I wouldn't do it. I'd be afraid the movie would take off or something and I'd have crazy fans ringing my doorbell or something!

Why not ask your neighbor if they would do it again? Do people drive by their "famous" house? Could it lead to loss of privacy? Sounds like it would be a very fun experience....

80 strangers on your property and in your house? No way!

Heard recently that the owners of the house used in the first season of American Horror Story have a major problem with fans.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5398553/American-Horror-Story-fans-use-truck-Murder-House.html

Lynn, here's a pretty good article on things to expect and pricing.

http://amp.timeinc.net/time/money/4693622/movie-tv-homes-earn-money

Hi Lynn: We frequently have movies and TV programs filmed in our neighborhood. I agree with the above poster - definitely ask your neighbor how the experience went for them. And be prepared: they will house the extras and the folks waiting to go on camera in your upstairs rooms. So they may use the whole house even if they only film in one or two rooms. At least that's how it was explained to me when a scout spoke to me. And be prepared for damage. I was told they protect the floors but I've heard people end up with scratched floors and other damage. Having said all that, people allow their beautiful homes to be used all the time so I imagine it all works out or they wouldn't keep filming this way. Please let us know what you decide. If you go ahead with it, I would love to see the movie!

I would do it because I am a star struck type and I would be giddy over the whole thing.

My friend’s brother’s house was used for a commercial. I think it was only one day so less of an inconvenience, but they said it was fun.

There will be/should be a contract, liability waivers, and insurance they provide that names you and any entity that owns the house as the insured. I’d run it past your homeowners ins. They will (maybe) be moving your furniture, and who knows what.

We rented a guesthouse to a movie production co. near L.A., and they agreed to every condition we could come up with, including having a family member there all day during filming. Yes, it was cool, my brother did get to meet and chat with a very nice famous actor. I believe they paid something around $3,000 per day, if memory serves, and it was 2 or 3 days. But you’ve got a big house.... and more disruption.

I have no advice to offer, but as a die-hard Breaking Bad fan, I’d love to know which episodes were filmed at your neighbor’s house. I’m with Funkyart on this:if it’s truly good cinema, not just a film, I’d be tempted to do it, but how would you know ahead of time? Who’s the director? That might sway me, more than the actors.

Sounds like a wonderful adventure! Enjoy!

Nuts: I have not seen even one episode of “Breaking Bad” or “Better Call Saul”, but my son and daughter have. It was not in the first season, not any sketchy house or locale. I was told it was supposed to be some drug lord’s very nice compound. You saw in at least one episode, a gorgeous built-in pool with mountain desert in the distance. There was gun fire, too, because we neighbors were warned about it ahead of time, so we could keep our dogs inside and they wouldn’t freak out or start barking.

I say go for it. Then you can tell us all about your experience so we can live it vicariously.

DD was a film major at Columbia and after graduation she worked on several films that were shot in the Philadelphia area. Some were at museums or other institutions in the city, a few were in private homes, one was a mansion on the Main Line. She volunteered to fill in where needed in order to learn as much as possible. She did everything from tracking props, to continuity to costumes to dialog coach but she mentioned that she helped move furniture and crystal while in the Main Line home. DD knew these were valuable objects and was careful but there were other crew members who weren't as responsible.

You definitely want a family member present while they are filming and a prepared list of conditions that they must agree to. Include anything you can think of. It's just a business to them but it is your home!

Have they told you who’s in it and what it’s about? That would probably influence my decision. At any rate, sounds like you’d make enough to fund a nice vacation , artwork, room redo.....

I’d do it. But then I’m fascinated with the filming process. I actually thought of listing our place with the film commission as a location simply because there isn’t much MCM in ABQ and I thought there might be an occasional demand for it. The hard part would be the dogs — not sure where we would all go together, and I’d likely end up boarding them, which isn’t really fair to them.

Four-plus days means you’ll get more bang for your disruption. I think I’d probably box up anything truly valuable myself — but then I probably only have one or two boxes worth of things “truly valuable.”

Yeah, I'd do it! I really doubt it would become a famous landmark; that seems very unlikely given all the movies. Box up your valuables and go for it.

Homeland was filmed around here the first two years, and the Brody home was near where I go to the Y. They also filmed literally in my classroom. S2 E1 Carrie (Claire Danes) is teaching an ESL class and it's the classroom where I teach the most, LOL. So, that's the closest I've been. I did not see her, but my coworker did. We were told to stay away from the filming area, sadly, and it was in the summer when I am not on campus on a regular basis. We have another doorway to access our offices from the hallway, so we had to use that one vs. the main door.

I would do it for the experience/story BUT I worked in film briefly and most film people would not volunteer their own homes. You can expect them to use your home pretty hard, not deliberately malicious but just picture 80 people and cords and camera dollies and lighting everywhere. Bringing in their own furniture and stacking paintings elsewhere, Wall and floor dings are not uncommon. It’s a workplace to them. For me, my house isn’t sacred to me and I think I would find it really fun so the trade off would be worth it. Also, they should put in the work to return your residence to its original condition.

