How many times has this happened to you? You're watching a movie or a TV show and you know exactly where they're shooting... but you know that it may have been shot better somewhere else? Or you're watching something and now you have ideas of your own to shoot something but you don't know where to go to get the shot? Have you ever needed the perfect place to shoot a scene but can't afford to hire a location scout because you're a student or you're broke? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should probably read this in case you're hoping to shoot in the Magic City... Miami, FL.

What are the three most important things in setting up business in the filmmaking business? Survey says: Location, Location, Location... Okay, now that we've got that down, you know that without it you'll be shooting in your mother's kitchen and in your father's garage, which per say is not a bad thing, unless that is... you have a lot of "on-location" type of shooting to do, then you need to get out and find it, Fast. First: Where does the story take place, what time of year, season? Do I need permits to shoot outside in public? Do you need seclusion, privacy in public? Do you need to stop a busy road but can't afford it? Well, I'm going to make this blog interactive by taking all specified questions you may have and answering them to the best of my knowledge. To boot, I know of thousands of different streets, alleys, bars, clubs, hotels, motels, houses, tourist traps, historical info, from who to grease for the shot and who not to, what places are camera crazy, I'm talking about anything about a location you need I might be able to help.

Funny thing about Miami is that no real Hollywood production wants to shoot an entire movie here because Jeb Bush and his federal budget thievery made it totally impossible to get any kind of breaks for productions being shot on location in Florida. Before this happened in 2001 (Hmm... curious year, huh?), everybody came here to get location shots, exteriors, aerial shots, and then returned right back to some Hollywood studio and banged out the rest of the film. Meanwhile, all of these locations that telenovelas and music videos use in their work show so much promise that some prestigious directors returned to take a second look... and sure enough Miami has a lot more that what the world has seen on Miami Vice, Fast & the Furious, or even the famous Scarface.

Miami is shrouded with a dark past, it being one of the only cities around the turn of the 20^th century that kept to its ways and never truly enforced the Prohibition or enforced strict immigration laws. It's a city filled with old Indian, Caribbean, and Spanish secrets, and a variety of historical facts that remain within its people, its streets and alleyways, its dive bars and boat-filled canals. When deciding to shoot in this city, it's no doubt because somewhere in the story it feels like it needs to be open, tropical, culturally diverse, and beautiful. The city of Miami itself is very small, but all the neighborhoods surrounding it in each and every direction are no different than the famed boroughs of NYC. I know in almost every music video, TV show, or movie they shoot here, they almost always invariably end up shooting something on South Beach. This is not Miami! It is just another location that is pretty. But the city has a lot more beautiful locations to shoot at than just that. Depending on what you're looking for and if the weather permits, you can find every little type of nook and cranny to shoot in, whether with a permit or guerrilla.

Some of the more noticeable traits of the city are glaringly obvious, but others are more hidden. For instance, the scene in Scarface where they have the public shoot-out on Ocean Drive was aesthetically pleasing and painfully real for those times... but would it have been less real or less eye-catching had it been shot in the projects of Little Havana? Things of note about Miami: Colorful, Vibrant, The Doorway to Central and South America and the Caribbean, Constantly changing its look, Neighborhood cultural make-up varies almost street to street, socio-economically gentrified, Surrounded by water, No Winter, No Fall, Small City, Filled with beautiful People, The only Sub-Tropical region in the US, No Tax Breaks... Now, if you need any of these things as part of your production, then come on down to the bottom of the Florida drip and bring sun tanning lotion and Off! because I can place your scene wherever you need it to be. Either for free guerrilla style or legally with a permit, I can find you a location in Miami