Where to Find a Location Scout in Houston

Wondering how and where to find a location scout in Houston? Everyone knows Houston’s got a storied history of playing host to film productions, but Houston’s film pedigree goes deeper than that. Houston native Wes Anderson filmed Rushmore across Houston, most notably at his alma mater, St. John’s Preparatory School. Texas directorial legend Richard Linklater shot Boyhood here. But unless you’re a Houston native, a location scout in Houston may be what your production needs.

If your project is on the smaller side, you may be able to be your own location scout by arming yourself with some know-how and handy online tools. In particular, a platform like Peerspace makes it easy to find and book production spaces in cities across the globe, with hundreds in Houston alone. Peerspace is the largest online marketplace for hourly venue rentals, with spaces owned by locals who can help ensure your project runs smoothly.

Whether you want to hire an experienced professional or take the local scout reins yourself, we understand. Either way, here is a list of the best places to find a location scout in Houston.

Before you do anything else, start with Peerspace

Peerspace is an online marketplace enabling creatives to rent incredible Houston locations. Among Houston’s Peerspaces, you’ll find all manner of venues. The city features raw warehouse spaces, grungy clubs, eclectic private residences, and even an expansive horse ranch, just to name a few. 

Going the Peerspace route can save a lot of headaches. You can search through your city’s venues by amenities, size, price, and a bunch of other specific factors. Then, peruse high-quality photographs and reviews for each listing. When you’ve picked your perfect spot, you can book your shooting location right through the site. There’s no need to negotiate contracts and play phone tag with property owners.

So what type of production spaces can you rent on Peerspace? Here are some of our favorites in Houston:

• This townhome with a lake view in Montgomery (pictured above) with two floors, multiple living areas, an open floor layout, and three outdoor spaces
• This production studio with 12 custom sets in Greater Greenspoint with multiple backdrops, props, and lighting
• This studio loft in the Museum District with exposed brick walls, concrete floors, exposed duct work, a speaker system, and lighting for an additional charge
• This post-apocalyptic bombed-out factory production set in Greater Fifth Ward that was once the Comet Rice Mill
• This full video/photo studio in Gulfton with a three-sided cyc wall, color-changing LED lights, built-in grip gear, props, an audio system, and a kitchen
• The Glass Haus in Hyde Park, a modern living four-story glass home with floor-to-ceiling windows, a chef’s kitchen, and a rooftop terrace
• This downtown retro motel room set with a vintage TV, linens, retro wallpaper, a clawfoot tub, props, a kitchen, and a freight elevator

As you can see, Peerspace provides you with access to unique spaces across the city. If you have any questions or requests, simply contact the venue’s host through the listing page and start a dialogue. They strive to help make your time in their spaces as perfect as possible, for a personal touch that’s hard to come by elsewhere.

Next, we’ll share other options for finding a location scout in Houston.

Treat your crew to these awesome team outing ideas in Houston once production wraps!

A few Houston location scouts we recommend

At Peerspace, we are familiar with the moving pieces that go into making exceptional productions. This includes locations scouts.

If you’re new to the world of professional production, you may not realize how much goes into location scouting. Scouts handle a lot of the nuts-and-bolts logistics of a production. They work out contracts with property owners, obtain government permits, and deal with all the little things related to filming locations. These include local noise ordinances, parking, and restrooms. They’re fixers.

The following are locations scouts in Houston we wholeheartedly recommend working with.

Bo Svensson

Bo Svensson is an experienced location scout in Houston who has worked on over 500 shoots, ranging from commercial shoots to feature films and documentaries. Svensson has a comprehensive website at TexasFilmScout.com, and he keeps a deep catalog of location stills and contact details.

Olivia Oppenheim

Olivia Oppenheim co-founded Crew Included. She has worked on numerous productions as a producer, production manager, and location scout in Houston. This includes everything from television episodes to Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl LI Halftime performance.

Mary Walbridge

Mary Daly Walbridge offers an array of production services, including location scouting. She has worked on dozens of productions across Texas and beyond.

ProductionHub

ProductionHub is a massive database of everything you need for any professional production. This includes vendors and crew of all shapes, from animators to grips and location scouts.

Check-in with local film commissions

Texas gets a lot of film and TV production action. It boasts multiple major creative hub cities, each with its own distinct cultural flair, as well as jaw-dropping natural landscapes. The Texas Film Commission exists to draw productions to Texas and to facilitate projects. Houston also has its own film commission, The Houston Film Commission. That means you’ve got two expert offices to draw upon that exist only to ensure that your production experience in Texas is a dream.

The Texas Film Commission offers state-wide incentives for productions to come to Texas and spend their budget in Texas (on local crew and vendors, for example). The Houston Film Commission adds its own incentives on top of that in a bid to compete within the state with other popular creative locations like Dallas and Austin.

The Deputy Director of the Houston Film Commission is Alfred Cervantes, a veteran location scout. His office maintains Houston’s ReelScout location listings. Of course, you can also simply reach out to the commission and describe your production needs, and they can give you a wealth of useful information. The same is true of the Texas Film Commission. If you explain your location needs, they’ll put together a digital location package and help facilitate securing those locations.

Both of these offices are immeasurably valuable to Texas productions, so we encourage you to lean on them. They can help navigate the sometimes confusing world of local permits, as well as connect you with local vendors and crew. In general, they’ll make your life much easier.

IMDB Pro is an amazing research tool

You’ve probably used IMDB hundreds of times, but if you’ve never tried IMDB Pro, you’re missing out. You can search by filming location, check out some productions in the area, and view all the crew.

The location scouts you’ll see active in the area will have their own profiles, so you can dig in a little and get a good idea of any individual location scout’s professional background.

Take advantage of LocationsHub

ReelScout, a well-regarded production company, developed LocationsHub. You’ll probably notice that the Houston Film Commission’s location database is managed through a ReelScout interface, which is common. And, while there’s usually significant overlap between the LocationsHub listings for a city and that of the city’s film commission, there are often properties that are in one list that aren’t in the other.

Here are some of our favorite hidden gem spaces in Houston. Check them out!

Do some homework using social media

Some location scouts are very active on social media and make a priority of marketing themselves. If you’re interested in working with a particular scout, see if they’re active on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. On LinkedIn, you can read testimonials and endorsements from other industry professionals willing to vouch for their work.

On the other platforms, you can see what they’re currently working on and gain a solid idea of what their personality is like. So much of a productive working relationship comes down to personal creative chemistry, so this can be invaluable insight.

Find a location scout in Houston: conclusion

If you’re thinking about shooting in Texas, don’t overlook Houston. It’s the largest city in the state, after all — and with that larger population comes a large pool of creative talent. There are locations galore, from urban spaces to awe-inspiring natural scenes.

And if you’re looking for a location scout in Houston, and want to give it a shot yourself, consider Peerspace. The platform is easy to use and is considered by many location scouts as one of their preferred tools of the trade. Hopefully, after reading all the information above, you can understand why!

You don’t need a massive budget, hours and hours of research, or friends in high places to use Peerspace. Start your own search today and adjust the search parameters to only show you listings within your budget, that meet your chosen aesthetic, and that have your preferred amenities. It’s that easy to find dream filming locations when you use Peerspace!

Find production spaces in Houston on Peerspace