Another consideration is neighbors, as you know from your neighbour’s shoot, Parking can be huge with big trucks, trailers and several other vehicles cluttering up your street. Depending on size of production.

My ex, who worked on those film sets, said absolutely not- no- never. He said they're extremely rough on the houses.

It "sounds" like fun but I am thinking about how much you love your house and your things. How would you really feel about set designers moving your things around and dozens of people tramping around your house with filming equipment?

Robo makes a really good point about the impact on neighbors. I suspect you have a lot more space around you than I do. I can just see the equipment parked on my little suburban circle. I would have to have a little chat with each household!

In your case, I think it would be fun. As for potential damage, surely that's gotta be covered in their insurance and your written agreement, right?

Your toilets will get a workout. Why is it that every worker at my house needs to poop?

No, not me. We are kind of private peeps as it is and our home is our haven. To me it would be an intrusion.

A family in a nearby neighborhood did this; the owner said it was a great experience all the way around. She once stopped at my house to admire my wisteria-covered pergola, and when I found out that she lived "in the movie house" as we all called it, we talked about the filming. She said they got paid (a lot), the crew was very nice, the process was fascinating, and they left the place even nicer than they found it, and afterwards cleaned it to a fare-thee-well. She loved every minute of it. (The movie was "Random Hearts" with Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas.)

Thank you so much for all of your thoughts on this! My head was spinning yesterday with all the 'What-if's" and the details. I'm still deciding. The location manager contacted me again this morning and they're very interested in our place. I told him that it would come down to (1) impacting my neighbors as little as possible. Yes, we all have 2-3 acres each, but one curvy little road that all our long driveways come off of. (2) Filming here and getting finished in time for it to not impact our trip to visit our son and DIL, and go to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta at the end of next month. And (3) whether the monetary compensation would be worth the hassle. I'll keep you posted.

I think it would be fun and exciting. I’d remove all my irreplaceables and let them know, you break it, you replace it. I’d probably come out ahead. In fact, if you decide not to, Lynn, send them over to my house. I’ll work on my neighbors.

My concern would be that actors that I don't care for would be in my home.

I'd be just fine with George Clooney. :)

Do you know the type of movie? Low budget or high? Love story or horror film? Does it matter to you if there is gore and guts or if it's X-rated?

I'd add a "no smoking inside" clause to the contract.

Might be fun, I like adventures.

Maddie, excellent point about no-smoking inside.

Is it X-rated? God forbid! That would be beyond horrible! No, it’s a well known big production company. I do know the name of the show, I don’t feel comfortable mentioning it as yet. I have no idea about the actors, because I honestly don’t pay much attention to those kind of things but of course I would if they were filming here. Remember me telling you all that when they were filming a couple episodes of Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston used to walk down in front of my house talking on his cell phone. I had no idea who he was. And still have never watched even one episode of the show, but it was kind of interesting.

I just got off the phone with my best friend’s son who is part-time actor, and he walked me through a lot of what I could expect. Very interesting! The one thing that really sticks in my mind is they work on a “hurry up and wait” kind of way. In other words, I’d need to be prepared for each scene to take a long time to set up and then be filmed over and over again. One thing I know for sure, though, is that I would never want to be an actor! I’m admire those that do, but it’s definitely not for me! I still haven’t heard back from them with how much they would compensate us monetarily. That will be the big decider now, I think.

Lots of good information and suggestions from everyone. I don’t know if this has been mentioned but in some cases neighbors are compensated. Our driveway was used for parking and we received a gift certificate to the local grocery store. (TVprogram - lower budget). Will craft services be on site or off site? If on site, you could ask for impacted neighbors to be able to enjoy the food. I think in general film production crews know they need to keep good community relations and will make every effort to minimize disturbance to the neighbors and still get their job done.

I don't think I would do it. That's way too many people on my property and in my personal space.

Not that you need the money-but, they DO pay you pretty well it looks like, so if anything was scuffed up or anything, it's not like you'd be out the money for it, the hassle-probably. Surely, if something was damaged-they pay for that too. I'd do it for sure! I'm always up for things like that anyway, or...I would be if any come my way!

Oh, I'm exhausted! One preliminary photo shoot this afternoon already. The director and I'm not sure who else may be stopping by in the next hour. Of course, while my Doberman, Knight, and Tibbie, Sasha, were locked in our bedroom while they were taking pics, Knight managed to tear up Sasha's "baby", her stuffed bunny! Stuffing everywhere!!! Just got all of that cleaned up . . and myself, too. UGH!

I didn't read all the comments. Our prior home was in a town where a lot of filming occurred (within a certain radius of NYC the SAG rates are lower), as it had a good variety of housing stock from Victorian to Tudor to Georgian and Craftsman, and was very leafy almost midwest-small-town looking. I think I have posted about this before, but FWIW.

