Tag Archive for 'projects'

ArchNewsNow

ArchNewsNow

About Us

“ArchNewsNow.com delivers the most comprehensive coverage of international news, projects, products, and events in the world of architecture and design.

The ArchNewsNow (ANN) newsletter, launched in February 2002, is delivered daily to subscribers – free of charge – via e-mail. It hyperlinks directly to the latest news and commentary gleaned from sources around the world.”

read the rest

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links for 2008-04-25


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locationscout.wordpress.com

A companion site (as well as my Locamundo Portfolio) to nyc.locationscout.us is locationscout.wordpress.com.

locationscout.wordpress.com is a photo blog of sorts, highlighting remarkable locations from my location library. As time goes by and time permits, I intend to add photo posts of more locations with high potential for use as locations for film, photo video and event production projects.

I haven’t really seen the term “p-blog” as an abbreviation of photoblog used before, so I think I am gonna “coin it”.

P-blog = photoblog. there…

Ck out locationscout.wordpress.com p-blog

feed Location Scouting For Film, TV and Photo
  • 40737 French Normandy Style Home New Jersey | Tuesday, 22 May 2007, 6:15 pm
    40737 French Normandy Style Home New Jersey Located within the NYC Film Zone Technorati Tags: home, house, residential, NJ, film locations, photo loca. […]
  • 40754 Luxury Apartment New York City | Tuesday, 22 May 2007, 6:02 pm
    40754 Luxury Apartment New York City Expensive Technorati Tags: apartments, lofts, luxury, design, modern, residential, urban, film locations, photo l. […]
  • 40755 Unusual Monolithic Dome Home | Tuesday, 22 May 2007, 1:22 pm
    40755 Unusual Monolithic Dome Home Contact for more details Technorati Tags: unusual, home, house, monolithic dome, residential, film locations, photo. […]

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Geotag Ya Bad Self

Geotag Your Blog, Site or Feed (addressfix.com) … via GeoPress and GeoRSS del.icio.us links

  • addressfix.com site courtesy The Marketing Technology Blog by Douglas Carr
  • I am very impressed with Douglas Carr’s geotagging tool.

    Geotagging and many other online mapping resources and mashups appearing new nearly daily on the internet (most of which are free and most currently sans ad clutter :-) are useful tools for anyone in my chosen profession of location scouting.

    Geopress is such a tool, being a mapping plugin for WordPress. You can find implementations of GeoPress all around my site, specifically in the form of the little maps you’ll see like the one at the end of this post of my current hometown of Clifton, NJ.

    Nice folks at GeoPress too - I have corresponded with Andrew on a few occasions regarding questions I had about GeoPress and he has always been friendly and helpful.

    GeoPress is part of the GeoRSS Project . The GeoRss Blog is a great map technology read.

    If you like this kind of stuff you would do well to check out Google Maps Mania and the Official Google Maps API Blog. That should give you a running start.

    Over time, I have made a few posts on nyc.locationscout.us about various online map and photo online tools and such, so you might want to poke around some.

    Have fun -

    RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    News :: Q-spheres

    Q-spheres HDRi


    Q-spheres Website



    (above) Quicktime output of Q-sphere of Team Q-spheres at Lake Mead, NV, December 2007 (c) 2007-2009 Q-spheres.com


    Q-spheres Las Vegas Session @ Locamundo


    R. Richard Hobbs / nyc.locationscout.us is now a qualified provider of Q-spheres HDRi 3d digital imaging services.

    In association with LocationExchange, Locamundo, and Team Q-spheres qualified associates worldwide, we aim to build on our collective traditional location scouting and location management services skills and location archive assets and resources, going forward to provide an even greater range of services to not only keep pace with, but rather lead the way in rapidly changing digital imaging technologies for the still photography, motion pictures and 3-d gaming and animation industries.

