Film Locations Glossary
Access agreement
What is an access agreement?
Also called entry agreement.
An access agreement is a short contract permitting a production onto land or through a property without granting the filming rights a full location agreement covers.
It is used for scouting visits, surveys, tech scouts, and for crossing a neighbor's land to reach the actual location. Because it grants entry rather than filming, it usually carries lower fees and lighter insurance requirements, but it still needs the property owner's signature.
Example
A hero house sits behind a neighbor's shared driveway. The production signs a location agreement with the homeowner and a separate access agreement with the neighbor for the right to run cable and walk crew across their strip, at a fraction of the location fee.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Signed at scout or prep stage, held in the locations file alongside the main agreement.
Common mistake
Assuming the person who signed the location agreement controls every route onto the site. The neighbor whose driveway the cable crosses has to agree separately, and they find out on the day if nobody asked.
Related questions
- How is an access agreement different from a location agreement?
- An access agreement grants entry only. A location agreement grants the right to film and to use the resulting footage, and carries higher fees and heavier insurance terms.
- Do you need an access agreement just to scout?
- For private land, yes in practice. Railways, ports, and utilities all have their own right-of-entry forms and notice periods even when nothing will be filmed.