The first time we were approached I called the police because I thought it was odd, the location scout wrote us on plain white stationery, and he was touting a movie with someone we had never heard of. (Rounders with Matt Damon). I was actually laid up in the hospital at the time, so I said no. Turns out that was our best offer because it was just exterior shots, with our house standing in for a Princeton eating club.

We were later approached for the Mentalist and for Analyze That (sequel to Analyse This). One was for too long a duration, and the other they wanted to open up an archway that had been turned into a china cabinet. I did not want construction. When the house was on the market, Verizon wanted to do a commercial but we were living in our new house and I didn't want them there alone and it was too much trouble. I have heard the new owners have had our old pool filmed for something IDK what.

Friends who have done it have had mixed experiences, especially if there was any work done (repainting or the like). Problems with contractors, as you might imagine. If you know others who have done this, you may want to see what was in their contract if possible .... I think NY magazine had an article on this once too, if you can find it on line.

I think I'd do it as long as I could be there the entire time. It sounds like an interesting adventure.

It sounds like an interesting experience to me. But yes, as long as I could be there and have the proper contract provisions in place. Good luck!

I didn't even think about your poor babies!!! I would definitely consider how big an ordeal/change, etc. this would be for them.

We were asked for use of my previous home for a children's TV show. We had to pass. TV shows go on for a long time.

Well, another consideration that could benefit you twice; if you plan to sell down the line, if it is a popular movie, might be intriguing to and a selling point for potential buyers....

How exciting! I would do it in a heartbeat!

I would have in mind how much it is worth to me to have 3 days of disruption. If they offer that much, great. If they don’t, name your price. If they want to pay your price, great. If they don’t, adios.

Bbstx: that’s exactly what my conclusion to this whole thing is: it would actually be 4 days, possibly 5. I, frankly, don’t deal with high stress well, but I am a pretty laid back person most of the time. If what they offer me makes it worth the disruption of our homes and lives for those days, I’ll go for it. If not, I’ll walk away with no regrets. I’d be much more excited if someone like Ann Curry or Ellen DeGeneres wanted to use our place for a filming (LOL)!

If you do decide to do it, be aware that a notorious technique used by film crews when you tell them, "Just don't touch that lamp (or doorway or whatever)," is to have someone call you away to another part of the house with a lengthy question till they've either moved the object or started work to the point where they might was well finish (e.g. the arch mtn mentioned).

It's possible they'll make you an offer that is difficult to refuse. I'd expect more than $3k per day for your home.

Well, we may have hit a roadblock of sorts. Filming might need to be extended into the time when we will be away in Augusta visiting our son and DIL. This trip has been planned for months now, all reservations made, their work schedules rearranged to be off, and I won’t change it. But, I’m also not going to allow the film people in our home while we’re gone. We always have a housesitter here, but she does not want to be here during any filming, and responsible for watching over everything, and we don’t want that either. So, we’ll see. They love our views and our home. They’ve been through it and have many photos of it. If it doesn’t work out this time, they’ll probably call us back when, hopefully, it’s at a much better time for me. I should hear something back from them in the next few days.

I wouldn't do it.

Have they told you if they are using your interior as is ... or are they packing up EVERYTHING you own to put in their own set design.

Now that they know your place, it will be in the scout's database. Hold out for one where they only need exterior (that is very common), those are easiest!

An acquaintance had her house used for a commercial and one of the "props" was a real live ostrich that was trotted up and down their driveway!

I have rented to the film industry for years with nothing but great success. I say if you get a chance to do it, go for it. It’s a blast and you don’t have to lift a finger. Great money and lots of perks!

I think this is the coolest thing ever and would jump at the chance. I see you may have a scheduling conflict, so boo. But, I dunno, I see it as a great adventure and I would be telling every person I ever met MY HOUSE WAS IN A MOVIE!!! lol

I swear I'm not a total rube. For real!

LOL, no Lobby, you’re not “a total rube”! It does sound like it would be fun. Now that we’ve decided not to go with this coming shoot, I’m actually quite relieved. With our upcoming trip to visit our son and DIL, it would have put a lot of stress on DH and myself. But, they’ve taken a LOT of photos of both the inside and outside of our home and I’m pretty sure that we’ll be hearing from them again.

My house in Venice (inside and out) was used as a set for a TV pilot, and I was even asked to be in it, to which I agreed. There were no more than 25 people in the crew at any one time. My street was also used in the movie I Love You Man, but I got no compensation for that and parking was restricted. A good friend had his condo used in the movie Being John Malkevich. When I lived in Venice, film crews were everywhere, especially at the beach, probably doing a lot of commercials. Venice Beach is a popular filming location, and I lived on a trendy street (Abbot Kinney Blvd). I've also been in TV commercials, but I don't know if they ever aired, as they were for public education.

Cast parties are fun! Since you've decided against it, I won't give you any more advice.