    Our current digital imaging system, developed by Locamundo founder Jo VanHove (Brussels, BE), provides the fastest currently-available methods for generating the highest-quality, full-dynamic-range, 3d, image-based lighting models (lightfields) and HDRi backgrounds. Our worldwide team of expert imaging and production professionals strives to keep abreast of and implement as we might find productive, new developments and available methods - adapting our imaging technologies to provide the highest-standard services and products with regard to not only imaging quality, but with considerations toward efficiency and cost-effectiveness as well.

    Q-spheres can be hired to provide assignment-specific imaging and also maintains an archive of rights-managed post-ready high quality backgrounds and lightfields.

    Please contact us for your next imaging project and let us show you how Q-spheres can work for you!

    Q-spheres Official Press Release, July 2007 (pdf)

    Q-spheres Associates Worldwide (Alphabetically, by company or last name):

    1. Meuleman Manu (brauhaus.be / Antwerp, BE)
    2. Thomas Duchnicki (creativelocation.de / Berlin, DE)
    3. Rickard Molin (fixmolin.se / Stockholm, SE)
    4. John Cody, Dan Uneken (fotofilmvideo.com / Jerez de la Frontera, Spain)
    5. Francoise Huvelle (Q-spheres.com / Buenos Aires, AR)
    6. Scott Clark (iwerken.com / Albuquerque, NM, USA)
    7. Jo VanHove (loc8, locamundo.com, locationexchange.com / Brussels, BE)
    8. Locations Portugal (locationsportugal.com / Lisbon, PT)
    9. Peter Orth (planetorth.com / Los Angeles, CA, USA)
    10. R. Richard Hobbs (rrhobbs.us / New York, NY, USA)
    11. Francesca Carapelli, Leonardo Semplici, Stefano Tinti (scout.it / Siena, Italy)
    12. Mark McMcKennon (scoutman.com / New York, NY, USA)
    13. Frans VanDenBemd (vandenbemd.com / Prinsenbeek (Breda), NL)
    14. Clare Beresford (worldlocations.com / Paris, FR)

    In November / December 2007, I travelled to the Lake Mead, NV area to meet with, along with the rest of Team Q-spheres USA, Jo VanHove and Frans VanDenBemd for an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with and use the Q-spheres digital capture system. During the course of the trip, not only did the American contingent of Team Q-spheres come away with a thorough training in Q-spheres technology and practices, the results of the actual Q-spheres sessions have provided us all with the valuable assets of beautiful lightspheres and backgrounds of the Nevada desert.

    Team Q-spheres USA
    (above) Actual low-resolution lightfield of Team Q-spheres USA

    Q-spheres Las Vegas Session @ Locamundo

    Team Q-spheres Training Session - Lake Mead NV

    Q-spheres training session, Lake Mead, NV - Jo Van Hove instructs Q-spheres Team Members

    View Q-spheres Nevada Photoset on Flickr

  • related content about Q-spheres
  • General information about HDRi
  • General Information about image based lighting
  • feed locationexchange
    • Website q-spheres live ! | Tuesday, 26 June 2007, 9:54 am
      With the live making of the Q-Spheres website, we have an official start to our marketing for Q-Spheres !! Photographers, 3D artists, designers can no. […]
    • Jeep Compass Q-Sphere production | Friday, 15 June 2007, 5:39 am
      Our first Q-Sphere production has reached the screens… Watch the static : http://www.jeep-compass.be/fr/ Watch the film : http://www.jeep-compass.be. […]
    • New associates | Thursday, 19 April 2007, 9:42 am
      We welcome Dan Uneken and John Cody as new associates to LocationExchange. Dan and John work in the South of Spain and Morocco, both regions with good. […]


    RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    New Location Featured

    This past week I was contacted by a mid-Westchester County, NY property owner about the prospect of using their 200 year-old farmhouse home as a shoot location for film, photo or video projects.

    As evidenced by the rest of the content here on my website and very likely because you were looking for someone like me, you probably already know I am a location scout and location manager and maintain a location library of shoot-ready locations for use by film, video and photo production.

