Filming Locations

What filming-locations MCP server does

The filming-locations MCP server exposes the Movie Scene Map atlas through Model Context Protocol. The atlas covers real places where films and television series were shot, along with places where video games, anime, and manga are set. Records can include coordinates, a fame ranking, related productions, and the source supporting each claim.

The data distinguishes between two relationships. Films and series use Wikidata's filming-location relation, while games, anime, and manga use its narrative-location relation. This distinction matters when an agent turns results into prose: a fictional setting should not be described as a place where something was filmed.

The factual dataset is CC0. The server itself is MIT-licensed. Photographs and linked Wikipedia text retain their own licenses.

How it works

A client sends MCP requests to the hosted Streamable HTTP endpoint at https://moviescenemap.com/mcp. The service is stateless and accepts POST requests; a GET request returning HTTP 405 is expected. The older https://thefilmmap.com/mcp address remains available for clients configured before the rename.

The atlas is built from Wikidata. Some records also include evidence extracted from an English Wikipedia Filming section or a setting category. These evidence types remain separate and identify the relevant article and section. Results may include country-level records without coordinates, because coverage is not uniform.

Setup and configuration

The hosted service requires no local installation, account, or API key. A client can use this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "moviescenemap": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://moviescenemap.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For self-hosting, provide the atlas file and start the Node process with ATLAS_JSON=/path/to/atlas-compact.json PORT=8896 node server.mjs. Docker can build and serve the bundled public atlas on port 8896. HOST defaults to 127.0.0.1; the container changes it to 0.0.0.0 so the service is reachable from outside the container.

Tools and capabilities

The filming-locations MCP server provides these operations:

• where_was_it_filmed: returns places associated with a production and their evidence.
• what_was_filmed_here: finds productions recorded at a supplied place.
• search_productions: searches production names without case or accent sensitivity, ordered by best match.
• search_locations: searches place names with optional country and place-kind filters.
• locations_near: finds places within a radius of WGS84 coordinates and reports distance_km.
• top_locations: ranks locations globally or within one country or place kind.
• list_countries: lists countries and their location counts.
• get_statistics: returns live aggregates by medium and place kind, plus leading countries and busiest places.

Limitations and notes

A place record does not identify an individual scene. The data supports the claim that a production filmed at a place, not which scene was filmed there. Games, anime, and manga were not filmed at their narrative locations, so applications must preserve that relationship.

Coverage can be incomplete. Some productions are represented only at country level, and works without a usable placement are listed at moviescenemap.com/gaps/. Counts change with releases; current aggregate figures are available from get_statistics and the Movie Scene Map site. Data downloads are offered as GeoJSON and CSV, with the dataset also mirrored on GitHub.