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Wednesday, 3rd December 2003

Websites to secure your home as a film location

Lizzie Gething

MANCHESTER is currently booming as a TV and film location. Cold Feet led the pack with Queer as Folk and Cutting It quick to follow.

More recently the city really hit the big time as Hollywood rolled into town for a remake of the classic 60s film, Alfie, starring Jude Law.

If the excitement of seeing roads such as Deansgate coned off - and huge lorries parked along side streets -makes you keen for a piece of the action (and the cash) then there are plenty of websites explaining how your house can play a starring role in productions.

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Any type of home - new, old, luxurious or scruffy - can appeal to filmmakers, depending on their storyline and budget and daily fees can vary from about £400 to £10,000.

www.lavishlocations.co.uk started 12 years ago and is one of the largest location libraries. It has close contacts with all the major TV production companies and films made in the UK. Locations on its books have been used in films such as Bridget Jones, Notting Hill, About a Boy, and Harry Potter and on television programmes including Footballers Wives, Spooks and The Bill.

If you're thinking of giving up your day job www.oic.co.uk says "some regularly used properties achieve an income of between £15-20,000 a year from location filming". The site provides locations advice to production companies, photographers and event managers worldwide. It's free to register your property and the company uses everything from small council flats to large country houses.

If you live in a more extreme location - surrounded by hills, moor lands or sea cliffs - try www.highexposure.co.uk. The website offers dramatic locations for films such as Die Another Day.

Members of the Historic Houses Association www.hha.org.uk/film have already seen their properties feature in films including Shakespeare in Love, Remains of the Day and Elizabeth. The website will provide you with details of what is involved when your house is used as a film location and how to avoid the pitfalls.

www.locations-uk.com works on a "no win no fee" basis, so your details are added for free and an agency is charged only when your house is hired out. E-mail photographs of the property with basic notes to the website to allow hirers to assess the potential for location filming and photography or other hire and then sit back and wait for the requests to flood in.

www.medialocations.co.uk is a directory service for location professionals, advertising agencies, film/television companies, photographers, companies and corporations.

There is a preset form to fill in and you need to photograph your property inside and out and then post or e-mail the prints with your form. The pictures are entered on the website database and you are contacted if a company want to use it. You can register your location free on the Northern Film & Media website www.nsc.org.uk. There's a straightforward form to download and fill in and your details will be added to their location book.

If you do decide to register your house with a website, remember it may be the movies but it's not all glamour. It can be very disruptive with a cast and crew of 60 people plus, as well as a fleet of vans and catering equipment pulling up on your drive. Filming hours are often long and the set designer will not only bring props and furniture, they may change decorations and even structures of your home.

View comments (1 comment 21/10/2004 at 11:58)