The Nuts and Bolts of Location Deals

So you wanna get your house in pictures?

There are at least two ways it can happen: dumb luck or a preemptive strike.

In the first instance, a location scout cruising the area with a script in hand spots a potential property and contacts the owner about getting a closer look. If the answer is yes, indoor and outdoor pictures are taken for the director, production designer or director of photography, who will either reject the site or case it personally.

Should they decide your home is it, the production company may propose changes and outline when the work will be done, how long shooting will take and how much rent, if any, you’ll receive.

Every story line has specific requirements. For “No Way Out,” a 1987 thriller about the murdered mistress of the secretary of defense, Kevin Costner needed to escape down an alley near the Georgetown house where the action took place, said veteran scout Peggy Pridemore.

“Contact,” a 1997 alien-encounter saga starring Jodie Foster, called for the characters to stargaze on the balcony of a 1950s, lower-middle-class home. Pridemore finally found such a place in Herndon, Va. But alas, she said, the just-renovated Cape Cod was “too nice. We had to beg their permission to make it look dirty. We took down their beautiful white picket fence and put up crummy chain link.”

Location scouts--usually freelancers who work for many production companies--must consider multiple factors: The neighborhood can’t be so noisy as to drown out dialogue. The house shouldn’t be obscured by vines and bushes. The walk from curb to front door can’t be unfilmably long. Rooms have to be large enough to accommodate a camera 3 feet long, with up to 10 people surrounding it. “There has to be five feet to work in that you don’t see,” said Pridemore. “Add a character and lights and the room has to be a minimum of 15 by 20, so that’s what really weeds them out quickly.”

But scout Kathleen Beall, who worked on “Cupid and Cate,” doesn’t rule out small spaces. “For a Census 2000 commercial, I discovered these wonderful, tiny bungalows in Anacostia [in Washington]. One kitchen was no more than 3 feet by 6 feet, but the director loved it so much he shot through the window.”

If you don’t want to wait to be discovered, you can pitch your property directly to California Film Commission, which will add your photos and property descriptions to its database.

To consider your site, scouts and filmmakers will want to see panoramic front-and-back views of the building as well as pictures of the surrounding scenery--like the church across the street or the next-door neighbor’s pink rambler.

Indoors, they want photos shot room by room, coming and going. That means foyer to living room to dining room to kitchen and back again. They require the name and phone number of the property owner or agent (tenants must have the proprietor’s OK for a shoot). It also helps to tell them the date your house, apartment, shop, office or restaurant was built, its architectural style and square footage. And be sure to mention such other distinguishing features as a pool, garage, fountain or garden.

So what can you expect if your edifice goes Hollywood?

Lodging, meals and expenses for everyone who has to vacate the premises, including a kennel for any displaced pets. A crew to pack up and store your possessions during shooting and unpack them when it’s done.

The film company may want to modify the spaces to be shot by, say, adding a sun room or changing the windows. If you like the improvements, request that the work meet local building codes. How much money you get depends on the production budget. “It can be as much as $2,000 a day,” said Joe Martin, a scout for the TV series “West Wing.” It can also be far, far less.

And always insist on a written agreement, which your lawyer should review.

If you get a location query out of the blue, check it out, said Crystal Palmer, director of the District of Columbia film office. “All of us require that production companies register with us, that they have a certificate of insurance and a permit to film. Oftentimes, we will do a letter of introduction,” she said.

There is, however, one thing film offices can’t control, and that is whether an owner gets some face time with the stars.

“It’s always the first thing they ask: Who’s in it, who’s directing, and can I meet them?” said location scout Pridemore. “I always say, ‘I’ll try.’ ”