Nick Carr
@nickcarr.bsky.social
I'm a movie location scout. My job is to explore. This is what I find.
Inquiries / More Posts: www.nickcarr.com
Teamster, Local 399 Hollywood
Inquiries / More Posts: www.nickcarr.com
Teamster, Local 399 Hollywood
Well this was unexpected. I pulled over at this random spot in the desert to take pictures, and I see a blue glint in a bush -- 🧵
October 6, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Well this was unexpected. I pulled over at this random spot in the desert to take pictures, and I see a blue glint in a bush -- 🧵
Last week, I was scouting outside Barstow along a lonely stretch of the old Route 66 when I came across what seems like nothing more than an overgrown field - but look closer and you'll find surprising traces of what it used to be... 🧵
October 5, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Last week, I was scouting outside Barstow along a lonely stretch of the old Route 66 when I came across what seems like nothing more than an overgrown field - but look closer and you'll find surprising traces of what it used to be... 🧵
I was scouting in the desert yesterday when I saw something in the distance and had the weirdest thought: "...Is that a lighthouse?" 🧵
October 1, 2026 at 5:03 PM
I was scouting in the desert yesterday when I saw something in the distance and had the weirdest thought: "...Is that a lighthouse?" 🧵
When I'm scouting for period motels for filming and I want to go beyond the usual suspects, one trick I use is to search eBay for "motel post card [city/town name]."
Back in the 1950s-70s especially, it seems like every motel made a postcard for guests, and it's a great way -🧵
Back in the 1950s-70s especially, it seems like every motel made a postcard for guests, and it's a great way -🧵
September 29, 2026 at 4:35 PM
When I'm scouting for period motels for filming and I want to go beyond the usual suspects, one trick I use is to search eBay for "motel post card [city/town name]."
Back in the 1950s-70s especially, it seems like every motel made a postcard for guests, and it's a great way -🧵
Back in the 1950s-70s especially, it seems like every motel made a postcard for guests, and it's a great way -🧵
Something I wish I'd done back when I lived in NYC: my apartment was at 9th and Wythe in Brooklyn, and for whatever reason, that corner was prone to late night fights. And it was really annoying, because it was almost always two drunk guys yelling ridiculous threats --🧵
September 24, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Something I wish I'd done back when I lived in NYC: my apartment was at 9th and Wythe in Brooklyn, and for whatever reason, that corner was prone to late night fights. And it was really annoying, because it was almost always two drunk guys yelling ridiculous threats --🧵
I love coming across forgotten neon signs for long-gone businesses, and old Chinese restaurants are among my favorite. This chow mein sign used to hang above a photocopy place (also out of business!) at 823 Nostrand in Brooklyn (now a florist, sign sadly removed). Also --
September 23, 2026 at 10:05 PM
I love coming across forgotten neon signs for long-gone businesses, and old Chinese restaurants are among my favorite. This chow mein sign used to hang above a photocopy place (also out of business!) at 823 Nostrand in Brooklyn (now a florist, sign sadly removed). Also --
Let's do a magic trick. Think of a card, any card. Got it? Good.
Now take a trip to Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills...
Now take a trip to Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills...
September 22, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Let's do a magic trick. Think of a card, any card. Got it? Good.
Now take a trip to Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills...
Now take a trip to Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills...
I've been a location scout for 20+ years and it's funny, whenever I'm at a new place, my mind will notice some little detail and instantly make this sort of Sherlock Holmes-like prediction. Like I just passed this house, and right away --🧵
September 17, 2026 at 8:27 PM
I've been a location scout for 20+ years and it's funny, whenever I'm at a new place, my mind will notice some little detail and instantly make this sort of Sherlock Holmes-like prediction. Like I just passed this house, and right away --🧵
And here's why I love NYC: that weird thing you happened to come across? It always turns out to have some sort of interesting history to explain. For example, that tiny magazine shop I wrote about yesterday with the tree growing through it --🧵
September 16, 2026 at 4:08 PM
And here's why I love NYC: that weird thing you happened to come across? It always turns out to have some sort of interesting history to explain. For example, that tiny magazine shop I wrote about yesterday with the tree growing through it --🧵
I have this massive folder of pictures from my location scouting days in New York City, of totally random things I'd come across in my travels. Like, this magazine stand on 6th Avenue that appears to magically have a tree growing through the middle of it - 🧵
September 15, 2026 at 5:42 PM
I have this massive folder of pictures from my location scouting days in New York City, of totally random things I'd come across in my travels. Like, this magazine stand on 6th Avenue that appears to magically have a tree growing through the middle of it - 🧵
The other day, I was out scouting in the middle of the desert when I came something special.
I was making my way across unnamed dirt roads when, in the distance, I saw what looked like an abandoned stone house...🧵
I was making my way across unnamed dirt roads when, in the distance, I saw what looked like an abandoned stone house...🧵
September 14, 2026 at 5:14 PM
The other day, I was out scouting in the middle of the desert when I came something special.
I was making my way across unnamed dirt roads when, in the distance, I saw what looked like an abandoned stone house...🧵
I was making my way across unnamed dirt roads when, in the distance, I saw what looked like an abandoned stone house...🧵
Hmm I appear to have stumbled on the lake’s former marina.
September 12, 2026 at 2:16 AM
Hmm I appear to have stumbled on the lake’s former marina.
