How to Get Your House Used as a Filming Location

*Originally published on 10/5/10



While most filming is done on sets and sound stages, every once in awhile, filmmakers need an actual location to act as a set. When this happens, they will rent out people's houses or living quarters to use as a makeshift set. If you ever wanted to see your house featured in a movie, this provides you a chance to make it happen.

You'll want to check the local papers to see if anyone is putting an ad out. It sounds obvious, but it's the best way to get word out that filmmakers are looking for a space to use as a set.

Another source is Craigslist. It has its detractors, but it's not all bad, and you can find some interesting opportunities on the site.

Your best bet is to try and find an amateur filmmaker as opposed to a bigwig. This not only increases your chances of having your house picked, but it makes for a far less obtrusive shoot. With a Hollywood, or other big budget production, you'd have all sorts of staff and high-tech gadgetry dragged into the house, where as newcomers tend to work on a much smaller scale.

You could argue that it's not the same, but a lot of indie films can perform well at film festivals and garner mainstream exposure. It's a more likely possibility than having James Cameron or George Lucas come knocking on your door.

Check the local campuses, especially if they have a prominent film-making department. You probably won't be able to get a ton of money for it, but you would be able to help an aspiring filmmaker out and get a taste of what the business is like.

If you know an aspiring filmmaker yourself, this also gives you a prime opportunity to have your house used as a set, as they tend to keep an official budget anyway, you might be able to bring in some cash while doing your friend a favor.

If you don't know any filmmakers, you could try your hand at the art yourself. It's a lot of work, but can be really rewarding and fun.

Depending on what the film is, green screens may need to be used. In this case, clear off a wall so that they can hang it up. It's unlikely that any furniture will need to be rearranged, but small things may need to be added or removed depending on the director's wishes.

Be sure to have plenty of food and beverages on hand. Making movies will work up an appetite, and it gets hot under those bright lights. Have the air conditioning on, or if you have a quiet fan, you can use that to try to cool things down.

Daily shoots usually run all day, so make sure you're up for making that kind of commitment before you sign on. If you're not comfortable having strangers in your house for 12 hours a day for several days in a row, you might want to reconsider.

While it's unlikely that anything will get broken during the shoot, you might want to remove fragile items or things of sentimental value from the area, and store them somewhere else just to be on the safe side.

There are a lot of perks to having your house used as a set, though it is no small feat. As such, you will want to be sure to look at the setup from all angles to make sure that you don't start to regret the decision. Just as it provides a unique experience, it also makes for a rough lifestyle, as you will often have to stay out of certain rooms and be very quiet so as not to disturb the shoot.

There are pros, but there are some definite downsides, as well. All of them should be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not you want to rent your house out to use as a film set.