The Why

I want to share my location scouting journey with you so you know that you're not alone in the struggle to search for great locations and to organize on-location shoots in the United States and overseas. I've been through it too, and I have a lot of lessons learned to share through this course.

Just so you know, I’ve been on both sides of the location scouting equation. I’ve managed a space that was in high demand, and I’ve also organized video and photo shoots at over 50 unique locations in Asia and North America. So, I am excited to help you to take the guesswork out of location scouting and on-location shoots!

But first, let me back up a few years....

The Dream

It was 1990-something, and I was the weirdest kid in the neighborhood. I listened to classical music, read Shakespeare, knew the lyrics to many top 40 hits (from the 1950s), lived for the Oscars, and couldn’t get enough of studying cultural practices in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome. I knew I was a strange kid, but I still intended to make my mark on the world in some way or another. In fact, at the age of nine or 10, I remember signing my friends’ birthday cards and telling them to hold onto the cards. Why? Because my autograph was going to be worth something one day. 

I was SUPER DRAMATIC. I wanted to be a performer, any kind of performer. Maybe an actress? A dancer? Then I thought, why not be a travel show host? I could be on camera introducing audiences to other cultures and ways of life. But reality set in, and I gave up all of my dramatic dreams for the sake of cold. hard. cash. I couldn’t see myself as a starving artist, so I decided to go to school for business; for international marketing. A fascinating field, absolutely, but definitely more of a behind-the-scenes career.

The Passion Project

Now, let’s fast forward a bit to 2016. I was living overseas and at the time, I was looking for a fun hobby, and finally the stars aligned. All of my “weird” interests came together! By that time, I spoke a few languages and I’d studied cross-cultural communication at the undergrad and graduate school levels. So, I finally decided to launch a travel show that featured unique people and locations in Asia.

Side note: I was a complete video production newbie! I had to teach myself how to develop and host a travel show from scratch. That’s a story for another course…. Let’s just say that the process involved a lot of experimentation, and I now have a lot of SOPs for creating an online show. But what I also learned is that when passion coupled with vision and community is a recipe for success.

The Struggle

But back to the story: I had no idea how to create a travel show, but I was confident that I could figure it out. I wasn’t scared to try something new, but what really scared me was putting myself out there. I knew that I wanted to film at interesting locations, but actually asking for permission was a little bit TERRIFYING! What if they rejected me because I was a travel show amateur?!? Would they judge the grammar in the emails I wrote or think that the content I created was low quality? 

I was so nervous about contacting people and would read my emails over and over again. Sometimes, I would sit on an email for a few days before sending it out. But then one day it hit me. 

It was okay to be afraid as long as I didn’t allow the fear to hold me back. I had to take action, so I took baby steps. In some cases, I contacted people I knew or knew of: Friends of friends, people I met on dates, even my neighbors. In other cases, I made a list of the benefits to the location and included the points in my email. I also quickly learned to take the pressure off of myself. If they “rejected” me, I reminded myself that it was okay. Maybe it was about me or maybe they had other things going on at the time. Either way, it wasn’t a big deal and it definitely wasn’t something to stress about. There were other great places where I could shoot. I just had to keep looking!

The Realization

At the same time as I was getting over my fear of rejection, I realized that I had some useful experience to rely on! Before launching the show, I’d managed a great location. My team and I and received a lot of requests from a variety of organizations. As we reviewed the requests, there was a pattern. The organizations that provided clear information, described why they wanted to use the space, and aligned with our location’s mission were really easy to approve. It was apparent that they had done their research and tailored the requests to the services that our location could provide. However, the requests that were unclear or did not fit with our mission were a lot harder to justify. 

As I began to reach out to location managers, I applied all of these lessons. I overcame my fear of rejection, made a conscious decision to be at peace throughout the process, and developed strategies for how to effectively communicate with the location managers.

The Journey

Over the years, these lessons have served me well. While I haven’t always received a “yes, please,” the yes’s definitely outweigh the no’s. In the end, I was able to convince many other location managers to allow me to shoot in their amazing spaces!!

So, to demonstrate the different types of places where I shot on location, check out this highlight reel from my show Country Crush: Travel The World Like A Local With Country Crush! 

When people check out my show, one of the questions I get asked the most is how I got so many locations to allow me to shoot on location. My goal in this course is to share my knowledge of the process and insights with you!  

The Course

You’re probably asking yourself why I want to share this information, right? Well, when I searched for information on location scouting, it was impossible to find any information that applied to me and my unique situation. I wasn't trying to make films. I wasn't trying to work for some big motion picture studio. I didn’t want to study location scouting. I just wanted to easily (and quickly) learn how to find locations and how to shoot on location! 

If you’re participating in this course, you probably understand the frustration of that search for information, especially when you’re trying to focus on spending time and resources on expanding your business. I totally get it. So, I’m here to help take some of the guesswork out of the process. 

The Course Goal

The  main goal of this course is that you will be able to use the resources provided to successfully secure an appropriate location. But there’s also a secondary goal. It’s that you feel empowered to look for and secure a location by the end of the course! So, let's get started!