    In addition to being a beautiful home, this particular house has the distinction of recently being the “hero house”, or one of the main filming locations in the soon-to-be-released Miramax Film Corporation feature film, The Hoax, directed by Lasse Hallström, starring Richard Gere and Alfred Molina (complete IMDB webpage here) which attempts to tell the story of the Clifford Irving / Howard Hughes autobiography scandal of the 1970’s.

    The owner relates to me that filming for the movie last year at their home went on pretty much full time for a period of about two months and that, overall, they enjoyed the experience and wish to host more shoots at their home in the future.

    The home is located within a 30 mile radius of Columbus Circle, New York City, so it may be considered “within the zone” for many film and video shoots.


    Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location

  • If you are interested in booking this location for your film, photo or video shoot please contact R. Richard Hobbs. This location may be available for film, photo and video media projects that allow for a reasonable location budget. Serious, production-related film location inquiries only, please.
  • Are you a homeowner or other property owner (i.e. small business owner) whose property would look great in pictures? List your property with us! Start here for full particulars.
  • Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location

    Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester County, NY Residential Film Location available thru R. Richard Hobbs | <a href="http://tinyurl.com/6gf3v3" rel="nofollow">tinyurl.com/6gf3v3</a>

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    Source: Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location | RRichardHobbs

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    Source: Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location | RRichardHobbs

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    Source: Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location | RRichardHobbs

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    Source: Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location | RRichardHobbs

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    Source: Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location | RRichardHobbs

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    Source: Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location | RRichardHobbs

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    Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location [?]

    Source: Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location Content from Remarkable Mid-County, East Westchester Residential Film Location | RRichardHobbs

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    Kewl Vid on thelot.com

    Update 7/2/2008 | A short clip from MoonCake, a short film by Marty Stanos, is available on Youtube (below). Marty is obviously very busy these days shopping and showing the film.

    The Lot “is a wrap”.

    Sometimes talent and inspiration shines as this video on thelot.com does.

    The short film, shot in film noir-ish black and white, is titled Moon Cake and was directed and produced by University of Michigan film student Marty Stano. The film is set to a catchy obscure pop song the title and band I have not yet been able to place other than a comment for the film that alludes to a bootleg record called Rabbit’s Moon, all of which adds to the intrigue.

    The film was produced for less than $500 and it’s like a train wreck- I cant look away! I delight in replaying the video over and over! It’s this grungy avant-gard wonderful five minute, forty-five second bit of film wack and it’s just lots of fun to watch.

    The Lot is a new tv joint by reality tv kingpin Mark Burnett and producer-director Steven Speilberg (who needs no introduction) whereby filmmakers submit films online for consideration for a $1 mil development deal prize with Dreamworks.

    The Lot has been all the chatter recently over on the Wheresspot Board, wherein a number of participants have submitted film projects to The Lot.

    Update 3/1: Music mystery solved :-)- The song is It Came in the Night by Andy Arthurs/A Raincoat from around circa 1976. This page pretty much tells it all. Also, see a reference to the music used in this video here.

    Update 3/5: Up to now proving ignorance of certain aspects of film school curriculum, it has come to my attention that the music used in Moon Cake is the same score used in one release of director Kenneth Anger’s classic avant-gard short film, Rabbit’s Moon.

    Anecdote: There have been several releases of Rabbit’s Moon, the most recent release, on The Films of Kenneth Anger, Volume One, in fact uses a number of ’50’s doo-wop titles as the score for Rabbit’s Moon.

    I know all these things now because the intrigue compelled me to order the The Films of Kenneth Anger, Volume One DVD online to check out Rabbit’s Moon!

    The Japanese folklore of the Rabbit In The Moon, (the view from Earth of the surface of the Moon is different in the far east than that visible in the western hemisphere and to many resembles a rabbit- part of the celebration of this lore is having children put out rice cakes for the rabbit;-) is present in many areas of film and music around the world including a house music trio from Tampa, FL named Rabbit In The Moon.

