How the Process Works

We will use the example of a house location for a television commercial:

Step 1. An agency comes up with a campaign that is approved by a client.

Step 2. A director and production house is selected to bring the campaigns television commercial into a reality.

Step 3. The director and producer employ companies and freelancers to assist in their relevant departments.

Step 4. The locations department is briefed and an initial file pull is completed. This is a selection of images of locations that fit the brief and that the location manager has already sourced. This is an important area for the location manager to add value and quickly meet the brief. An approximate figure of 20 houses is provided of which around 5 are short listed for a survey.

Step 5. Director, producer and location manager survey the 5 locations that have been short listed.

Step 6. A location is selected.

Step 6a. No locations are selected and scouting occurs to find a suitable location until one is selected.

Step 7. The council and neighbours are informed of the production.

Step 8. A recce occurs which is a visit to the location by the heads of department to determine what is to be accomplished on the day and the most appropriate methods and actions that need to take place to ensure that the production runs to schedule with the highest of production values.

Step 9. The night before, security is placed around the house where parking spaces are reserved for our arrival in the morning.

Step 10. We arrive. Usually the caterer arrives with the location manager and the caterer prepares breakfast for the crews' arrival. A typical film day commences at 07:00 and finishes at 20:00.