Backlot

A backlot is a studio's outdoor set inventory: permanent exterior streets, building facades, and landscapes built to stand in for real places — New York blocks, small-town squares, European alleys, western main streets — with the production control of studio property. The facades are typically shells; interiors are shot on a soundstage next door.

The backlot's appeal is the same as the stage's, moved outdoors: you can close the street, age it, destroy it, flood it, or reset it to 1940, none of which a real city grants. Company moves shrink to a golf-cart ride, and a "location day" happens a hundred meters from crew parking, catering, and the production office — which is real schedule money on any below-the-line budget.

Famous backlots are palimpsests of film history: Universal's Courthouse Square, Warner Bros.' Midwest Street, Paramount's New York — each redressed for thousands of productions across decades. Modern purpose-built campuses like Trilith continue the tradition at franchise scale.

Browse profiles of the world's iconic backlots and stages in our locations directory — or list a facility if you operate one.