    There are certainly similarities in the style of cinematography used in Marty Stano’s Moon Cake and Kenneth Anger’s Rabbit’s Moon, in fact, now having more background about both films I daresay Moon Cake draws a heavy influence from Rabbit’s Moon, but dont feel the results have been presented in a way that could be construed as plagiarist or improper. Instead, I might suggest that Moon Cake pays tribute to Rabbit’s Moon in a very flattering way.

    Now, all of a sudden I’m a film reviewer- and here I thought I was just a location scout ;-)

    Moon Cake Screenshot
    Moon Cake Screenshot

    Rabbit's Moon screenshot
    Rabbit’s Moon Screenshot

    RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    Wayfaring.com

    Wayfaring.com is a maps mashup that allows you to create maps with routes and waypoints. This could be useful for a location scout to coordinate logistics for a project involving several locations during the course of a day.

  • My Wayfaring Profile
  • Best of Wayfaring
  • RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    Mapsack Widget

    Here is a way to imbed your Flickr photos on your website using the Mapsack Flickr Widget, which could be useful for a location scout wishing to present locations to a client at the same time illustrating said locations’ geographic postion(s).

    You will need a Flickr account (and some photos in that account that have been geotagged).

    Unless you have some experience working with Wordpress don’t bother. If you have no idea what the term “javascript” means, then don’t bother.

    Use the links and info given in this post to explore for yourself and complete your project to your own end. DO NOT contact me for support and please understand that I accept no responsibility for anything you do (or undo) to your website playing around with any of these toys. Otherwise- have fun!

    feed MapSack Blog

    RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    Wikimapia

    More of me playing around with online maps and geotagging, from the Wikimapia FAQ:

    Wikimapia is a Web 2.0 project to describe the whole planet Earth. It was created by Alexandre Koriakine and Evgeniy Saveliev, inspired by Google Maps and Wikipedia.”

    read more


  • My Wikimapia Profile
  • feed SimplePie: Weblog and Links
    • OpenID for comments | Friday, 15 May 2009, 9:02 pm
      We’re now supporting a technology called OpenID for comments. What does that mean for you? It means that you can sign-in and comment on our blog wit. […]
    • New SimplePie Screencasts | Saturday, 28 February 2009, 3:51 pm
      It would appear that this is the season for SimplePie screencasts! In the past two days, I’ve discovered a few new SimplePie-related screencasts, an. […]
    • Deprecating SimplePie Live! | Friday, 20 February 2009, 9:14 pm
      Although SimplePie Live! was a cool concept, and something that I would have liked to see be successful, I simply haven’t had the time to put into i. […]

    RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    Art Installation in New York City

    I recently worked on finding a location for a very interesting art/marketing project in New York City for Lexus.

    Jane Stuart of HomeworkPeople and I worked with World Financial Center (NYC) for Inform Ventures, LLC (Los Angeles) to provide a location for the installation, which was created by nARCHITECTS (NYC).

  • More details here.
  • -RH

    RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    NJ Offering Financial Incentives For Filmmakers

    From the New Jersey State Film Commission:

    New Jersey currently offers these financial incentives to filmmakers, and the US Government has an incentive program as well:

    20% TAX CREDIT PROGRAM

    New Jersey offers a tax credit in an amount equal to 20% of qualified production expenses, available to production companies meeting certain criteria, chiefly:

    (1) At least 60% of the total expenses of a project, exclusive of post-production costs, will be incurred for services performed and goods used or consumed in New Jersey

    (2) Principal photography of a project commences within 150 days after the approval of the application for the credit

  • NEW JERSEY FILM TAX PROCESS GUIDELINES
  • PRINTABLE APPLICATION FOR NEW JERSEY FILM TAX CREDIT (IN ADOBE PDF FORMAT)
  • EXEMPTION FROM NEW JERSEY’S 6% SALES TAX

