What are my obligations?
Inclusion of
a property in this website places the owner under
no obligation whatsoever to accept the proposed
film shoot onto their premises. Each project is
individually assessed in terms of its budget, schedule
and the scenes to be filmed. It is important to
give careful consideration to each project prior
to indicating agreement, as after we have informed
the production company of your intention to hire,
it would be highly inappropriate to withdraw this
intention without very good reasons.
Is your property
suitable for filming?
Larger properties, with sufficient natural light are
generally more suitable than smaller ones.
A tv commercial crew typically arrives
with around eight trucks and 20 vans, cars and utes.
Thus, there needs to be sufficient parking facilities
in the surrounding area to accommodate these vehicles.
We liase directly with the councils to obtain necessary
permissions to park these vehicles. Properties with
restricted parking would still be suitable for stills
shoots, which usually have about 15 people.
Ideally, the property should have easy
access for a large crew of people carrying heavy equipment.
What to expect
if your home is hired
Crew Sizes
Film,
TV & Photographic crews vary significantly from
project to project. As a rough guideline, a photographic
stills crew should comprise of around 10 people, a
television commercial crew is often around 35 people
and a feature film can be significantly larger. All
crews bring film equipment, lighting and props into
the property.
Surveys
In most cases the production company needs to visit
your location between 1-3 times before actually confirming
the hire of the location. These visits are called
surveys or recces and usually last between 15mins
to 1hr. It is important to note the production companies
do not pay for these visits.
The initial survey is often to take
additional up-to-date photographs of the property,
which relate directly to the script. The second survey
is usually a directors survey, to establish whether
the director wishes to film in the location. The third
survey usually happens after the location has been
confirmed and is called the ‘technical survey’.
This survey is usually the longest and involves bringing
all key personnel to the property to work out all
logistics for the upcoming shoot.
Contracts
Once the decision has been made to hire your location,
and you have agreed accept the hire, a contract between
yourself and the location hirer will be drawn up by
Filmsite.
These contracts are standard film industry
agreements, which protect the interests of both parties
in the following ways: They ensure that the production
company will be allowed the necessary access to complete
filming; they establish ownership of all footage created
as belonging to the production company; they specify
the terms of payment; they establish responsibility
on the part of the production company to repair any
damage which may occur; they establish responsibility
on the part of the production company to provide necessary
public liability insurances. To view an example of
this contract click
here.
Payment
Payment for location hire, unless otherwise previously
agreed, is always by cheque on the morning of the
first day of filming / photography & paid directly
to you. This cheque will be for the full amount due
for the agreed hours of hire. A standard daily rate
for filming is usually calculated for 12 hours access.
Where overtime payments become due, invoices for the
overtime must be provided to the hiring company within
48 hours of the completion of filming. The production
company is obligated to pay this overtime within 14
days.
Prep & Strike days
Prep days (immediately before filming / photography)
& strike days (immediately after filming / photography
days), when necessary, are charged at 50% of the hire
rate agreed for filming / photography days and paid
as part of the hire fee. These are charged on an hourly
pro-rata basis to the hire rate. Both prep & strike
days involve far fewer personnel than filming days
and generally are only required for larger productions
or productions where rooms need to be extensively
redecorated prior to filming / photography.
After the hire
After filming / photography all hiring companies are
contractually obligated to return your location to
the same state and condition it was in at the beginning
of the hire. They must remove all rubbish and materials
from the location when they leave. It is always advisable
to be on site when the company are leaving to make
quite sure that you are satisfied.
Home-owners responsibilities
on the day of the shoot
The film crew will need prompt access to
the location at the exact time specified.
The location needs to be in the same
condition as it was found on the directors survey.
If you planned to redecorate, start building works
or change furniture / fittings between the survey
and the day of filming, the company needs to know prior
to any such changes.
The location should be clean and tidy
and free of daily clutter such as laundry and washing
up.
The crew needs to be able to work without interference,
as they need to maximise all potential filming time
to create their finest product. It’s quite normal
to keep an eye on things, but it’s essential
to be discreet. Any concerns should be addressed to
the to the location manager or producer.
If you intend to go out during the day
make sure the location manager or producer has a contact
telephone number that can reach you, in case they
need to ask questions about the location.
It is preferable for the location owner to be on site
at the end of the day to advise the crew, while they
replace household items to their original positions.
Do I have to pay anything?
Filmsite.com.au does not charge home-owner’s
an ongoing fee for inclusion in their location database (being on the books), nor the website. Should you wish to email photos through, we will keep them on our files and present to clients when we feel it is appropriate. If you would prefer for your house to be on our website, there is a once off fee of $50 for us to photograph your house and place it in our website.
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