I've been scouting this week in the desert, and I keep coming across abandoned boats, which I love because it's such a surreal visual. And given how popular crazy conspiracy theories are these days, I've decided to create a "flat-Earther"-style explanation for their existence -🧵
September 11, 2026 at 6:35 PM
I've been scouting this week in the desert, and I keep coming across abandoned boats, which I love because it's such a surreal visual. And given how popular crazy conspiracy theories are these days, I've decided to create a "flat-Earther"-style explanation for their existence -🧵
One thing I used to love about scouting bigger, pre-war buildings in New York City is when they'd turn out to have inner courtyards I'd otherwise have never known about. One that surprised me most was the Plaza Hotel - 🧵
September 10, 2026 at 4:50 PM
One thing I used to love about scouting bigger, pre-war buildings in New York City is when they'd turn out to have inner courtyards I'd otherwise have never known about. One that surprised me most was the Plaza Hotel - 🧵
As a location scout, I love taking a closer look at older movie locations, so here's the first part of a deep dive I've been working on for you Philly fans: Brian De Palma's Blow Out, comparing 1981 Philadelphia to what it's become 45 years later...
September 9, 2026 at 5:51 PM
As a location scout, I love taking a closer look at older movie locations, so here's the first part of a deep dive I've been working on for you Philly fans: Brian De Palma's Blow Out, comparing 1981 Philadelphia to what it's become 45 years later...
Every time I scout this corporate office park in Irvine, I have to do this. As the architect intended, I'm sure.
September 8, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Every time I scout this corporate office park in Irvine, I have to do this. As the architect intended, I'm sure.
I love when businesses near an airport tip their hat to aviation in some way. The all-timer is the Air Line Diner sign at the Jackson Hole a few minutes from LaGuardia (better known as the Goodfellas diner)..
September 2, 2026 at 4:45 PM
I love when businesses near an airport tip their hat to aviation in some way. The all-timer is the Air Line Diner sign at the Jackson Hole a few minutes from LaGuardia (better known as the Goodfellas diner)..
I recently posted about how Columbia University's wood-paneled lecture hall is THE go-to lecture hall for filming locations; for libraries, it's the Brooklyn Historical Society. As a location scout, you walk in and just go: "OK. We're done."
September 1, 2026 at 5:10 PM
I recently posted about how Columbia University's wood-paneled lecture hall is THE go-to lecture hall for filming locations; for libraries, it's the Brooklyn Historical Society. As a location scout, you walk in and just go: "OK. We're done."
I was scouting a liquor store once, and as I was leaving the owner said, "I hope you decide to film here," and shook my hand with a sly wink - and slipped me one of those tiny bottles of Jack Daniels.
I sometimes wonder if this was smallest attempted bribe in Hollywood history.
I sometimes wonder if this was smallest attempted bribe in Hollywood history.
August 31, 2026 at 10:09 PM
I was scouting a liquor store once, and as I was leaving the owner said, "I hope you decide to film here," and shook my hand with a sly wink - and slipped me one of those tiny bottles of Jack Daniels.
I sometimes wonder if this was smallest attempted bribe in Hollywood history.
I sometimes wonder if this was smallest attempted bribe in Hollywood history.
“It’s Friday night and I’m driving down Alimony Road” sounds like the start to a bad country song…and is also what I’m literally doing right now.
August 29, 2026 at 1:32 AM
“It’s Friday night and I’m driving down Alimony Road” sounds like the start to a bad country song…and is also what I’m literally doing right now.
I was scouting an old military fort once to get some creepy tunnel locations for a horror movie...🧵
August 27, 2026 at 4:22 PM
I was scouting an old military fort once to get some creepy tunnel locations for a horror movie...🧵
I think I love scouting the desert so much because, while it seems like a lot of nothing, there's >always< something interesting to find if you keep looking. Case in point from this morning: nothing, nothing, nothing, wait is that a phone booth under a Joshua tree?
August 26, 2026 at 5:34 PM
I think I love scouting the desert so much because, while it seems like a lot of nothing, there's >always< something interesting to find if you keep looking. Case in point from this morning: nothing, nothing, nothing, wait is that a phone booth under a Joshua tree?
This is a good example of why it was actually quite hard to scout options for The Neighborhood Where All The Houses Look The Same for filming outside NYC. Because most of those tract developments date to the 40s-60s, restrictions on changes had long since lapsed. So you'd find a🧵
August 25, 2026 at 6:26 PM
This is a good example of why it was actually quite hard to scout options for The Neighborhood Where All The Houses Look The Same for filming outside NYC. Because most of those tract developments date to the 40s-60s, restrictions on changes had long since lapsed. So you'd find a🧵
As a location scout, one of the most dramatic shifts I’ve seen in how a movie location is portrayed on screen in recent years is for The Neighborhood Where All The Houses Look The Same.🧵
August 24, 2026 at 6:07 PM
As a location scout, one of the most dramatic shifts I’ve seen in how a movie location is portrayed on screen in recent years is for The Neighborhood Where All The Houses Look The Same.🧵
Earlier this year, I did some industrial cattle farm scouting, and was surprised to find I could barely get anyone to answer the phone, let alone agree to consider filming. Even after showing my credentials, the response was absolute silence, and it was clear something was up.🧵
August 21, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Earlier this year, I did some industrial cattle farm scouting, and was surprised to find I could barely get anyone to answer the phone, let alone agree to consider filming. Even after showing my credentials, the response was absolute silence, and it was clear something was up.🧵