Would you rent your house out to a film crew?
Do you live in a town where some residents make large sums of money by renting their homes out to production companies that film movies, commercials and the like? Sounds like a great opportunity, right? My town earns a fee every time a production company comes to town.
Our doorbell has been rung four different times by a scout looking for the “perfect” location to film. I never had to make up my mind how I really felt about the whole thing since we never ended up being the “perfect” location; however, I can say that every time this scout rang our bell or left a phone message then stopped by, I invited him in, he made his pitch, took a few photos and then he asked to use our toilet. I showed him where our bathroom was the first time, but the next three times he didn’t need any direction at all. He remembered. After each of his visits I scrubbed the toilet thoroughly and completely. I’m like that. If you know me, you know I speak the truth.
No benefit to loaning my toilet.
Not too long ago the same scout left a phone message asking if he could stop by to look at our house again. I didn’t return call number five. Call me slow but after mulling it over for a while I am convinced our home is just a pit stop and I’m tired of cleaning the toilet thoroughly and completely every time the scout leaves.
Anyway, I digress. I’m sure it is exciting and lucrative if you are the homeowner who is hosting the filming; however, for the rest of us, your neighbors, it’s not much fun at all.
Today I woke up to large white trucks idling in my next-door-neighbor’s driveway; the street choked with out-of-state cars, trucks and vans; a police officer who was supposed to be directing traffic sitting in his car instead; and vehicles parked veryclose to the end of all the driveways in the area. In addition, it was pouring rain.
Some of the crew's vehicles.
Ready, set, ACTION!
Guess what? A production company is filming at my next-door neighbor’s house today. We did not receive notification ahead of time (as our local ordinance states we should and as we typically do) so I was completely unprepared for the mayhem and foolishness a shoot brings to our neighborhood. Even though we are an “experienced neighborhood” (Our across-the-street neighbors have hosted at least five production company shoots over the years they’ve lived in their house.), I still like to be notified ahead of time so I can plan accordingly. For example, we wouldn’t have scheduled the Verizon repairman to come today. The poor repairman who fixed our dead telephone line had zero visibility into and out of our driveway and no help from the cop who was hired to direct traffic (the cop sat in his car out of the rain instead).
Anyway, I stayed away as long as I could, but once I was home again. I noticed a few things:
(1) The spotlight trained on my next-door neighbor’s side window throws off a lot of light; my kitchen is bathed in reflected glory.
No need to turn on the lights in my kitchen today.
(2) The big white truck that’s parked about 6” from one of my large holly trees was idling its engine when I left at 9:30 a.m. and it’s still idling at 5 p.m.; what are the odds that the heat from the truck’s engine will scorch the holly branches next to it?
Will the holly trees be scorched by the heat off the truck's radiator?
(3) Men, working men, talk in really loud voices; it sounds like these guys are in my kitchen, standing next to me.
Gee, I wonder if it’s a two-day shooting schedule?
Adventures of a Middle Age Mom 