at personal residences).

Warm Regards, Michael
 
I use my films as an advertising avenue for location owners. Stores, Businesses. Homes I usually get for free. They are always excited just to be a part of it.
 
It depends on several factors-
1) Have they already had a group film in there before? That might make it harder for you, if the last crew left a bad taste.
2) How bad do you need this location? Is there another place you might be able to get into for less?
3) Can you possibly barter a commercial for their time and location?

Find somebody that could talk and Eskimo into buying a freezer, and have them negotiate for you.
 
You want production insurance. That's the absolute easiest way to get them to trust you and let you use the place. It shows that you're responsible and committed and just not gonna run out if something breaks. I doubt most people will make you pay; it's just not gonna be worth it for them to pocket a few hundreds and then have something happen. If anything tell them that you'll promote the place via the film or do commercials etc. But it really really helps to be able to say, "Hey, I got a million dollar policy that'll cover you if anything goes wrong."
 
Huy Vu said:
You want production insurance. That's the absolute easiest way to get them to trust you and let you use the place. It shows that you're responsible and committed and just not gonna run out if something breaks. I doubt most people will make you pay; it's just not gonna be worth it for them to pocket a few hundreds and then have something happen. If anything tell them that you'll promote the place via the film or do commercials etc. But it really really helps to be able to say, "Hey, I got a million dollar policy that'll cover you if anything goes wrong."
Click to expand...
That's very true. It is also very expensive, especially for a small personal project that barely has a budget.
 
Capt Quirk said:
That's very true. It is also very expensive, especially for a small personal project that barely has a budget.
Click to expand...

Depends on where you are and the nature of the location. Last time I got a production insurance quote for a music video in San Francisco (one day exterior shoot, small crew, no dangerous or extreme stuff) it was about $120. If the OP were willing to shell out a few hundreds for the location, doesn't seem like it'll be too expensive.

Easiest way though is just to ask, sometimes you'll be surprised. Once I actually got to shoot inside a jewelry store for a music video. All I had to do was include a brief shot of the storefront in the video and I could use the place and even have some of the jewelry as props in the video, AND the owner gave us $500.

EDIT: Ah, I see they're in NYC. That can get expensive.
 
Last edited:
We shot a comedy pilot at a bar and made arrangements with the owner. We agreed on shooting before they started getting customers. So we shot between 7 am to 7 pm and paid them $125.00 a day and $10.00 dollars a hour for one of their security's to be there while we were shooting. It all depends on how well you negotiate.
 
the anser is as little as possible.
Most will let you do it for nada. Sometimes a location you really want is not nada. This is where negotiating skills come to play. It's not as if they have usually done this before so there is no set price. They don't even know a ball park. You'll simply pay them according to how much it puts em out vs how much they can gain from exposure.
I personally have never had to give anyone money to shoot at their place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top