Today I’m hosting a film shoot for 4 hours, and I have a question about guests arriving early to set up. My guest wrote
“So i cant come there at 5:30 to setup?
Every studio in the world gives 30min early check-in”
This guy has rescheduled on me, the night before his booking, TWICE. I have never had anyone push me on this before, and I of course offered him to come in early for an extra fee.
Is this true? Do spaces allow for people to come in early to set up? For FREE?
I’ve booked spaces before and that has never been the case as far as I know, unless they would have let me if I asked, which I didn’t as I’m scheduling with the setup time included.
I’ve had a fair few bookings and they always come exactly on time or late, and set up - no hassle. Do I need to put something about this in my description?
Not true. Their time comes starting when they enter or when they’re booked–whichever comes first. Rental includes set-up and break down. You might add it to your rules just to be clear. But that’s the rule in general. If they had a 12 hour shoot, you might cut them some slack but it would be out of the goodness of your heart. Not standard practice.
No that is not the case! I strongly recommend adding wording to that effect, explicitly in your listing. I allow, and state in my listing, a small amount of flexibility, specifically 15 minutes at the beginning and end of any booking. And I do state in my listing that anything beyond that is a full hour paid added to the booking. Most people respect that. I have told people who stay too long they will be charged and they are also usually ok with that.
It helps to make the exact timing clear when I send them the access information before arrival.
I do sometimes have people who show up early who weren’t necessarily the ones doing the booking, and I have to ask them to just wait outside. We have a Starbucks across the street and I point them there. So far that’s worked!
I added it!
I’m generally flexible with longer shoots, within the 15 minute margin also but I try to communicate clearly and politely when people approach OT. I’ve also sent early groups across the street for coffee, and never had any complaints as of yet.
Just good to hear that I’m doing everything okay, and this dude is just trying to push me. I will not be pushed! Ha.
I concur with everyone, typically 3-6 hour shoots I provide 15-30 mins, and with full day shoots I provide 30 mins.
You will always have someone who wants to push you to the limit.
Most important be polite.
If you have any questions let me know.
Heck no. Sometimes I let them in 15 minutes early IF i am myself ready or have had good professional communication leading up to rental and wanna give them that extra mile of hospitality. Otherwise no. Also goes for check out. If you run over r are still packing up I only give a 10 or 15 minute max grace period or we charge an additional half hour
We have over 300 shoots a month. We’re VERY on the dot because we often have back-to-back bookings. We’re also fully staffed, so this might not apply to everyone if you don’t have a team on site to monitor bookings.
Below is what we have in the agreement, and you’re welcome to use it if you’d like. Your reservation must include all the time you need to set up, shoot, clean up, and vacate the studio. You cannot enter the studio early, and you’re expected to vacate your studio no later than the time your reservation ends.