Cash in by putting your home in films

Always dreamed of being in the movies? Here’s one way to make it a reality: consider getting your house on the big screen instead.

That’s exactly what Evanston homeowner Cyndee Keiser did, when her sprawling Sheridan Road home was recently chosen to be the location for the film “Baby on Board,” starring Heather Graham and Jerry O’Connell.

Keiser’s home joins a prestigious list of Chicago-area homes with Hollywood pedigrees, including 671 Lincoln Ave. in Winnetka (“Home Alone”); 1258 Linden in Highland Park (“Risky Business”); and Green Bay Road and Woodland in Lake Forest (“Ordinary People”).

But for Keiser, it wasn’t just about the prestige, the ego boost of seeing her home lit up on the silver screen, or even the fun of rubbing elbows daily with movie stars like O’Connell, Graham and Lara Flynn Boyle. Those were simply the perks of the job — one that she was well compensated for. “I’ve made as much as $12,000 in income from my shoots,” says Keiser, whose home has been used as a location for television shows (a pilot called ” Wrigleyville“), independent films (“Stash”), catalogs (American Girl) and newspaper ads ( Kohl’s, Ace Hardware and Flor tiles). “I’ve done so many that I’ve kind of lost track,” admits Keiser.

According to Chicago location manager Valerie Bulinski, who’s worked on such films as “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “The Fugitive,” and “Midnight Run,” a film shoot is often enough money to cover a homeowner’s annual real estate taxes. “They usually negotiate a lump sum with the homeowner, but generally, the fee is based on how many people are in your house, how many rooms they’re using, and how long they’re in your house,” Bulinski says. “The more of any of those categories, the more money you’ll make.”

At a time when many Chicagoans are looking for ways to earn extra income, renting out one’s home for films, commercials or still photography has never been more attractive, especially when you consider that the federal government allows homeowners to earn up to $15,000 a year renting out their homes without being taxed on the income. For unemployed or underemployed Chicagoans, finding location work for their homes is often less effort than finding work for themselves.

“It’s easy money,” says Deerfield homeowner Pam Katz, who was approached by a location scout shortly after building her Prairie-style home six years ago. “Within a couple of months after meeting with the location scout, Crate & Barrel booked us for a five-day shoot, and six months later they came back to shoot their fall catalog,” says Katz, whose home has also been featured in Purina, Barilla Pasta, Masland Carpet, SC Johnson and Pampered Chef ads. “We’ve had as many as nine or 10 shoots in a year,” she says. “When you consider the going rate is $1,000 a day, that’s a lot of money.”

Of course, not every home is “model material.” According to Katz, one reason she gets so much work is because her spacious home can accommodate large film crews and equipment. “Visually, what we’re usually looking for is space and the amount of light in that space,” Bulinski says. “It also helps to have different looks in the same home, because sometimes they do multiple shots in a home. They might want to present different characters and make it look like it’s a totally different home.”

Location scouts may also be looking for certain features that are unique to the project. “If it’s a movie, they’re usually looking to express the character who lives there,” Bulinski says. “Catalogs also have specific looks. There’s usually some key thing they’re looking for, whether it’s a swimming pool or a certain type of kitchen.”

When Chicago location scout Kate Levinson walks into a home, she usually knows immediately which client it might appeal to. “Big interior stores like Crate & Barrel like empty houses that they can fill with their furniture,” she says. “American Girl likes lots of kids bedrooms and fun nooks and crannies. Once, when I worked with Huggies, they wanted to be able to see the toilet from the living room.”

Logistics like parking, elevator access and condominium or village rules governing filming can also affect a location decision. “You could have the most beautiful penthouse apartment with a perfect view of the city skyline, but if there’s no freight elevator or way to move the equipment up and down the top floor, then a dream location may turn into a nightmare and they may not use it,” says Rich Moskel, director of the Chicago Film Office. Moskel’s had his share of nightmare locations: In the late 1990s, Moskel coordinated the simultaneous shutdown of the Blue line between Belmont and Montrose and the closure of the express lanes on the Kennedy for five nights in a row in order to film a chase scene in the Bruce Willis film “Mercury Rising.”

Luckily, residential shoots aren’t nearly as complicated, but homeowners shouldn’t underestimate the chaos that can arise from having 20 or more people in their home. Not everyone can handle it. “If someone’s a control freak, it’s probably not going to work,” Bulinski says. “They have to be able to accept the fact that for a certain amount of time, their house is not going to look like it did. But at the end of the day, when everything is back in order, you don’t even know they were there.”

Occasionally, repairs are needed to restore the home back to its original condition. While homeowners are provided with an insurance policy that’s usually larger than the value of their home, they should be prepared for possible nicks, dings, and accidents. “We had a shoot recently where the toilet broke,” Levinson says. “It probably needed to be replaced anyway, but it broke while it was being rented out, so it was paid for.”

In general, the more people in a home, the greater the chances of damage occurring. Photo shoots usually involve 10-20 people, television commercials 25-75, and movies 75-300 (although not all at the same time). “With movies, and even with commercials, your neighbors are going to be impacted,” Bulinski says. “There’s just no way around it.”

For Katz, the benefits have outweighed the negatives. “I’ve met so many interesting people — art directors, stylists — I didn’t even know those jobs existed before this,” she says. “I’ve also gotten some great ideas for my own decorating. After the Crate & Barrel shoot, I ended up buying the pillows they used on my couch, because they worked so well.”

Catered food is another perk. Since the crews generally spend 8-12 hours in a home, they usually bring in breakfast and lunch. “They never do not say ‘please help yourself to this,’ Keiser says. “Ninety percent of the time, they leave whatever is left, so you can dine for days.” Katz has even thrown parties with the leftover food. “One year, Crate & Barrel made two turkeys in my oven, plus sweet potatoes, yams, all the side dishes. That night, I invited friends over and we had a huge Thanksgiving meal in April.”

Keiser, who moonlights as a movie extra, even managed to negotiate a small part for herself in “Baby on Board.” The scene was set at an Evanston restaurant and Keiser was seated at a table next to the leads. “In the movie, all you see is a quick shot of the back of my head,” she says. “It was very disappointing.”

Her house, on the other hand, got wonderful exposure. “I love showcasing my house,” Keiser says. “It’s so nice to let people enjoy all the work we’ve done to it — and it’s also nice to let our house pay us back.”