    Certain tangible property used directly and primarily in the production of films and television programs is exempt from New Jersey’s 6% sales tax. This tangible property includes the purchase of replacement parts for machinery, tools and other supplies, the purchase of lumber and hardware to build sets, the rental of picture cars, the purchase or rental of other types of props, and costs related to the repair of camera and lighting equipment. To view the entire law, click here:

  • LAW GRANTING FILMMAKERS SPECIAL EXEMPTION FROM 6% STATE SALES TAX
  • EXEMPT USE CERTIFICATE (FORM ST-4) AND INSTRUCTIONS
  • THE NEW JERSEY FILM PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

    The Film Production Assistance Program allows film projects to be eligible for loan guarantees through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Guaranteeing a portion of loans made by other lenders encourages these lenders to finance projects they might not ordinarily finance on their own.
    Loan guarantees cannot exceed 30% of the bank financing cost of the project, or $1.5 million, whichever is less.

    Until now, most film industry projects did not meet EDA eligibility requirements because the jobs they created were temporary. The new law expands the criteria for the EDA’s loan guarantee program so qualifying film production companies can participate.

    The legislation sets important criteria for eligibility:
    - At least one-half of material and production costs must be spent in New Jersey.
    - At least 70% of shooting days must take place in the state.

    - Prevailing wage must be paid to workers employed in the project to be financed.

    - The project must possess performance bonds.

    Application forms are now available. For additional information, follow the links below:

  • LAW CREATING THE NEW JERSEY FILM PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
  • PRINTABLE APPLICATION FOR NEW JERSEY FILM PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
  • (IN ADOBE PDF FORMAT)
  • WEBSITE FOR NEW JERSEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
  • NATIONAL TAX INCENTIVE PROGRAM

    The American Jobs Creation Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 22nd, 2004, offers tax breaks to film and television producers.

  • DETAILS ON AMERICAN JOBS CREATION ACT
  • RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    New York Location Scouts to Lose Scouting Tag Priveleges

    MOFTB: Scouting Tag Program Discontinued

    “May 23, 2006- Effective June 30, 2006, the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting will no longer issue production scouting tags and all existing scouting tags will expire. Due to the success of the “Made in NY” tax incentive program, the City has accomplished its goal of attracting increased production business and employment for New Yorkers who work in the entertainment industry. In an effort to balance the needs of production and the communities in which they work, the MOFTB will no longer issue scouting tags. Easing the impact of parking upon neighborhoods will serve to keep locations film friendly, and allow the City to attract even more employment for our local entertainment professionals. The MOFTB will continue to issue tags to essential production vehicles with the shooting permit.”

    Cinematical | NYC Cuts Film Industry Perk | Posted Jun 13th 2006 8:01PM by Christopher Campbell | Filed under: Newsstand

    “Just when the city of New York is enjoying a surge in film production, hopefully cutting down on movies set in NYC but shot in Canada, a new decision is pissing off a lot of people in the movie business.”

    read more

    The Reeler | Tag, You’re Out: NYC Location Scouts’ Parking Perks Revoked | June 13, 2006

    “AM New York’s Chuck Bennett today has the “latest” on the troubles affecting New York’s location scouts, whose liberal, city-sanctioned parking privileges will expire June 30–never to return. The news is kind of old–the Mayor’s Office for Film, Theater and Broadcasting made the announcement May 23–but in case you wanted to hear location scouts bitching on the record, here you go:”

    read more

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060614/ap_en_mo/film_scout_parking_2 (dead link) | By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 13, 8:11 PM ET

    “NEW YORK - Film scouts trolling New York City for its picturesque stoops and street corners won’t be free to park wherever they want now that officials are halting a special parking-permit program.”

