+44 (0) 207 252 3900 info@shootfactory.co.uk
Monday - Friday 10:00 - 17:30
SHOOTFACTORY is London’s busiest location agency and extremely well respected by the industry in the UK and Overseas.
Our property location owners claim that we are the best location agency and the most diligent. Although a cliche, we respect the fact that we have two important clients; the Brand and the Property owner. Both are equally important and our customer service to both is unparalleled. We have compiled a list Frequently Asked Questions to help you with your questions about using your home for filming, renting your home out for photo shoots.
A. We get asked for all sorts of things. To see what we are currently looking for, see the Location Search page of the website. Clients will look for large rooms, and space to change, do hair and makeup, store props and equipment and eat lunch; ample parking provision and locations that are easy for them to get to.
A. When you first come on our books we will upload your property to our website and send information of your location to all our clients. Clients will also contact us with their location requirements, e.g. they may want a modern apartment with a Thames view, or a cosy thatched cottage or an ordinary family suburban home, it could be anything. If your location fits their brief, I will email the client a link to your location page on our website.
A. If they like it they might want to come over and do a recce. I will then contact you and tell you what the shoot is, when it would be, how many people would be involved, what rooms/areas they would want to use and what their budget is. You can then accept or decline the job or set your conditions and agree a recce date. A recce, though a positive sign, is no guarantee that your property will be chosen for the job.
A. Besides someone being on hand to open up and show the client around, and a clean and tidy house, the only thing you are expected to provide, is tea and coffee. Some owners are happy to open up in the morning and then leave the client to it (the client can lock up and return the key to you) or you may wish to stay on-site and offer assistance as and when required. It’s up to you.
A. No! Your privacy and security is paramount. If you wish, we can omit photographs of the front of your property and we don’t have to call your location by the name of the road if you prefer us not to. We will only give out your name and address once the booking is confirmed.
A. First we need to ascertain whether your property is suitable for location work. Please email us a few pictures along with a paragraph of text about your property. If your property is suitable, you will then be asked to send masses of photographs. Ideally, you should send the photographs to us on a CD. Alternatively, you can email images as attachments, however, please send only a few images at a time, so as not to crash our system. We will also need you to complete our Registration Form and sign our Terms and Conditions. Which we will send you via email if we think your location is suitable!
Read More: Hire our Your Home
A. You will need to provide masses of good quality photographs of your location for us to put up on our website and show to potential clients. Ideally, you should go around with a digital camera and take photos of both the inside and the outside and all the rooms, from lots of different angles. It’s best to do this on a sunny day, open all the curtains, turn the lights on and tidy up. Also, if you have any unusual or unique features at your property (e.g. fireplaces, interesting architecture, water features, etc) send us pictures of these things too. Remember, you are trying to show your property at its best!
A. That’s it! We’ll now upload your location to our website and send out the link to your location page to all our clients.
A. Unfortunately we can’t. Our clients usually come to us with a very specific location brief. For example, they might ask us for a central London modern apartment with a spiral staircase or a thatched cottage on a village green. If your property matches the client’s brief, we will put it forward. Your location might be short listed and even reccied, but there is still no guarantee that it will make the final cut.
A. Nothing! It’s free. If your property is used, we take 20% of the agreed fee for the hire of your location. For example, if the job pays £1,000, we will take £200 and give you the remaining £800. Our full Terms and Conditions are available on the website.
A. Most jobs we get in will NOT require you to move out of your home. It depends on the job. Reality TV programmes will certainly want you to move out and in that case will pay to put you up in a hotel for the duration of the shoot, however, this is the exception, rather than the rule.
A. We have very few location owners that are willing to accept jobs with minimal budgets. The amount of time and paperwork it entails, it is also not worth our while, even if we found a location willing to accept the job. If you are in doubt please contact us.
A. The better the photographs, the better impression you give to potential clients. You don’t have to get a professional photographer in, but it helps if you take some time and care over taking the photographs yourself. Tidy up, wait for a sunny day, turn the lights on, steady the camera on a tripod or other stationary object rather than hand hold it in low light. Check the images are not blurry! We can work on them a little with Photoshop, but there is only so much we can do!
A. If the client wants to go ahead and use your location we will contact you to let you know and to get your final go-ahead. We collect their public liability insurance and check that it is all in order and draw up a contract for them to sign. This Client Agreement includes the shoot dates and times, the number of people involved, the areas of your property they are allowed to use and the fee. Once the client has signed this agreement, should they cancel the job, they are liable for the full location fee.
