How To Rent Your Home As a Film Shoot Location In India

Regardless of the rising popularity of energized films, over-the-top visual effects, and elaborate green-screen creations – real-world physical locations remain a critical component of modern filmmaking. In Mumbai, on-the-spot creations have expanded by 37% throughout recent years with all outshoots presently surpassing 15,000 every year.

Other cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Lucknow are also booming. Thanks to generous tax incentives and competitive wages, there are now more major film productions shot in Canada and Singapore than in India.

For homeowners, the rising popularity of on-location shoots represents a major income opportunity. After the cost of talent, locations are typically the second-largest production cost on a film shoot, demanding anywhere from 30%-40% of the total budget. In film-friendly cities like Mumbai and Delhi where the annual production economy is over 1 billion dollars, it’s fair to estimate that there are at least a hundred million dollars being spent on film locations each year.

As a property owner, getting a small slice of the pie by renting your home as a film shoot location could mean tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of additional income per year.

While you might think your house is nothing special, film producers and location scouts are always on the lookout for a wide variety of spaces from family homes and mansions to warehouses and abandoned lots.

The amount Does It Pay?

If you’re considering hosting film and photo shoots in your home, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is: how much will it pay? This will rely upon your home’s area, its appearance and features, and how much the production company has to spend.

For film productions with more than 15 people, a typical range would be between ₹15,000 to ₹45,000 a day. Generally, the price is determined by how much you pay for your monthly mortgage, but other factors can play into deciding the rate.

Big city location agencies (think talent agencies for houses) typically have rates starting in the ₹30,000 per day range. If you visit a top-tier website and feel your property stacks up well with inventory, then that rate is an excellent place to start; if your home is more modest, you can use sites like Royaleplace to get an approximate range of a fair price point.

The average homeowner on Royaleplace earns ₹21,000 per booking. The average annual income for homeowners who have hosted at least one shoot is ₹40,000.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to rent your home as a film location – you should consider keeping the price very low, to help generate awareness and stand out in the low-budget category. Based on the data from our website, very affordable filming locations are among the highest annual earners as they can attract a much larger community of renters.

The Standard Process of Renting a House for Filming

1. Booking Inquiry
Every film shoot starts with a creative vision. While in the past, it was common to receive a phone call or a knock at the door, today most location scouting has moved online. Once your place is ‘discovered’ you should expect to be told the basic outline of the production, and the dates when it is needed.

2. Arranging a Scout
Typically, the person who first discovers your home (usually a production assistant, producer, location manager, or location scout) will not be deciding to book your property by themselves. They will involve the creative team and want to make sure it fits the director and photographer’s vision. Typically, this means arranging an in-person scout, where the stakeholders will tour the property and plan out the logistics. This is an excellent opportunity to ask them about permits, references, and production insurance.

3. Booking Coordination
This is the negotiation phase, which will be your opportunity to make demands on the production and add amendments to any location contract. For example, this is where you should discuss the need to hire a Site Rep or charge extra fees. Generally speaking, if the renter is ready to move forward, you as the homeowner have a stronger negotiating position, and you should take advantage of it. If you’re not using an agency or Royaleplace, this is where you would arrange payment and shoot schedule.

4. Preparing the Location
As mentioned above, this is the phase of the shoot in which your home will be transformed to be film-friendly; this could involve putting down floor mats, setting up catering, blocking lights and cranes, as well as general interior decoration.

5. The Film Shoot – For motion shoots, you will need to be offsite, or at least out of the way during filming. A live recording is an intensive and high-stress time for everyone involved, and it will be controlled by a director. If you see something you are uncomfortable with mid-shoot, this concern should be addressed to a senior producer, who can then inform the creative team accordingly. Before threatening to shut down the production, be sure you are aware of the rules of the location contract as interrupting the shoot could result in significant legal costs. Photography shoots are more forgiving than motion filming, and you can usually stay in your house without much hassle.

6. Wrap Out
Once the production is complete the crew will work to ensure your property is returned to pristine condition and all damages are taken care of.

How can I promote my home as a filming location?

If you’re comfortable with everything outlined above the next thing you’re probably wondering: how can I get my first booking?

A Location Scout May Discover It – If you have a home with serious curb appeal, and you live in a popular filmmaking city, there is a small chance you could have a location scout contact you directly about filming. However, this situation is rare, and would only occur as a last resort if none of the thousands of properties already managed by agencies, were a good fit. The good news is that if this does happen, it will usually be from reputable professionals from the Location Managers Guild International.

Reach out to an Agency – As with modeling or acting, usually, a location agency will reach out if they want to work with you, not the other way around. However, if you think your property matches the standards of their existing library, you can contact them, and start the conversation. One way to gain some leverage would be to offer your home as an exclusive, meaning that they would be the sole representative of your property. If you do decide to work with an agency, keep in mind, they will collect 30% of the total booking value, and this arrangement is non-negotiable.

List your property for free on Royaleplace – Royaleplace was founded with the idea of streamlining and simplifying the location booking process. In early 2021 we launched the first-ever online marketplace specifically designed to connect homeowners with professional production companies. We’ve quickly become one of the fastest-growing film-tech startups in the country, with hundreds of new users joining our community every day. Listing on Royaleplace is free, and like Airbnb, gives you complete control of the booking process.