Get your home on the big screen.....

Think your house could be a star of the big screen ?

It may be the tale of a simple country girl, but when Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles was filmed at Pat Cutforth's home in Wiltshire last year, the size of the operation was anything but modest.

"It was like being occupied by a small army," she recalls. "There were 30 or 40 parked cars, there was a lay-by full of trucks, there was a generator for the electricity, and there were these huge trailers from which they fed everyone.

"On the day they filmed the scene with the agricultural labourers binding the straw bales, the location manager told me the kitchens were cooking for 90 people." Which is rather more lunch places than are usually laid at the Cutforths' Georgian farmhouse, in the middle of the Wiltshire countryside. So was it worth all the disruption?

"Most definitely," she says. "It was great fun. And, of course, the money came in very handy." Ah yes, the money. For handing over your home to a film crew, you can expect to make anything between £750 and £5,000 per (long, 12-hour) day. Even a magazine or catalogue shoot will earn you from £500 to £1,500 a day.

Which is why there has, in recent months, been a sudden increase in the number of home owners contacting agencies that specialise in finding film locations. With the great scenery and coastal locations in and around Moray has your unique property got what it takes ?

"Everyone's looking to generate extra cash, and hiring out your home is an obvious way of doing it," says Sarah Eastel, whose agency has many hundreds of bricks-and-mortar hopefuls on its books. "In the past, perhaps, a lot of people have just thought about doing it. Now they're taking things that stage further."

What you need to know:

- First approach an agent And send them photos of your house (without pets, children or yourself in them). Best to make a whole CD's worth.

- Play the field It's perfectly acceptable to be on more than one agent's books.

- House nothing special? Not necessarily a problem. Most agencies have properties classified under "Down To Earth" or even "Derelict" (fashion photographers love the contrast between rough brickwork and pretty clothes).

- Always expect visitors A production company may visit four or five times before deciding to hire your home; don't get tetchy, this is quite normal.

- Be on hand to help on filming day The crew are bound to have questions; where are the power points, can they dismantle your garden fence?

- But don't get in the way Keep out of the way of the cameras, and don't get in the stars' hair.

- Know what to expect It should be made clear in the contract whether or not the crew can keep coming in to use your loo, for example.

- When the filming has stopped You should still get paid. Most agencies charge 50 per cent of the normal day rate for set-up and takedown days.

I'll look out for you on the big screen soon......

All the best,

Jackson.