I had to shoot an elephant, in the middle of a street in Los Angeles. I needed to shoot across the street in order to see a nice house behind the elephant. And the best place to shoot from was the front lawn of the house across the street. My producer left a note in that owner’s mailbox, explaining things like the timing, who would be there, the fee we would pay, etc. This is LA, people are used to things like this. No problem. But, days go by and no response at all. Another nice note is left. A visit to the home is made. No response. More days go by, and now we are getting close to the shoot date, and there is still no response from the owner of the home, whose front lawn we would VERY MUCH like to shoot from. My producer is getting very antsy. No response is not usual. This was definitely the best spot – really the only spot to shoot from – and nothing was getting the owner’s attention.
My producer and I huddle up on the phone and try to think of what to do. We can’t just show up and shoot on her front lawn, obviously. “Try some baked goods,” I said. “I mean, who doesn’t like baked goods, right?” So, the producer goes to a bakery, gets some cookies and such, and drops them off in the mailbox with yet another nice note. The next day we get a call from the owner and everything turns out fine. A great chocolate chip cookie can always brighten your day, or your whole shoot.
Hunter Freeman's Blog 