Policy for photographers?

I have had about 5-10 inquiries from photographers so far requesting to use my house for photos or film. Often they want to use it for a day or a few hours for a reduced “hourly” type rate, which doesn’t really work with my booking schedule and is also against Airbnb policy to book something during off hours off the website. Curious to know if anyone else has a policy about this sort of thing?

We haven’t had photographers inquire, but we’ve had several student filmmakers inquire one of who booked. We don’t reduce our rates for shooting, we increase them to $100.00 per day. We require that they have workers compensation insurance and a $1,000,000.00 liability policy. I recommend to them that they book an extra day because filming usually takes longer than anticipated.

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If they want to use your house for profesional photography I would charge more. I guess it was carefully decorated designed by you and you should get paid for your creative work. And if they are going to make money with your house, you should also make money !

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Yeah, I have had the TV show Breaking Bad pay to use my house (just to run wires through my yard) and they obviously have the whole professional contract and liability policy and pay a fair price ($200 per day just to run wires through my yard? Sure.) But these are mostly film students or local photographers who just want to do little photo sessions in my house. I’m not sure whether I should tell them no, tell them to book using the normal rate for the days they need (this will probably weed most out anyway), or tell them they need the liability insurance and the whole shebang. The other factor is that even for a small shoot it is usually a film crew of 10ish people and that can be disturbing to the guests next door as my property is a duplex.

It’s up to you to decide if you want photography and film shoots. If you do, I strongly advise that you require that they have workers compensation and liability insurance in place. No matter what insurance you have it probably doesn’t cover other peoples’ business activities. Even if your insurance would cover it would be better for you not to have to put in a claim.

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You should definitely charge MORE if your listing is rented for commercial use (and you would not be able to rent to guests on the same night obviously).

I do believe that there’s something in Air TOS against booking a listing for commercial use, filming, shooting.

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This was that I could find:

you may not and you agree that you will not:
use the Site, Application, Services or Collective Content for any commercial or other purposes that are not expressly permitted by these Terms or in a manner that falsely implies Airbnb endorsement, partnership or otherwise misleads others as to your affiliation with Airbnb;

Thanks @EllenN that is helpful. I have worked up a policy based on your suggestions.

My policy for photography and filming is:

  1. I require a list of total numbers of crew involved and shooting schedule before I will approve the request.

  2. This Airbnb property is a duplex. So as not to disturb the guests in the other unit, if you have a crew of larger than 2 people, you must book both houses at the same time at the full nightly rate listed (for 10 guests, unless your crew is larger than 10), plus $100 per day. You can view the calendar and listed rates for both houses here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14124449

  3. You must provide me with proof of workers compensation insurance and a $1,000,000.00 liability policy.

  4. When booking dates, you may photograph or film only within the check-in and check-out hours of 4pm and 11am. If you will need access to the house outside of these hours, you may book multiple consecutive nights. I also recommend that you book an extra day since filming often takes longer than anticipated.

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I wouldn’t recommend using BNB for photo shoots - no advantage as you won’t be covered by them if there is any damage or your guests behave badly.

Only charging 100 dollars a day is far too little.

Personally I would only work with a legally binding contract.

What you have here offers you limited if any protection.

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I was nervous about having a student film shot here via Airbnb, but it turned out to be a good experience. There are advantages. You don’t have to do any laundry and you don’t have to clean the place within an inch of its life.

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I think there is a difference between having a film student on a small shoot and a professional crew.

Also you need to check they have relevant permits, liability insurances etc.

I think for me a film/photo location agent would be the way to go.

Here is a previous post on the subject. http://www.airhostsforum.com/t/policy-for-photographers/11691/9

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We’ve had a surprising number of professional photographers stay here, considering we aren’t in an area where Airbnb can supply a photographer to take photos for us. However a few days back we had a crew stay 1 night and 2 full days to make a music video clip, and it was a great experience. Really nice people, and we got some great stills and video footage of our listing as part of the deal.
Not a lot of the listing shows up on the video itself (I was told 2 hours of footage cut down to a 3 minute clip) but it is currently online here: Tiny Little Houses clip shot at AvilaVista

Glad it was a good experience for you - hope you got a great commercial fee for having the crew use your property.

Barefoot, I have had other Airbnb Hosts get asked to use their properties for photo shoots . They all have had great experiences from this , but they also had very tight agreements . First off , if they are going to use your property for commercial shoots , you should look up if there is a local Film Commission in your area and if so , what are the local laws . Second , Residential Shoots can earn you $$$. More then a Typical Stay .
You want to make sure that the film company has Insurance and Liability coverage for all staffers . It should be for One Million to 5 Million Dollars . Aslo include a damage rider to the insurance coverage and a waiver from them that they will not sue you or hold you accountable for any accidents that occur on your property while the shoot is being done .
You also want to make sure if they are using your Electricity to power lights , laptops etc , you charge for that also . The Standard Day rate here in California is over $2000.00 per day and Up . You can have it booked through Airbnb by doing a special offer . You may even call Airbnb and see if there is a Conflict on this .
You also want to be able to have control on how and where the photos are published . Have it all spelled out that it is either a onetime publishing and that you retain all rights to any other publishing of the photos for a fee . If you don’t cover yourself the pics can be used forever and anywhere . I hope this helps

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I got one inquiry today from a video producer, but I declined since there are too many horror stories. Noise to neighbours, scratch to furniture, floor and wall are often mentioned, I don’t want to take a chance. Though I do agree to the above comments if you are considering allowing filming, get a contract and make sure there is a waiver for your liability. Also, charge a commercial price, it is expensive for a reason.