A. It is our job to ensure that our clients are fully insured. If you wish, we can ask for a damage deposit on your jobs. This is where the client will issue a separate cheque (usually for £250) prior to the shoot. If at the end of the day, there has been no damage, the cheque is returned to the client. If, however, there has been damage you keep the cheque. If the cheque more than covers the damage, you return the remaining monies to the client; if more money is required to pay for the damage, we will chase the client for the additional money.
A. The vast majority of shoot locations we receive are uploaded to the website. Occasionally, however, due to security/privacy issues, we will keep a location on file, and suggest it to our clients, but it won’t actually appear on the website itself.
A. Only SHOOTFACTORY staff has access to your contact details. When we upload your location to our website, we usually call it by the name of your house or road. If, however, you wish it to be called something that disguises its location, we can do that. When a client is interested we will tell them the area it is in, so that they can work our whether it is in a place convenient for their requirements. If they wish to do a recce or make a confirmed booking, we will have to give them the full address and your name and telephone number. If you no longer wish to be registered please contact us and we will remove your location from the website.
A. London locations do get the most work, however, there are certain types of location you can not find in London and so the client will, for some jobs, be willing to travel. It’s when your location is something they can easily find in London, that it is difficult to get work, though not all our clients are London based and so you might be in luck!
A. Please take as many images as possible (within reason!). Our clients need to get a really good idea of the location without having to leave their desks. They may not have the time to recce, so your photos may be all they have to go by.
A. Yes, please do email the images, if you prefer that to sending us a disk. However, please send images in small batches (or dropbox, Google file), so as not to crash our system!
A. This depends. Some clients are willing to pay up front for the location; others have their own 30-day payment terms. As soon as we receive payment from our client, we will pay you.
A. We will ensure that our client is fully insured before they set foot in your property to shoot. However, this is not something required if they come round for a recce. Therefore, some location owners do choose to take out their own insurance, but a vast number don’t. It’s up to you.
A. Our clients come to us with incredibly varied briefs. They might want anything from a council flat to a stately home, though the more amazing or interesting your home, the more popular it is likely to be. However, other factors do come into play, is it conveniently located for the client? Does it have ample parking provision? How big are the rooms? (Camera work, crews, cast, props and equipment take up a lot of room). Will you allow decorating? Do you have room to store props? After we have seen photographs of your property, we will be better able to inform you of its suitability.
A. Unfortunately, this is not usually possible. As a small company, we do not have a dedicated location photographer and it would be impossible to visit all the potential locations put forward to us. It is therefore important that you provide us with ample, good quality photographs, to give us and our clients a good impression of your property and all it has to offer. Please see the Photographing Your Property section of the website.
A. If we think your property would be suitable for location work, we will send or email you our Registration Form to complete. (It is also possible to complete the form online). This asks you all about your property and gives us all the information we need to talk about your property with clients. You will also need to accept (online) or sign our Terms and Conditions. If you have any reservations or wish to discuss our Terms, please do telephone us.
A. The fees vary from job to job. Factors that influence budget include: the size of the client company; the type of shoot (whether it is stills or filming and whether it is editorial, advertorial, TV or film); the number of people on the shoot; the amount of disruption expected; and finally, the type of property you have and where it is. As a guideline: Editorial pays approximately £400 – £600 a day, advertorial £800 – £1,000, and filming £1,000 – £1,500.
We review registrations each week and will contact you as soon as we have done so, either to ask more questions or sadly to say no at this moment based on different factors. Please do not be offended if we decline your location – we often turn down beautiful properties because they are not in the right area (most filming is conducted within 50 miles of London), they are too small, or simply they are too similar to other properties that we already have on website.
If we do want to represent your property then we will send you our terms and conditions for signing and returning to us. This sets out what we will do for you (display your location on our website, negotiate fees and contracts), what we will charge (commission based on your overall location fee), and how and when you will be paid. In addition we, ask you to complete a directions document, which is used by us and given to clients to find your location. Once we have received this back then your location will go live on our website and will be available for viewing.
You must include the following in your email otherwise we will not accept your request to register your property.
Register your property
Alternatively you can post a memory stick or CD with photographs, along with an accompanying letter including all of the required information, and a contact email address. Please post to:
SHOOTFACTORY REGISTRATIONS (NORTHERN OFFICE), 5 GRAMMAR SCHOOL YARD, FISH STREET, HULL, HU1 1SE.
If you wish to have your memory stick or CD returned, please include a SAE including the correct postage.