Filming Permits

R

RVerma5

Hi!

I'm an indie/student filmmaker and I've been looking to shoot out of town. I'm planning to make a film in 2016 and distribute it (planning quite a bit in advance, I know). I was wondering- are film permits required for distribution? As a student, it is very VERY hard to get one because they require an insurance of $1 Million and I have absolutely no idea how to get that money or anything even close to it.

I'd like to sell my film/charge people to see it, but do you know if that would require a filming permit when we film? I know for private property, a written consent from the owner usually suffices, but is it necessary for a small $7,500-$10,000 production?
 
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insurance of $1 Million
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Oh boy. Insurance coverage of $1mil. It's not the cost of the insurance. It'll probably cost you in the area of $3k depending on what you're shooting.

a written consent from the owner usually suffices
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Umm.... errrr. That's like asking, my car only costs $500. It's a cheap car. Do I really need a license to drive it on the road.
 
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RVerma5 said:
I know for private property, a written consent from the owner usually suffices, but is it necessary for a small $7,500-$10,000 production?
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It's better to get written consent but would someone actually sue if you do no harm, merely film? I would think not, but sure there is always a risk hence the reason for getting consent and eliminating that risk.
 
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@ Sweetie- Ah, I'm very mistaken then haha, thank you then! Do you know where you'd get those?
I'm sorry, I actually have no knowledge of where to get one/How to get one.

@Paul- Ah, I'm sorry, I meant "but is it necessary..." for the permit, not the written consent haha. I always get written concept regardless of budget. :P
 
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Do you know where you'd get those?
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I don't know companies in your area so no. I'd check with your local government film advisory (their proper name escapes me right now). They'll usually have a list of people, services, locations and so on. I hear Albuquerque has a half decent filming scene with a few tv shows being shot there lately.

As for the need to have a permit on private property, it'll depend on your local laws. Most areas let you film on private property without a permit, from what I hear, some don't.
 
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As a student I'd start by looking into your school's resources - some will have insurance policies that cover student productions. If that's not an option you could see if you can find a small local production company who is willing to participate in your production and cover the permits under their insurance. If you end up having to buy the insurance yourself it's likely that the cost will eat up a significant portion of your budget in the range you've described.
 
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ItDonnedOnMe said:
As a student I'd start by looking into your school's resources - some will have insurance policies that cover student productions. If that's not an option you could see if you can find a small local production company who is willing to participate in your production and cover the permits under their insurance. If you end up having to buy the insurance yourself it's likely that the cost will eat up a significant portion of your budget in the range you've described.
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This is good advice. As a student, as far as I remember, your shoots are insured on School property. Most schools have plenty of locations to choose from.

As an aside, for a film I'm shooting this October, I just got done talking to the insurance broker. I'm getting a $2mm coverage for 12 months, as the city of Toronto requires $2mm general liability coverage for permits. The total cost is just over CAD$1400 including taxes. It's $650 for a 10 day or a limited shoot, or $1400 for 12 months.
 
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There are also schools here in the NY Metro area that have "blanket" policies which cover shooting within a specified radius; for example, the NYU policy covers students shooting in the Five Boroughs (at least it used to...).

There are also a few film collectives in the area that share equipment and insurance expenses, among other resources; something else for you to investigate.
 
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Thanks for all the advice everyone! I appreciate it a ton!

My only problem now is that this isn't a film for school per say. I am currently a student (which means my means of finances are relatively low given all my school related costs) which is why I brought it up haha.

and $1,400 isn't too bad actually. I'd be filming in about two states so for me that'd get costly, but I'm probably going stick to one if that becomes the case.

Also, I mean this with the most respect possible to all my repliers. My actual question hasn't been answered yet (does distribution require permits?). Any ideas on that?

But I will definitely check into what my school has to offer for non-student films.
 
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It's hard to answer the question of whether distribution will require permits - it depends a lot on the distributor. What they may want you to have is errors & omissions (E&O) insurance which will protect them in the case someone tries to sue them for something like using their property in the film without permission. E&O insurance is usually cheaper the earlier in the process you get it, and the insurer may require things like releases & permits in order to insure you. If you need to get it later in the process (i.e. film is done and a distributor is asking you to provide it) it's probably going to be very expensive (and/or difficult to get) if you don't have things like releases because without those the potential liability is greater. Again though - it's all going to come down to the particular distributor and may depend on what kind of distribution they are providing.
 
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