Seeking advice -- Problem involving a Location for a short film

[sb2012]

NOTE: I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum to post in, I wasn't exactly sure where it should go, my apologies if I made a mistake.

Hello all. I live in NYC. Myself and two other people (my brother in law and our friend who is a film student) are making a short 15 min horror film to submit to a festival, we have until the end of March to send it out. One actress is involved and only one setting - an apartment (i.e. a kitchen, bedroom, hallway, bathroom, and living room). Everything was all set to go last week -- We have our actress, completed script, we have all our equipment (lighting, audio, camera, etc.), and we had our apartment location. We have two shooting dates, the first one will be at the apartment set, the other one will be at an outdoor location (where the last two min of the film takes place).

Our first shooting date is this coming sunday, February 26th. This week has been crazy because now there seems to be a problem with the apartment location. See we were going to use my light/audio friend's apartment, but now it seems there's an availability issue with his significant other (who is not very nice at all) who lives with him at the place. My brother in law's place is out, my place is a possibility but honestly it's not very ideal because it's a basement apartment that is halfway underground.

I've tried so many other options these past few days. I've talked with location scouts in NYC who have film-friendly apartments and lofts to shoot in but they start at $7000 per day. I've tried several film/photography studios with apartment sets and they all charge no lower than $1000 for 10-12 hour days. I've tried posting ads, I've tried vacation rentals/timeshares and the lowest I can get is $300 for one day but everyone I know (including my family and my crew men) are against paying that amount.

My last option is a one bedroom hotel suite for $150-$200 per night but one of my crew members says no because it looks too hotel-like. Someone from my friend's film school told me he heard about a place in NY that has apartments for shooting films in and they only charge $15 per DAY. I found that hard to believe, but he didn't have all the details... So, I feel like I'm at my wits end now.

For a short film, man, I thought I made it as simple as I possibly could make it. One actress and one indoor setting... not a business, but a residence. How hard could that possibly be? I'm actually quite surprised. I happen to live in the city that is the most unfriendly towards low budget filmmakers. I mean us 3 guys are not a production company and we don't live in luxury Manhattan apartments.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Or perhaps anyone know of a place or studio I can use that won't charge me an arm and a leg? We have everything we could possibly need BUT this one apartment location...

 

[mörkö]

Hotels tend to look like hotels and would need lot of set decorating (and time) to get it look right if you are unable to adjust script to make it happen in a hotel.

Lot of location scouting is done with "brute force" -approach: Figure out some areas that are likely to have apartments matching your needs. Then just go door to door to ask if you could see the apartment and/or if it would be totally out of the question to let you shoot there. If you don't consider yourself a good talker / trustable looking / whatever, consider getting someone who is to do that

Write a letter with your intentions and contact details, print out lots of them and give them to people you talk to, and drop them on the mailbox if they are not home. Good idea is to go and drop those letters to all possible apartments some days beforehand, and state that you intend to come around asking later. When you later go ringing doorbells, people should expect you and won't be as hostile as you will seem less suspicious. With luck you will find those people who consider letting a film crew in a fun adventure.

Feels a bit stupid to say, but if you are let in to see an apartment, never criticize the place out loud. After all, every apartment tells a story, and the question is whether that story supports your film or not. Stating any shortcomings will only bring bad mood and lower the likelihood of you getting permission.

I'm from europe so I don't know if there are some legal / cultural differences in the US to take into account.

 

[sb2012]

morko,great idea and all but shooting is this sunday. thats the problem. the actress is Ready, equipment is being rented out this weekend. we have to send this Out by march 31...

 

[David W. Richardson]

Today is Friday. Your shoot is Sunday.

It looks to me like you have just two options. You either cancel the shoot, or you shoot in your own apartment. I'm not sure why it being underground matters, but since it's the only location you actually have access to, it's your last best hope.

Since you live there, you have plenty of time to get it looking as close to what you need as possible. You can work on it virtually around the clock. And you can already have your lights setup and ready for the first shooting scene when Sunday rolls around.

With time so short, I see no other likely alternative. So make the best of what you have.

Good luck!

 

[Sad Max]

FWIW it sounds to me as though your best option is to shoot the available apartment (yours) and make whatever alterations necessary to dialog and action to tailor it for the best possible fit.