    I was interviewed by phone today (but evidently, not quoted by name) by Sara Kugler from WABC-Radio in New York City. Here is some of what we discussed and points I tried to make:

    Looks like we location scouts might be losing our location scouting tag priveleges come July.

    “And what exactly is a location scouting tag privelege?”, you say?

    Well… upon completing a New York City filming permit application at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcast (MOFTB), requesting scouting tag(s) and approval of MOFTB, location scout(s), (for the duration of time allotted on the permit) have considerable leeway and freedom to park anywhere in the five boros in order to see locations with potential for use in their production.

    This is indeed a gift in a city the size and density of New York. Public parking is scarce at best and fraught with not only arcane parking restrictions, but sometimes those arcane parking restrictions are obscured further by the fact that the parking signs that contain those arcane parking restrictiction are, in fact, often absent, whether it be by theft/vandalism, perhaps having been in a spot where an auto accident occurred… there are a lot of reasons a parking sign could be missing in a town the size of NYC.

    The location scouting tag basically gives you the privelege to park wherever you can (with the intention of performing your duties as a location scout), provided you dont place human life in jeopardy (i.e. obvious no-no’s like parking in front of a firehouse driveway, or in an ambulance exitway) and be immune to the city’s ubiquitous “Brownies” (NYPD Traffic Enforcement) and the quite pricy parking citations they are employed to hand out (the last parking ticket I got some years back cost something like $85). If you receive a ticket, you turn it in with your scouting tag- it goes away.

    Doctors and foreign diplomats, as well as some members of the press (this could be an incomplete list) are eligible for many of these same priveleges.

    Alas, reports of abuses as well as the fact (per the excerpted article above) that the city has achieved its filming incentive goals combined with the undebatable fact that parking in New York is scarce in the first place may spell the end to scouting tag priveleges for NYC location scouts.

    I had a scouting tag once; I was working on a feature film, 9A several years go. The shooting schedule was tight, we were facing significant challenges regarding fulfilling locations required by the script, including scouting for night shots (at night) in what most would consider “less than desirable” parts of town; the scouting tag helped. A lot.

    Another argument for continuing the scouting tag privelege in NYC:

    New York is a world-class city. Some of the world’s most famous films (including tv shows, commercials, videos and photgraphs) have been made in NYC.

    As a location scout, one of the reasons you live in the NYC area is to have an opportunity to work on projects of this caliber.

    It is not unreal to assume that you could, in fact, find yourself driving around NYC (showing locations) in the same car together with an Oscar-winning director or acclaimed director of photography, a producer you just read about in a tabloid and a bazillion-dollar net-worth executive producer or financier, with the power between them to give the nod or say no to bringing $100 million or more in jobs or business to the city. (This is “economic development”. It’s good for cities. Production is good at that. And production doesnt pollute the air and water.) Anyway, I am sure you can see the motivation to let these people feel special and get their jobs done quickly and easily.

    In contrast, the film industry has changed a lot in the past few years, nowadays, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller budget films in production in New York each year, thanks to the advent of the internet and digital imaging, which have effectively taken content distribution out of the hands of a few big-money players and put it into the hands of anyone with a passion to tell a story and can afford a camera, a crew, talent and their locations. Individually, these types of productions dont always spend that much, but as the sum of the parts, this group represents a sizable chunk of change in New York’s annual production income. It is this group that will be most affected by the scouting tag change, as they will have to figure into their budgets that their scouts will either have to pay for parking or for parking tickets. New York is already a fairly expensive town just to exist in, period; discontinuing the location scouting tag privelege could be one of many ways that production might have an incentive to go elsewhere. This is what is known as “runaway production”

    It’s a couple of more weeks till the scouting tag priveleges are scheduled to go away. It’s been good.

