Hi - I have a production tomorrow morning and the producer just revealed that they will exceed the booking total. I know it has been discussed here how to charge for entering a new tier if the guest brings more people but is there any advice on how to get ahead of this? They are definitely exceeding my listed tier (over 19) and looks very likely that they will exceed my listed capacity (25) My space is large enough to accommodate more people but I need to know exactly what to expect before authorizing to waive my capacity. The producer just gave me a “running list” (not a total) and said that there will be at least 22 people and that some are just there for part of the booking “stopping by” / or “to do a task” and that they thought the attendee number meant the number of people in the space at any given time. Some of these people include a team of professional piano movers that they hired to move my baby grand piano, not a small “task”. I do not know if some hosts allow this way of calculating, but I have it stated in my listing and communicated in the message thread with the producer that my expectation is that the number of attendees reflects the total number of people associated with their production who may enter the space for any period of time, not just any given time and that everyone needs to be accounted for on the booking. My understanding is that this is industry standard and standard on Peerspace.
The producer has also told me that they are “telling people not to come to set” to try and minimize the number of attendees. I am not comfortable with this because those people are still part of their shoot and I don’t know what that looks like. I have had people tell me this before and it only makes it awkward that there are people nearby or parked outside and that they ultimately do come on set for a period of time. I am not comfortable with people milling around outside my property nor do I want to be in the position of catching undisclosed people tomorrow.
This is turning into a shoot I feel will well exceed my capacity – it involves a major celebrity and in my experience every time that comes with more assistants, managers, guests etc that they guest is not accounting for.
Has anyone navigated anything similar? Thank you.
UPDATE – I submitted changes for the next tier, and after a long period they accepted, though I am not certain what to do if they exceed capacity on set…
The renter is either very inexperienced ( maybe toss it up to age) or the person is trying to ease you into a lot more people. Being that he or she told you of only 3 extra people (SO FAR) I think you should expect 10 or so more people. When someone is booking , I confirm the amount of people “entering “ my property. Since it’s a large property, a lot of people think that they can have a blow out party here. Technically it could have a hundred but it’s the volume of vehicles coming into neighborhood that’s a concern. Doing this ( Peerspace) you have to verify that the renters are actually professional and not the kind that advertise parties on social media. Although it’s doubtful that your renter is having a party ( it’s just the worst case scenario) its the reason why I will never offer my space for parties.
Hi Sharon, thanks for reading my topic. The renter is indeed young though it is a professional person on behalf of a professional production, not a party so they should know how many people the have hired ahead of time and be responsible for any potential additional people as I have made clear. I am now feel very uncomfortable, I am not sure what to do. I have requested the accurate price on Peerspace and are refusing to pay it and they are now wanting me to discuss off platform with their senior producer whom they have been referring to throughout as someone who will or will not approve budget etc. Obviously it is none of my business what they communicate with each other – my pricing and expectations are made clear. What they have done here is low-balled me my misrepresenting the booking to receive a different price putting me in an unfair and vulnerable position in my home.
The truth is, the price they owe is VERY fair for this size and scope of production in downtown Manhattan and they of course can authorize the changes instantly, it is ridiculous what they are doing.
UPDATE – I submitted changes for the next tier, and after a long period they accepted, though I am not certain what to do if they exceed capacity on set…
I don’t know what your listing says but mine says ( among many things) that if law enforcement needs to be called, the booking is cancelled and no refund will be granted. While your event probably wouldn’t amount to that, my listing says a lot of things to protect me. If it’s not listed, so many people will try to get around it. Professionals will bend over backwards if there’s a problem with the host, they could be shady or they can just have no experience, wisdom comes with age. Definitely do not take any conversations off of Peerspace. When I have had people want to call me , that’s a red flag. You can even say that keeping correspondence on Peerspace protects both of you ( which is true). Sometimes newbies don’t know how to handle the ins and outs of renting a production space and don’t have the bigger picture.
Expect the worst and hope for the best.
I would go ahead and invent another couple of tiers above your current max and make them relatively expensive. Inform the producer of the potential extra charges for exceeding the booking numbers and that the charges will be enforced based on the total people they CHOOSE to allow into the space. Yes, celebrities can be a PITA with bringing entourage etc. but that’s ultimately the producer’s job to handle or accommodate them, not yours. Put a dollar amount on it and make the producer decide how to handle it. Are they going to accommodate the much larger budget or are they going to put their foot down with the celebrity and cap the number of people.
You should put in your listing/rules that if a booking goes over your maximum capacity you charge additional money. We charge an additional $250 but you have to show Peerspace that they went over your maximum capacity.
I usually give the guest a warning during their booking that they need to remove people and if they don’t then the additional charges get submitted.
Hi Justine and Geo! Thank you both! Stressful day. It is comforting to know that others have had some sticky situations. Fingers crossed that tomorrow will not be so tense in the end
