Booking a Studio: Deposits and Cancellations

The room and the rate are the easy part to compare between studios. The terms around the booking decide how the day feels once money is involved, and they are the part nobody reads until something goes wrong. Here is how they work at Scope, stated plainly.

How a booking is confirmed

Bookings run through Acuity, the online calendar: pick the room, the date and the hours, and confirm. A booking is confirmed once full payment is made, or once a deposit is paid where one applies. Whether a deposit applies to your booking, and how much, is confirmed to you at the time of booking — and if you would rather know before you commit a card, email first. A real person reads it and you get the figure in writing.

The 48-hour window

Cancel or reschedule with at least 48 hours' notice and there is no fee. Inside the window a cancellation fee applies, and same-day cancellations and no-shows are non-refundable. Rescheduling works on the same clock: give us 48 hours and moving the date is straightforward.

The useful move is not memorising the number, it is planning against it. If a shoot hangs on weather, a client sign-off or one person's availability, know where the 48-hour line falls against your call time before you book, not after.

Find the 48-hour line on your own calendar before you book. Everything you can still change sits on one side of it.

Overtime

Most shoots overrun. Time beyond the booked session is charged as extra, at a rate you should ask for when you book. If there is a real chance you will run long, book the longer block up front rather than hoping to buy the time on the day — how the blocks compare per hour is worked through room by room. A half day is four hours, a full day is eight, and set-up and pack-down sit inside the block, so budget your actual shooting time accordingly.

Do you need insurance to hire a studio?

At Scope, yes. Our terms say clients must have appropriate insurance cover in place for their production, that arranging it is your responsibility, and that we may ask to see it. They also say Scope is not liable for personal injury, loss, or damage to client property, and that you are responsible for any damage to equipment or facilities during your booking, including damage caused by anyone you bring.

What counts as appropriate depends on the production, so treat what follows as general background rather than advice. These are the covers most productions end up discussing with an insurer:

• Public liability, for claims from other people for injury or for damage to their property caused by your shoot. It is not generally a legal requirement, but a hire agreement can still ask for it.
• Employers' liability, if you employ anyone on the day. Most employers are required by law to hold it, and crew who are self-employed for tax purposes can still count as employees for this purpose, depending on how they are engaged.
• Equipment cover, for your own kit and anything you hire in. Scope's terms say the studio is not liable for loss of or damage to client property, so it needs cover of its own.

When you speak to a broker, ask specifically whether the policy covers damage to premises you hire and to equipment in your care. Then have the certificate ready before the day, not on it.

What is firm, and what to ask

Firm policy: 48 hours' cancellation notice, same-day cancellations non-refundable, under-18s accompanied by a responsible adult throughout, you keep full rights to everything you shoot, and you need appropriate insurance cover for your production. The full text is on the terms page.

• Ask for the deposit figure for your specific booking.
• Ask for the overtime rate at the same time — one email covers both.
• If your schedule is tight against the block, say so when booking. Holding extra time in advance is easier than finding it on the day.