If I Left a Note on Your Door…
This week I’m working for NBC’s tv series called “Good Girls”.
If I left a note on your door about scouting for a location and you are interested in the next step, when you call me I come by to take pictures. You can pretty much count on me taking pictures of everything, mess and all. In nearly all cases, we are looking at the bones of the place, not your life stuff. The film will probably replace all that life stuff with set dressing anyway. But you don’t have to do that. We’ll get to your part at the end.
What I am asking is just to take pictures. Those pictures go in front of the Production Designer, sometimes the Art Director, the Director, and my boss, the Location Manager. They decide if it is close enough to what the script needs. If it is not the best match, you probably won’t hear from anyone again. If you ask me, I will make a note and let you know if I hear something. But I don’t always hear anything. My job is just to look, and once I hand in my day’s pictures I’m kind of out of the loop at that point. But I’ve been around long enough to know the process.
If they like your place, you will get a call from the location department to set up a scout. This is when the people mentioned above come by to look at your place. They may come all at once, one at a time, and maybe more than once. If they decide to use your place, there will also be a production scout that involves a lot more of the crew.
Then the art department moves in. They could wind up doing all kinds of things. They will let you know and there will be an agreement on the scope of work. They will finish just before the production company arrives.
It is amazing how many trucks and people are invoked in shooting a movie. Plus the trailers and catering of base camp. It might get so crowded the show will provide you lodging for the shoot. Then there will be a couple of days of the art department coming back in to make sure it looks like we were never there. You will still know it’s your place when the work comes out, though.
Now for your part. It is a paying gig, so there will be some papers to sign. There will be a lot of phone calls and coordinating with different people who have wildly different needs. They won’t ask you to do the work, but they need your permission to do just about anything. That’s really all there is to it.
Still interested? Can I come by and take some pictures? Drew@kdrewfuller.com