Location Agreement
(Audiovisual Production, Short Form) (Pro-Production Company)

Summary

This is a short-form location agreement in which a property owner grants a production company the right to use the property as a location for filming a motion picture. It is drafted in terms more favorable to the production company. This template includes practical guidance, drafting notes, and an alternate clause. While studios and large production companies may have large facilities with enormous buildings, referred to as sound stages, that are used for film production in which both indoor and outdoor environments are created, companies engaged in film production commonly utilize already existing locations from city businesses and streets and neighborhood houses to wilderness and national parks. Especially, but not only, independent production companies often obtain significant production savings by using existing locations instead of building something new. Although it may seem daunting to use an existing location without inflicting damage, production companies are skillful at minimizing unintentional alterations from production activities. If there is damage, their skillful personnel can frequently implement repairs. As a last resort to negligence, insurance should be obtained to provide coverage. Whenever a production company ventures outside the studio environment to use a specifically identifiable location, it must take care to obtain any necessary consent and agreement from the owner of the location. For a public location, the production company will probably need to determine the appropriate political authority and obtain appropriate permits. If a private party is the owner of the location, the production company should ensure that it acquires the rights to use any parts of the location it needs and make necessary changes, as well as the right to portray the location in its motion picture. In some cases, if there are works of art situated in the location that will appear in the motion picture—or if certain aspects of the structure constitute artistic works—the production company must consider whether it is necessary to obtain separate releases from the creators of the works of art (who may be different from the owners of the location). For a collection of content related to motion picture production, see Motion Picture Production Resource Kit. For more on rights clearance and a sample release, see Rights Clearance, Rights Clearance Checklist, and Materials Release. For a pro-owner location agreement, see Location Agreement (Audiovisual Production, Long Form) (Pro-Owner). For additional guidance on motion picture production issues, see Motion Picture Production Agreements and Documents.