Is Your Property Ready To Make a Big Screen Debut?

If you're looking for other revenue streams for your real estate investment portfolio, you might consider renting your space out as a location for film and TV productions. From blockbuster Hollywood films to low-budget indie productions and TV commercials, location scouts are hungry to find the perfect backdrops to tell stories on the screen.
How to Get into the Movie Business
While Los Angeles might be known for their backlots and soundstages, filming can, and does, happen anywhere in the world. If the location fits the bill, then production crews will assemble.
If you're intrigued by the idea of renting your commercial, business or residential property for filming purposes, you can inquire with your state or regional film commission office to see if they handle property listings.
You could also list your property on websites such as LocationsHub.com, FilmLocationsWanted.com, or ScoutPlex.com. These sites act like an agent and typically take a portion of your profits.
Time is money, as they say in the biz, so if your property does pique the interest of a location scout, get back to them quickly, or they'll be on to the next property.
When Filmmakers Become Your Tenants
Andy Bhatt of SW & Associates Public Relations has real estate investments in California and Texas. After a few bad experiences, Bhatt realized that renting his properties out to tenants or Airbnb clients simply wasn't worth the risk for him. Now, renting properties out for TV and film production is an ongoing revenue stream for him, and he regularly rents space to YouTubers or to other media personnel for local, short productions on an hourly or daily basis.
For Bhatt, his rental leads come in through word of mouth, and they come in often enough that he doesn't feel the need to accept every request.
“As a revenue stream, [production rentals are] more of a hedge against renter risk and vacancy than something you could use to calculate a cap rate," Bhatt said. Of course, turning your business or home into a movie set isn't a fit for every real estate investor, but it works for Bhatt.
“I'd much rather have professionals use my property for just one day and collect money upfront than someone who will be there long term that I would have to get a court order to remove if or when they don't pay," he said.
Lights, Camera, Action
It's important to remember that while movies and TV might seem like magic, there's a lot of hard work — and even more hardworking people — behind the scenes, even when it's the property that's got the lead role.
Take a peek at three different properties that have had their fifteen minutes of fame on the screen so you can determine whether you and your property are up for the task.
Private Home as seen in "Last Call" and “The Perfect Murder" — Rutherford, New Jersey

Gigi Lake's home in Rutherford, New Jersey, has been used as a location for a couple of episodes of “The Perfect Murder" on ID Discovery. Most recently, it was used for three days of filming for the feature "Last Call" starring Jeremy Piven, Taryn Manning and Bruce Dern.

Lake's best tip for anyone thinking of renting their property for filming: "Let the production [crew] do their thing." She noted that once the filmmakers sign on the dotted line, it's their space for the term of the rental. She does advise owners, however, to get an insurance certificate and a signed location agreement that establishes which parts of the property are approved for filming and which are not.

Lake also suggested securing fragile items and taking “before" photos in case any mishaps occur. And if you plan on sticking around while cameras are rolling, you can have fun watching the process, but stay out of the way.
Commercial Space - Search Party Studio as seen in: "The Drummer" and numerous music videos — Staten Island, New York

Brandon Herman is a filmmaker and photographer as well as founder of his own production company, Search and Rescue Productions, in Staten Island, New York. He and his team work out of Search Party Studio, housed in an old art gallery on the North Shore of the busy New York suburb.
When he and his team are not working on their own projects, Herman rents the space to other production companies. There have been a number of music videos and commercials made there, and the independent feature film, "The Drummer," starring Danny Glover, was filmed there in 2018.

Herman said the modular nature of Search Party Studio is what draws in location scouts. Filmmakers and music video directors have used the adaptable space for a variety of settings, ranging from a bomb shelter from the 1970s to a Jerry Lewis-style telethon.
“You want to be able to adapt to whatever the client needs," he said. He also noted that the ground floor entrance and storefront window is a big draw for filmmakers. During production of "The Drummer," the studio was transformed into a cafe.
As production work typically takes longer than expected, Herman advises business owners to be prepared for the crew to stick around until the very end of the last day. Their equipment may even stay a bit longer — and if you plan to get paid for that extra day or two for holding on to the equipment, Herman said to make sure it's clear in the contract.
Herman advised business owners and homeowners thinking about renting out their space as an alternative stream of income to find a niche, like a retro kitchen or a 70s salon, “something that kind of solves a specific problem for a location scout," he said.
In his own production work, he did a shoot in an auto body shop that had a corner full of 1950s signs and gear, and also he made a music video in a basement that featured wood paneling and furniture from the 1960s.
“Those unique spaces, if you can keep them pure, are really valuable," Herman said.
Private Home as seen in "A Walk in the Clouds," "Rumor Has It," and numerous ads — Rancho Palos Verdes, California

Jean Shriver's home is on nearly four acres of property in the Portuguese Bend area of Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Years ago, the property was part of a much larger 40-acre plot of land. Due to a building moratorium in the wake of a landslide years ago, Shriver's home is surrounded by those remaining 36 acres of mostly undeveloped land.
“It's country out here," she said — and it's the perfect place for movie production trailers to roll on in. While Shriver doesn't allow filming inside her home, its exteriors have featured prominently in a couple of features, as well as numerous advertisements.
While exterior production work isn't as intrusive as interior work, it can still break up a household routine. When they filmed "A Walk in the Clouds" in the mid-1990s, production crews set up camp for about three weeks and even built a pool in the driveway for the production.


Shriver wanted to move out during the interim, but her husband preferred to keep an eye on things and their young grandchildren were having too much fun watching the process.
Like Lake, Shriver is also a proponent of setting ground rules for filming. And if giving up your home or business to a production company for weeks of filming doesn't sound appealing, Shriver suggests renting your space for commercials instead.
“Ads are a cinch," Shriver said. “They just come and mess around for a day or two outside."