Choosing a Location for a Photo & Film Studio
Where to start a business?
There were a few things that every entrepreneur should consider when deciding on the location of their new business. Things like parking, amenities, rent, safety, etc., are considerations for every business. For the purpose of this blog, however, I’ll speak specifically to the needs of a photo and film studio, above and beyond the usual suspects.
Our studio location
This is the building for our studio, 704 S Spring Street! What a beaut, huh? You can see more about the history of the building here. Fun fact: It’s a protected National Historic Landmark!
However, there were many other locations we could have gone with in our hunt for the perfect studio. So let’s talk about why we went for #405 at 704 S Spring.
The most important thing for a film and photo studio is light!
With two 4’x6′ giant windows that face North, the room is continuously bathed in soft, diffused white light, no matter the time of year.
The second most important thing is ease of access. Large elevators capable of taking the 9-foot seamless green screen and white backdrops are available to take you right up to the room, which meant taking any equipment and people of all abilities could have access. And with a dedicated day lot next to the building (and many other lots in the downtown Los Angeles area), parking wasn’t going to be a problem.
The third most important thing to me was aesthetic. You want your clients to feel safe, warm, and welcomed. Beneath many layers of linoleum I knew there was beautiful concrete I could reseal in gleaming gloss. The white walls were also a key factor in spreading light in the studio and allowing for more photo shoots with natural daylight. Plus the fact that the owner would allow me to alter the space to my heart’s content, changing the ceiling fixtures, putting screws in the walls and ceiling, and taking advantage of the three different fuses that gave power to the ten different outlets in the studio. All of this combined for me to create a clean, modern space for photography and film.
Lastly, sound. Now sound isn’t always going to be a problem. Certainly in photo shoots, and even in many film shoots (especially those using the greenscreen), having some outside noise isn’t really a problem. But for some film shoots, you need to minimize outside noise as much as possible. And with two large windows, that meant two very large sources of sound leakage from the street to the inside of the studio, even being on the fourth floor. After doing some research, however, I decided I could mitigate a lot of this outside noise with some soundproofing techniques and diy installations.
I’ll go more into the specifics of everything I did in the studio to turn it into the space it is today in the future! For now, you can find more information on The Room Downtown and the business at www.theroomdowntown.com
TAGS : tips to choose studio location, how to choose photo studio location
Also published on Medium.