Firstly, I don't know if this belongs here in "Messy" or in "non-WAM", because it's a bit of both, really.

A friend of mine moved house a few months ago, and although the house itself isn't all that big, there's a large outbuilding which was originally a generous double garage with a laundry room off it. The previous occupants converted the garage to a wet-room, and my friend has been using the shower to film content to publish on a well known subscription site.

To cut a long story short, she basically has enough content stockpiled now because she can't keep publishing stuff with the same background, as it just gets boring for subscribers, and as she doesn't use it as a wet-room for any other purpose, her intention is to take it back to being a garage at some point when funds allow. An interim option might be to hire it out as a studio (for wetlook or messy shoots only) but what is the legal situation with doing that in residential property, especially as it would probably only be for 12 to 18 months? And what would be the insurance situation? Any advice gratefully received. She's in Herefordshire and owns the property.

I don't have specific answers for you. However, there is a wider concept of people hiring out their homes as filming locations. See:
https://maxinebrady.com/2020/06/how-to-rent-your-home-as-a-location-house/
So, that's probably a good place to start your research, then see whether there's anything more specific.

It depends on the individual property and circumstances.

It shouldn't be a problem if you own the property or you have express permission from the owner - unless the deeds specifically state that you cannot use the property for any commercial purposes.

As long as you create no disturbance or make your operation publicly visible that might cause an objection this should not be a problem at all. It's the same as using it for any home based business.

Liability insurance will probably be quite expensive, especially if you hire it out unsupervised - you'll need to find a specialist to cover it and might find supervision and various other stipulations will affect cover and cost. You'll need to get this right or there's no point in insuring at all.

As its about producing WAM material, it's OK to be in Messy, is how I'd see it.


Seriously? We've been shooting in the same purple dungeon for fifteen years, and people with built in gunge tanks have an unchanging backdrop. And I'm sure EuroWAM shot for years with the same blue-tiled fancy shower setup. Not to mention Ellen Vogel's very distinctive bathroom. I honestly don't think anyone watches WAM videos for the backdrop?

As to the question, allowing other producers she knows and/or are friends with, and who can be trusted not to take the piss, damage the place, or bring in random models who do any of those things, to shoot there for a reasonable payment, should be fairly safe. Going further than that, allowing folk she doesn't know or have a trust relationship with, on the other hand will indeed want full insurance cover and is liable to be expensive.

I realise this is getting away from the focus of the thread, and it wouldn't be accurate to say I watch WAM videos for the backdrop. But it absolutely matters as part of my enjoyment of the content. Not to point fingers at anyone in particular, but I really dislike videos where people just leave their toiletries in the background of their shots - and on the other end, a well chosen backdrop can absolutely elevate the aesthetics of a video.

Oh indeed, agree with that, if shooting a video, clear the clutter first, shampoo etc should only be in-shot if it's going to be used in the scene. But assuming the model's right, the outfit's right, and the WAM is right, I can't imagine many people deciding not to buy a scene just because it has the same backdrop as a previous one?

Thank you for all the advice on this. She has a model friend keen to use the room to film solo content in a few weeks' time, so that'll be treated as a trial run. I don't think Hereford is a hotbed of WAM, so demand might be limited but it's worth a try.