Location Services
TV/TH Location Community,
Local 817 does not endorse or recommend the use of any location service.
We have known about multiple location services that have come and gone in the past, some still around and new ones will always pop up!
These location services service a purpose for commercials, still shoots and events. They don’t really help a seasoned TV/Theatrical Scout or larger location departments, maybe in a pinch they could give some ideas or leads but rarely used.
For their model to work they need an exclusivity contract with the location and many do not have this but instead claim they do. If you are having an issue with a service claiming to have an exclusivity contract, simply ask to see it.
In the past when I ran into services claiming jurisdiction over a location I found years ago, I showed them my long history with the location and we came up with a remedy. If I happen to need their service and get a contact through their site, they could claim the introduction and property owner would have to pay them out of the location fee. If I found the location on my own, by knocking on doors or leaving residents letters, the property owners got to keep the entire location fee.
I think you will find that the property owners would prefer to keep the entire location fee and not give a percentage to a service, which really does nothing but post pictures on their website.
Now as far as sharing your location contacts and photos with any service, we highly believe this is short sighted and could lead to issues for your brother and sister scouts. Do not contribute to any location service in anyway.
I’m not against using location services. They do have a place and I count Debbie Regan as a very good friend. I did a show in Jersey last year and I scouted a dozen of her mansions. But I realize that using a service means we are taking work away from scouts, which is ok when it’s very busy. But Backlot is trying to force us to use them by getting exclusives on locations that require us to go through them and most of these are simple locations to find. And very often these services do a half assed job because they are so anxious to do a “sale”. and we can’t organize them. That is not how the teamsters work. Amanda was a member and she has withdrawn.