How do I rent a live monkey for a video shoot?

[Dwayne Shrader]

Oh! That adventure will be the title of my memoirs. The sarcastic side of me would say go to Washington and hang around Congress and you will find any number of monkeys willing to be on camera for free. Seriously though, as Nick said you’re entering a world of hassle.

First of all you will have to treat the monkey better than any human actor you would hire. Humans are easy. Buy them lunch, show them where the bathroom is and send them home at the end of the day with a little money in their pockets. Done!

You need to find a monkey or chimp that can perform or be trained to perform the task that you require. Sounds like the Chicago primate will work. Make sure the price they quote you includes training if necessary. Anything beyond the simplest of tasks may require some amount of special training. The task our client wanted performed was basically pounding a piece of rubber into a channel. The handler estimated it would take a week to train the chip to do that. Training was billed at a half day rate.

Be prepared to pay transportation and travel expenses. That’s expected and I’m sure you figured on that. Also keep in mind that you will most likely be paying a day rate for the monkey(s) and the handler.

The involvement of the Humane Society (HS) can be influenced by state or locality. The jurisdiction for our project was Atlanta, GA. At that time the HS required notarized records of the handlers certifications, I remember one was a USDA “C-class” Cert, and the animals health records and certificates of vaccination. And then it got stupid… I needed to provide a feeding schedule, a potty break schedule (to and from), a map that showed the route to and from the “relief area”, proof of water supply and feeding area. Some of this may have been influenced by the venue.

We were not required to have HS on site, but they were to make a prevent inspection of the facility and unannounced inspections during the event.

Oh, and then there was the biggie… insurance. You may be required additional insurance on top of what you already carry.

It might be easier to rent a Congressman and a monkey suit.

[Mark Suszko]

Here’s a prop monkey’s paw to purchase… remember – the three wishes that come with it can be VERY tricky to get right.

https://www.dappercadaver.com/products/large-realistic-monkeys-paw.html

[Tim Wilson]

[Dwayne Shrader] “And then it got stupid…”

I respectfully disagree. HS has standards for what “humane” MEANS, and certifications, schedules, relief facilities, feeding — which of these SHOULDN’T be included in what “humane” means? For a kid, you’d need all this PLUS a tutor.

Heck, for a major location shoot, in order to get a permit, you have to show where port-a-potties were going to go, and proof that you have a contract with someone to pump them out.

If you’re in this business for any length of time, you’re gonna have to deal with some kind of shit or another. LOL

And that’s even not counting when monkeys throw their own at you.

[Dwayne Shrader] “Oh, and then there was the biggie… insurance. You may be required additional insurance on top of what you already carry.”

To find out why, I encourage you to Google “chimpanzee tears off face” and “chimpanzee attack face transplant.” I encourage you NOT to look at the pictures.

[Dwayne Shrader]

I agree. Water and feeding doesn’t fall under the ‘stupid’ category, but growing up and living in middle of farm country to me they are givens. It is a sin to deprive an animal of either.

Yes I over simplified the human factor thing, but in my experience it’s still easier to work with people.

I wasn’t going to get into the whole face eating chimp thing. But yes, they are wild animals and at times unpredictable.

[Tom Sefton]

If you manage to get a monkey, I will happily fly from England to work as a monkey fluffer or gear lackey on this shoot.

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

[Tom Sefton] “If you manage to get a monkey, I will happily fly from England to work as a monkey fluffer or gear lackey on this shoot.”

What does a “Monkey fluffer” do?
And wouldn’t this only work on male monkeys?

Shouldn’t be thinking out loud.

However, I’m happy to fly out too and be the monkey (NOT the fluffer), although based on pictures there might be other more suitable (local) people in the thread who would be better actors 🙂

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mark Suszko]

I have to know, whatever happened with the monkey idea? Did it go forward? It has GOT to be Tim’s next cover feature for the COW magazine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSWtCrqB3E4

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[Stephen Pickering]

Despite all of the great offers by some of you to play monkeys, I continued our search… and might have secured a chimpanzee! The chimp tips our budget, but I think it will be worth persuading the client. And I was already warned by the handler that the chimp won’t be petted… I didn’t ask about the dangers of my face being ripped off. Maybe I’ll use a zoom lens…

I’m meeting with the client at the end of the week to discuss details and hopefully get the shoot booked later this month. I have mixed feelings. Some of your words of wisdom scare the heck out of me, but I’m a sucker for a challenge. In all seriousness the suggestions you all gave have helped me a lot. It’s a very small “set” and minimum crew. I was warned the chimp is great for the first take or two but gets bored quickly- so we’ll just have to shoot to get the take the first time. But we also don’t have a storyboard we’re tied to either. We’ll get what we can however we can. And a bored chimp is still cool too.

I’ll keep you all posted on this… adventure!