I'm on a crunch to shoot a quick simple scene in a hospital type invironment. Character has lost his marbles and family is visiting him in a wellness living home. Any ideas for where to shoot that cheaply?

and easy to rent. Call your local medical supply story (they're in the yellow pages usually under rentals or medical supplies) - you can get hospital beds, trays, IV poles. Other than that, call some nursing homes - sometimes they are quite amenable. Finding a nursing home is a numbers game - you just have to call and call until someone says yes. You may call 5 nursing homes, 20 nursing homes or 100 nursing homes.

Also, call your local film commission. They may have some very good ideas about where to shoot - even if you're ultra-low budget.

Brannon,

Also get in touch with a location scout. It might be less $$$ and hassle to pay a location fee than to have to set up a studio to look like a medical facility. I've had to do quite a few of these, but for still photography/healthcare concerns.

Also the marketing/PR dept. at any hospital may be able to help. Your financial offer should be something that would make it worth their while, since someone form that marketing/pr dept. will probably want to be around for the shoot. You are in LA, so there should be a million places that may have accommodated production in some form or another.

Don't forget the location releases, and afterwards, send the people at the hospital who were involved a basket of flowers, cookies, something as a thanks, and then keep their information in a well guarded place, in the event you need to do this again.

Good luck.

Jonathan