▶ WatchAM Pictures
Perfectly Imperfect (Genieten voor 2)
2024 · Trocadéro, Paris
Locations including the Trocadéro, dialogue consulting, extra crew, extras and equipment for a Dutch feature film.
Location scouting in France
We send you locations that can actually be filmed on your dates. Every option comes with photos, the owner, the authority that signs the permit and a realistic lead time, so nobody falls in love with a place that will never clear.
01
What a scout is for
Not a mood boardA location that looks right and cannot be permitted is not a location. It is a cost. Most scouting packages we see from foreign productions are beautiful and useless: thirty photos of streets, beaches and châteaux, with no idea who owns them or how long the paperwork takes.
We scout the other way round. First we check who owns the ground and what it takes to film there, then we send the photos. French filming authorisation follows ownership, not geography: the commune owns the street, the département owns the road outside town, the forestry office owns the massif behind it, the coastal conservancy owns the protected beach. A scout that ignores this sends you to a place with four desks and an eight week clock when a similar place one valley over has one desk and two weeks.
Élie leads scouting and access. He is a journalist by training, which means the part of the job that matters most is reporting: finding the person who can say yes, and finding out early when the answer is no. We are a production service company working across France from Paris and Cannes, so the scout is not a separate product. It is the first step of a shoot we will run with you.
02
What you get per location
Every option, same formatItemWhat we sendWhy it matters
VisualsReccePhotos at the angles your board needs, video walk-through, sun path for your datesYour DP can judge light without flying in
OwnerWho signsPrivate owner, commune, département, operator or state body, with the contact we will useOwnership decides the permit and the fee
PermitAuthority and leadWhich desks are involved and the indicative lead time, confirmed per projectTells you if the location fits your window
ConstraintsOn the dayParking, unit base, power, noise, neighbours, access hours, seasonal closuresThe things that break a call sheet at 6am
CostLocation feeOwner fee where there is one, permit costs, any policing or traffic managementSo the number is in the budget before the choice
The seasonal trap nobody puts in the scout
Some locations are perfect in your recce photos and closed on your shoot dates. Forest locations in the Esterel and Maures massifs can be withdrawn at short notice during fire-risk closures from June to September, whatever the permit says. Several Alpine passes stay shut until June. Some protected coastal sites managed by the Conservatoire du littoral close for nesting season. And in May the Cannes Film Festival books out crew, vehicles and rooms across the whole Riviera. We flag each of these on the location sheet, not after you have locked the board.
03
How we scout
From brief to locked location01BriefYou send the script or board, references, dates and the number of set-ups per day. We ask about crew size and vehicles, because that changes which permit applies.Day 1
02Library firstWe start from our pre-scouted library and the private access we have built over more than ten years. Often the right place is already on file.Fast
03Field recceWhere the library is not enough, we go out. Photos and video at your angles, with the owner met in person where possible.Field
04Permit checkEvery shortlisted option is mapped against the authorities involved and an indicative lead time, before you choose.Core
05Tech recceYour director and DP walk the final choices with us. We bring the owner, and the plan for unit base and parking.On site
06Lock and contractLocation agreement with the owner, permits filed, and the location handed to the unit with access details on the call sheet.Locked
04
Where we scout
Two bases, the whole countryFrom the Paris base we cover Paris and Île-de-France, where public space goes through the City of Paris film office and iconic monuments are handled by their own operators, plus every region a train ride away: Normandy and Brittany, the Loire Valley, Lyon and the Alps, Northern France and Bordeaux and the Atlantic coast.
From Cannes we cover the French Riviera, Provence and Monaco. That is the most administratively fragmented region in France for permits, which is exactly why scouting there without a permit map wastes money.
For an overview of every region and its lead times, see our fixer in France page. If you need a drone shot of the location, the airspace clearance is a separate file: see drone filming permits in France.
05
Locations we have delivered
Selected2024NBC UniversalParis 2024 OlympicsLocations across multiple venues and the city for the NBC family of channels over more than three months. Two Emmy Awards.Wrapped
2025Adidas × Edison ChenCannes & Monaco GPLocations for the Stan Smith campaign during the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix.Wrapped
2026Riviera permit packageClient under NDACoastal travelling shots across sixteen communes, drone and heritage at two stops. Cost cut from €29,900 to €12,900.Wrapped
06
Selected work
Verified credits▶ Watch
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A Family Journey Around Europe in 10 Days
2023 · Tuileries & Pavillon de Flore, Paris
Paris locations, permits and logistics for the high-jewellery collection film, plus an inspiration tour of Paris filmed with the CEO.
3D Produzioni & Nexo Digital
Picasso: A Rebel in Paris
2023 · Paris
Access to key locations, coordination with museum staff and interviews with art experts and curators.
Read ↗What does a location scouting agency in Paris do?
It finds locations that match your script or board and checks that they can be filmed on your dates. A good scout sends photos and video, the owner, the authority that issues the permit, an indicative lead time and the practical constraints such as parking and access hours. FixersInParis scouts across France from Paris and Cannes and then runs the permits and the shoot.
How long does location scouting in France take?
For locations already in our library, we can usually send options within a few days of the brief. A field recce for specific or unusual locations takes longer, depending on the region and how many owners we need to meet. Permit lead times then run on their own clock: in Paris about 15 working days for public space, longer for multi-authority shoots.
Can you get access to private and closed locations?
Often, yes. Private homes, offices, restaurants, institutional buildings and closed sites are a large part of our library, built over more than ten years. Access depends on the owner, the dates and what you are filming, and we tell you early when a door will not open.
Do you scout outside Paris?
Yes, anywhere in metropolitan France. We have a second base in Cannes for the French Riviera, Provence and Monaco, and we regularly scout in Normandy and Brittany, the Loire Valley, Lyon and the Alps, Bordeaux and the Atlantic coast and Northern France.
Can we do the scout remotely?
Yes. Many clients choose from our photos and video, then join a live video walk-through of the final options. Your director can frame on the call. The tech recce in person is still recommended for complex set-ups.
Tell us what you need to shoot.
Format, dates, locations, crew size. We come back within three hours with what is possible and what is not.