Anybody work in film industry? Location fees question.

[Kali]

We used to get one or two companies a year out filming for commercials or movies or catalogs, but it has been a while and I can't remember what we used to charge/get. A couple of guys stopped by today and I need to know what to ask for - anybody have any idea what the going rate is these days?

[kwassa]

1. I think it used to depend on where you are located, for one thing

In major cities with lots of film activity, high prices. Part of the reason productions moved to places like Canada and North Carolina, plus cheaper labor costs.

Your prices may be strictly local.

[Kali]

2. this is rural arizona

I THINK we used to get 300/day for small shoots - just one or two vehicles and $600 on up for bigger stuff, but I just can't remember.

any idea what I should ask?

[ohiosmith]

3. In Vancouver we got as much as $500.00/hour for interiors. That was 15

years ago. In LA up to $1,000.00/hour for interiors. Our minimum was eight hours including staging and striking.

[Kali]

4. ...

wow, wonder if I would have to clean the house first? heh heh No, this is for outdoors/nature. Any idea?

[ohiosmith]

5. Ask the location guys what they typically pay. I've been able to

get fees in excess of what normally charged by doing so.

[nosillies]

6. Do they want to use your private building/land or that of a commercial

enterprise? Also, what type of production company is this? Are these some strugling novice filmmakers or a large prod comp? And which county are you in?

[Kali]

7. Private land, Cochise county.

East - West productions, for a commercial I think.

[nosillies]

8. Bear with me, I'm trying to get you a decent answer.

I'm getting a couple of the guys at our production companies to try to give me an accurate answer for you. They can probably get back to me tomorrow, if that's not too late.

I asked county for purely selfish reasons, as we're scouting for western locations right now. I'm leaning toward Mohave county, as I used to live there, so I have more contacts there. But me and the BLM ain't getting along right now!

[Kali]

9. tomorrow would be great - even if they don't show back up, I need to

get an idea anyway. Winter is usually the "season." Maybe this area will pick up again.

[Mike03]

10. Please Come to Northern Gila County

We need some excitement here. The way things are going with our economy, you could probably shoot here cheap. And I have experience as a production assistant on features. Seriously though, we have some gorgeous country up here, and there is very little bureacracy.

[Kali]

11. No

:spank:

Come to Cochise county - no bureacracy here either. :P


Just kidding - where are you? I'm in Texas Canyon, i-10 passes right through us.

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Give it to them for $100 a day, but then have every store and hotel

and supermarket and gas station raise their prices tenfold, like Springfield did for the filming of "Radioactive Man".

[nosillies]

13. Here are two of my replies

"It really is all about negotiating. That's what the commercial's location manager has to deal with.

A cheap commercial on private property could be anywhere from $300-$1,500 a day. An expensive commercial? Anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000. It all depends on the negotiation. A private property owner demands too much, the commercial moves somewhere else. A commercial location manager could get one great looking place for free, just because the owner doesn't need the money, whereas one owner might be a prick and demand thousands of dollars.

It's all a negotiation."

AND:

"Oh man, there are so many ways to determine that.

Here's some questions to help you decide.

1. Do you want them there? If you don't, well. . . charge them a lot.
2. What's the commercial for?
3. How expensive is the commercial? Can be determined by the number of people they plan on bringing, what they're shooting on (NOTE: the type of camera/film they're using), what size grip truck they're bringing (NOTE: the truck that holds all the lights - a ten ton for example is one of the biggest).
4. Do you need to make extra cash for your department? It's all a negotiation. . .The most important information to get though is from number 3."

Notice the word "negotiation" seems to be really popular.

[Kali]

14. Thanks a lot - looks like a slight increase from what I remembered

a few years ago would be justifiable, but the range of 350-1000 unless it is some huge production that interferes with our lives is about right.

[nosillies]

15. Cool, good luck with it! Let us know how filming goes.

If it hasn't been said before, you might have to "negotiate." I asked those dipshits if they knew any other words, or if they'd like to leave the film business and secretly run off to law school. :D