United States of America
Film Locations. The US offer a world of unique and international location looks of many epochs. New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami, Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, New Orleans, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Texas are but a few cities and states famous for their locations. Other film locations of note include Hollywood, Grand Canyon, Mid-Western towns, national parks, salt plains, deserts, surf beaches, coastal villages, sporting arenas, snowy mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, waterfalls, stunning car roads, farms and ranches, famous architecture, museums, skyscrapers, mansions, suburbs, inner city slums, Disney World, and the list goes on.
Los Angles, New York, Miami, San Francisco and Chicago are the most established production centres.
Permits. Theoretically, most locations are possible given money, lead up time and insurance coverage. Permitting in the US is on the whole very film friendly and the process is well established and streamlined. Each local area has its own permitting rules however it is unusual to need more than 5 days advance notice. Many locations can be permitted in 1-2 days.
When to shoot? The US climate varies considerably depending on the region and time of year.
For monthly weather statistics please see here.
Los Angeles is particularly noteworthy for its year round stable and dry weather conditions.
Please contact us for more specific weather and sun path information.
Costs. The US is generally known to be one of the more expensive places to film in the world. Local costs are relatively high and much of the industry is unionized which can add considerably to the costs of production. Large cities are expensive and remote locations require additional travel costs. You would typically only shoot in the US if the project required it. Eg: Specific location or celebrity. There are of course ways to shoot projects with non-union crew / talent and adopt a more guerilla style approach to get the project done for a tight budget, without breaking the rules. Most suppliers are flexible and willing to negotiate competitve rates. The recent appreciation of most major currencies against the US dollar has reduced the cost of filming making now a good time to bring your next production to the US.
Talent. The US has a very deep, multicultural and multilingual pool of talent. Specialist agencies exist to supply every kind of possible talent from the unique to the generic. Many of the world's celebrities also live in the US.
Both SAG and non-union talent is available. The main costs and rules for talent buyouts are as follows:
SAG UNION:
One 8 hour performance day (Session) is $593
U.K. BUYOUT = 3 x $593
EUROPE = 2x
ASIA/PACIFIC = 1x
JAPAN = 1x
REST-OF-WORLD = 1x
WORLDWIDE = 8x (excludes US. You cannot buyout talent in the US)
INTERNET BUYOUT = 3x
PRINT = Print is included with SAG as the usage fees cover both broadcast and non-broadcast media. To get better talent, it's a good idea to offer a little more for print.
SAG buyouts are for 21 months except for internet which is for 1 year
*** The top end models, though not union, tend to follow the same rules.
NON UNION:
Always negotiable, depending on the level of talent. We try to get 1 year buyout for TV, Print, and Internet for a flat $500-$1000.
See here for some links to standard and unusual talent agencies:
Elite
IMG
Creative talent. The United States has an exceptional pool of directors, directors of photography and stills photographers.
Please contact us for recommended directors, DoP's and photographers for your project.
Crews. Both union and non-union options exist. The US offers some of the best crews in the world and an abundance of them. Although the professional standard is very high, working with union crews can be quite a inflexible experience. There is very little crossover between departments and strict overtime rules apply.
In the US, one of the main reason people join the Union is for Health Insurance. Because we do not have national health insurance, people get it from their employers and since most crew are free-lance, the Union provides their Health Insurance. So anyone who is any good and experienced end up joining the Union if for no other reason than the Insurance. It is possible to work Non-Union but those crew are generally much less experienced. Occasionally you can get Union people to work Non-Union, but when they do they still want to be paid under the same rules and roughly the same money. All you're saving by having a Union crew work non-Union is the roughly 5% you have to pay for his insurance benefit - but another disadvantage is even if you book someone, if they then get offered a Union job they will likely take that over your job - the way the Health benefits work is they are based on the amount of hours a crew member works so they are always looking for "Union hours".
Fringes. The P&W (pension and wages) is the payroll tax that the employer has to pay on top of the crew salaries. The percentages are different depending on what they make and whether they're union or non-union.