    RH | GeoURL | NAC | Plazes | Dipity | outside.in | Mapufacture | Post Map


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    Google Directory - Location Services

    Top: Business: Arts and Entertainment: Media Production: Location Services

  • North West Vision Funding, help and support provided to filmmakers in North West England.
  • Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio Western town studio and film location, complete with 12, 000 square ft. sound stage. Props and set dressings available on site.
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    Movie Maker Magazine Article

    Note: The following is a draft of “Securing A Great Location”, published in Moviemaker Magazine’s 2005 Beginner’s Guide To Making Movies

    MovieMaker Magazine | Securing a Great Location | By © R. Richard Hobbs 2004

    Chances are, before too much time goes by, you, as a film maker, will be forced to reckon with venturing out of the cozy, controllable confines of a studio/soundstage and into that great wild beyond known as a location.

    If you are a director, your job, (among a plethora of other tasks, of course!), is to think of creative ways to bring a story to life visually.

    If, like me, you are a part of the locations department (location scout and/or location manager), your job is to help the creative team toward this end, and while hopefully thinking equally as creatively and presenting actual real-world location possibilities, at the same time you are obligated to pay quite a bit more attention to the practicality, logistics and nuts and bolts of actually pulling the shot off at the location(s) you might suggest and following up on same.

    Depending on your budget and/or method of working, even though your title may be Director, Assistant Director, Production Manager or even Executive Producer, you may be required to deal with some of the issues yourself that by rights are normally the Locations Department’s; in any case a little “cross-training ;-) ” and insight into what some of the other crew does cant be any less than a good thing!

    All this said, my story will attempt to offer some useful information toward securing the perfect location from the locations department’s point of view.

    As mentioned before, (the aesthetics aspects notwithstanding), there are a number of practical aspects to consider when choosing a location. What follows is by no means complete, but here are a few items in no special order:

    Does the location you are considering work from all technical & logistical points of view? Some questions to ask yourself:

    Where will I put all those trucks and people?

    Is there room for (if not normally legal, then permitted) parking? It is imperative that you or someone from your crew scout the area adjacent to the set beforehand to make sure there is room and to be sure that room is not in front of a hydrant, fire department or bus stop, etc.

    If parking is “tight “ (in high demand) you need to be sure that parking will in fact exist when your crew arrives! Having a permit to park there is one thing, actually “owning” the parking space(s) is another! (As we all know possession is 99% of the law;-)

    In New York City (where I work) there are specialists called Parking Coordinators or Coneheads (for the orange cones they put out). Hire them.

    You need to be sure you can meet the electrical requirements of your shoot. Be sure there is sufficient house power or you can get your genny truck close enough, and be sure you have sufficient electrical cable in any case!

    Is there holding? (a comfortable place to “hold” people while they are not on set) If you are using SAG actors, a requirement is that they have a separate, private area for changing clothes. Be sure there is air conditioning or heat if the weather requires it!

    Does the location work logistically?

    Be careful with scheduling! If you are shooting a scene on one side of town in the morning and it takes an hour to drive to the second set, another hour to set up and then an hour of shooting, you are probably already into meal penalties. Try to find locations close to each other when scheduling scenes to be shot/ talent on call on the same day.

    Is there room to work?

    The most gorgeous room in the world is useless is there is not enough room to get the camera/dolly/lights/actors in there for the angles needed to make the shot.

    What if it rains?

    Do you have a “Plan B” in your pocket? Be careful with weather and cancellations of locations, talent and equipment. It can get expensive.

    Is there light there?

    Is there the correct lighting for the mood you are trying to achieve (or can you make it?) A location can look significantly different on a cloudy day from the day you scouted it and there was daylight streaming thru the branches casting patterns on the ground!

    Are you absolutely sure you have permission to be there?

    Does the owner understand that it won’t just be someone with a camcorder stopping by for a few moments? We become so used to our own world that it sometimes ceases to occur to us that people outside the film industry most often have (or have any reason to have an) inkling about what is actually involved in making a film. You need to be straightforward and accurate about all those trucks, equipment and people that will be showing up for 12-14 hours.

