Methodology & Data Sources
Filmed At is a reference for where films and television were made. This page explains exactly how the atlas is built — the source of the data, how we structure it, what we choose to publish, and how we handle facts we are not sure about. The goal is a useful answer with visible assumptions, not a black box.
Where the data comes from
Every filming location in the atlas is drawn from Wikidata property P915 (“filming location”), released under the CC0 public-domain dedication. Wikidata is a structured, openly licensed knowledge base maintained by a global community. We ingest the P915 statements — each of which links a film or television work to a real-world place with coordinates — and rebuild the atlas from that export.
The current corpus is 16,703 films and television works mapped across 6,730 places. We do not add filming locations from unsourced trivia pages, forums, or user submissions.
How we structure it
The raw statements are cross-referenced into two connected views: every film lists the real places behind its scenes, and every place lists what was filmed there. Each place carries the coordinates it was given in the source, so it can be shown on a map. We do not invent coordinates — a place appears on the map only when the source provides them.
What we publish, and what we hold back
We do not publish a thin page for every record just to have more pages. A page earns publication when it carries enough real, connected information to be genuinely useful:
- A film page is published and indexed when the film has at least 2 distinct filming locations in the source.
- A place page is published and indexed when at least 3 films were filmed there — about 707 places today.
Records below that bar are not deleted and are still reachable through the atlas, but they are not added to the sitemap and carry a noindex signal until the source has enough about them to make a substantive page. This keeps the indexed atlas made of pages that answer a real question, rather than a large set of near-empty stubs.
Accuracy and uncertainty
Filming-location data is inherently incomplete: not every production documents where it shot, and community data reflects what has been recorded so far. We show what the source supports and avoid overstating it. If a record looks wrong or a location is missing, tell us at hello@filmedat.com and we will check it against the source.
How often it refreshes
Because Wikidata is continuously edited, the atlas improves as new P915 statements are added and existing ones are corrected upstream. We rebuild from a fresh export on a recurring cadence, so coverage grows over time rather than staying frozen at launch.
Licensing and attribution
The underlying location facts come from Wikidata and are dedicated to the public domain under CC0. Map rendering uses OpenStreetMap data. Filmed At is built and operated by Purcell Analytics. For more on the project, see About.