Both the employee and the employer have to pay:
Federal Taxes
State Taxes
Social Security
Medicare
Disability/Unemployment Insurance
Crew fringes, workers compensation, payroll tax, etc. averages to be between 22-30% for a blended rate of all crews and production staff. SAG Talent is closer to 36%. All crew payments are processed through a payroll service.
NON UNION – 22% PAYROLL TAXES - EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS.
UNION – 32.5%. EACH UNION IS DIFFERENT.
TALENT ALSO.
SAG TALENT 33.5%
NON UNION TALENT 22%
Premiums. Crew work on a 10 hour day, Meal time is not included in the 10 hours. Time and a half after 10 hours. Double time after 12 hours. So if someone makes $500 for 10 hours, he gets $50/hr for the first 10 hours, $75/hr for the 11th and 12th hour and $100 for any hour over 12. A 16 hour day can end up being very expensive - our $500 man would make $1050. There are a few other rules such as we have to stop and feed people at least every 6 hours, but the time spent at lunch is not calculated in his time. If we work from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, with an hour lunch, that's only an 11 hr day and our $500 man would make $575. We could start lunch any time between 12 and 1 without having to feed a 2nd meal. There is no limit to how long the work day can go. Turnaround time is 10 hours. Unions have holiday premiums. Any 5 days of work at standard rate pay, 6th day @ $1.5x pay, 7th day @ $2x pay. Non-union there is more room to negotiate. It is not unusual to negotiate 12 hour flat deals.
Union Talent is 8 hours, SAT $2x pay, SUN $2x pay
Equipment. The US has a great depth of suppliers offering all equipment imaginable. Highly specialized equipment is most likely found in Los Angeles and New York. See here for examples:
Arri
Panavision
Art department and set construction. The US offers the highest standard of art dept and construction as can be seen in the countless feature films produced throughout the country. The US has a plethora of experienced art directors, SPFX personnel, prop masters and riggers. Major set construction is very expensive versus some of the other options around the world but the quality is unmatched. All the major film studios have set and prop departments which rent to non-Studio productions, so we have resources at our disposal which are probably unrivaled in the world.
Studios and backlots. Many world class options to choose from. See here for examples:
Universal Studios
Tax Incentives. At present there are many different tax incentives for foreign
commercials and feature films shooting in various states throughout the US. Please contact us for specific locations.
Post Production. Very high standard. See here for examples:
Technicolor
Filmworks/FX
Visas and Work Permits. Entry is subject to regulations from country of origin. Contact your local US embassy or representative for more information.
Transportation Infrastructure. Well established network of roads. The US is serviced extensively by several domestic airlines. Most international airlines service flights to the US.
Accommodation. Many options to choose from. Hotels in major cities tend to be very expensive by world standards. Some hotel options in key production cities include:
Los Angeles:
Four Seasons
New York:
Chambers
Please contact us for corporate rates.
For longer stays we can also organize serviced apartments.
Communication. Web posted casting, scouting and videoconferencing.
Safety. The US is a very safe and reliable place for foreign productions to shoot.
Projects. For an example of TV commercials, online advertising, corporate videos, stills campaigns, feature films, TV series and documentaries shot in the US, please see below:
Our production service companies, line producers and fixers have serviced TV commercials, online advertising, corporate videos, stills campaigns, feature films, TV series and documentaries for:
AXA Belgium, BBC UK, Canon Singapore, Coca Cola Indonesia, Concord Canada, Dove Malaysia, Deutche Bank Germany, Dressman Sweden, Evian France, HBO USA, Heineken Ireland, Hyundai Korea, Intercontinental Hotels Global, ITC India, Kirin Japan, Kraft USA, Landrover UK, LG Korea, Meunil China, McDonalds Australia, MUFG Japan, Nikon Hong Kong, Nokia China, Orange Moblie Slovakia, Philips Netherlands, Proctor & Gamble USA, Chery Riich China, Rimowa Germany, Samsung Korea, Sinoland Hong Kong, Skipper Italy, Smirnoff USA, Sony United Arab Emirates, Stella Russia, Telefonica Spain, Vidal Sassoon China, Virgin Media UK, and much more.
If you are looking for a film or photographic production service company, line producer or fixer anywhere in the US, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
