For Communities, For Filmmakers|March 6, 2025|5:14 pm

Location Scouting and Film Hosting: Part 2

Abbi Jacobson as Leslie and Poppy Liu as Sarah on 'No Good Deed'. Photo credit: SAEED ADYANI/Netflix

Pictured: Abbi Jacobson as Leslie and Poppy Liu as Sarah from “No Good Deed”.
Photo Credit: Saeed Adyani/Netflix

This is the second article in a three-part series about hosting filming at your home or business. Through conversations with accomplished Location Professionals and film hosts, we aim to share frank, open advice about the film host experience.

Location Scout Nancy Bruno on-location.
Pictured: Location Scout Nancy Bruno on-location.


Recently we had the opportunity to interview Location Scout Nancy Bruno about her experiences working with film hosts and the reality of the business.

Nancy has worked on shows such as “No Good Deed,” and “Dead To Me,” and was part of the 2017 COLA Award winning Location Teams of the Year – Features for “Bright” and “Cooties,” as well as the 2019 COLA Award winning Location Team of the Year – Independent Feature Film for “Bliss.”

Many factors affect how much film hosts can get paid by productions. How do you determine Fair Market Value?

It all depends! And, it really depends if it’s a full day of filming or multiple times you’re going to be back to that neighborhood. You really have to keep that resident happy.

But first, is it exterior or interior or both? Are we going IN the house? When we go into the house, we typically offer more money. At least in every scenario that I’ve been in.

It’s one thing if it’s just an exterior front door scene and we don’t go into their house and start changing everything around. Once we go into the house and start removing their furniture, and set dressing comes in and layout comes in and we’re doing lighting…

Doing all this, it’s substantial, in my eyes worth more money than a “we’re just going to drive up in your driveway,” kind of deal, or “we’ll just put lights in your yard and, you know, maybe put a light or two in your home…”

As soon as it turns into an interior scene as well, that’s where the price goes up.

When you're shooting interiors, would the production put the residents in a hotel? How would that work?

Most productions will offer hotel accommodations to the homeowners while we are shooting. This is simply due to the fact our shoot days can be quite long, 12 -16 hours a day. So getting sleep or working from home is impossible. We simply work that into the contract language.

Some homeowners prefer to stay and enjoy the experience of having the crew there and are able to work around us and act as a site rep. Or the homeowner can designate a family member or friend to be the site rep. It’s always helpful to have site rep with us as they know the ins and outs of the property and represent the homeowners’ best interests.

What factors should film hosts consider when filming happens inside a house or business as opposed to just the exterior?

When we’re filming interiors, we’re not just filming in the living room.

Sometimes, we need to set up a green room. Sometimes we need to set up a VIP bathroom. A lot of times, we’ll have to get neighbors on board to do cable runs. We’ll have to get neighbors on board and pay them to set up a video village.

Sometimes, we need to get a neighbor on board to use their backyard for background performers (extras) holding. And I would say it’s almost just as intensive, as far as logistics go, for an exterior scene.

So I think both scenarios are challenging.

Can you share an example of a shoot with complex logistics?

One example was with “No Good Deed,” the show I did in Hancock Park. The way the house was situated was on a corner. And the cinematographer saw 360 degrees.

In that world, I could not have any of my working trucks within a 350 foot range of the house, because every time talent walked up to the door, or walked out of the house, you saw a 360 degree view.  I had to literally take over the next block.

When you’re filming inside, you can have all the trucks really close and right out front.

When you’re doing exteriors like that, I would say it’s just as challenging because you’re then spilling over into the next block. And again, you’re accommodating the neighbors, paying out a lot of inconvenience fees. And most of all, you just want to get everybody on board, so they’re not frightened, and we keep a good rapport with the neighborhood.

What about “cold scouting” – just walking up to someone’s door and asking to film at their house. Does that ever work out?

It’s totally doable. In the last production I worked on, “No Good Deed,” that house was a cold scouting house. They found it cold scouting, and then we went back there six times throughout the season.

What happens if a production wants to film repeatedly at the same location?

You can definitely do it. You’ve just got to keep the neighbors happy and a lot of that is just hand holding: Communication. Having a respectful crew. Also, working with the neighbors. When we were working on “Dead to Me,” because we were coming back, and we actually compensated some neighbors, they would hold off on construction projects until after we finished. I had neighbors rescheduling when they were going to take trees out of their yards!

In our next and final installment in this series, we will delve further into tips and guidance from an experienced film host. So stay tuned!

>>See the first article from the “Location Scouting and Film Hosting” series.

Jimmy Hong

About the Author: Jimmy Hong

Jimmy Hong is a member of FilmLA’s Solution Services team, and a writer, SAG-AFTRA affiliated actor, and musician. Past appearances include CONAN and national commercials. A graduate of Penn State, Hong was raised in the NYC / New Jersey area. Now Catalina Island adjacent, he remains a pizza connoisseur.

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