    You should have also prepared in advance a synopsis of the story and the specific scene(s) you are shooting and explain this in detail to the owner. Sure, we love our story, but everybody has their own views and what seems perfectly normal to us may seem controversial or blatantly offensive to someone else (for no apparent reason to us) yet it is they that will have to live with being associated with the film. This is a very large, diverse, very politically correct world we live in today!

    You should always use a property release form and get it signed by the location owner. A property release, in a nutshell, is written permission for you to depict a property to the public on film. Without it, you may leave yourself open to claims of invasion of privacy or other damages. Just do a Google for “property release”, there are standard forms around you can use.

    You should always find out beforehand if there are any local or municipal permits or fees required where you are filming and comply fully with those requirements. A local film office, the city clerk or police department for a given municipality should be able to tell you what, if any filming permit requirements may exist.

    Q: What could suck worse than finding out you don’t have time or money for a permit? A: Getting your production shut down in mid-shoot because you don’t have a permit.

    There a few other general suggestions I might offer that may help you in your quest for the perfect location:

    Never underestimate the power of a film office!

    Local film offices are some of the most underutilized FREE resources available to film makers. A film commission can get you “in” places you could never touch on your own. They have the credibility of being associated with government plus can be an advocate for your project! They can be a godsend if you are filming outside your home turf- They most often have listings of local crew and location ideas for you. They know the local customs and any permit requirements that may exist! Be nice to film offices!

    If you want to find out if there is a film office in your area try here first: www.afci.org

    Leave time for permitting/getting permissions

    I can’t begin to tell how many great locations have been aborted (or lost!) because there was insufficient time allowed to get permission or secure permits. This malady seems to especially afflict film makers just starting out for some reason (?).

    Q: Hey, can you get me and my crane on a rooftop in NYC to shoot tonite?

    A: Sorry, ain’t gonna happen, bubba.

    If time is tight one option may be to use a location agency. These are people/companies (often scouts or location managers) that have an archive of existing pictures of locations that have often been previously used (or scouted and not used for one reason or another) Sometimes time can be saved this way, but don’t expect miracles- permissions must still be obtained and fees negotiated on your behalf.

    Do you have insurance?

    I personally won’t go on a shoot or book locations for a production without insurance. You should have a minimum $1,000,000 (standard now actually seems to be $2,000,000) commercial liability policy that allows for additional insurance of third parties. If you are using payroll and have employees then you should have workmen’s comp. Some locations require proof of this.

    Use the right tool for the job!

    You wouldn’t use a screwdriver to drive in a nail (or maybe you would ;-) ! Anyway, hire a location scout/manager! We are there for u!

    Adios, good luck and p.s. please invite me to the Oscar Party!

  • My Movie Maker Maker Magazine Profile


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    Film Producer / Wikipedia

    Film producer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | Film producer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Movie producer)

    “A film producer is a person who creates the conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, coordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fundraising, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors. The producer is involved throughout all phases of the filmmaking process from development to completion of a project.”

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    Garden State grows production tax incentive

    The Hollywood Reporter’s Entertainment Industry Columns - Entertainment Industry Articles - Entertainment Business Columns and Articles (offline) : Feb. 15, 2006 | Garden State grows production tax incentive | By Borys Kit

    “New Jersey’s film industry — even though it had to compete with the growing proliferation of tax credits in other locales around the country — had prospered in recent years. As far as film and TV production were concerned, the Garden State appeared to be blooming. For example, 2004 was a banner year for New Jersey, as a record 868 projects, 90 of them features, brought $83 million into the state.”

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    Production Weekly

    Production Weekly

    “Production Weekly provides the entertainment industry with a comprehensive breakdown of projects in pre-production, preparation, and active development for film and television.”

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    Baseline Hollywood

    Baseline Hollywood

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    “Baseline StudioSystems is the world’s preeminent provider of film and television information. Baseline’s flagship product is The Studio System, a subscription database of premium film and television information.”

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