Getting permission for location filming

Once the Director has decided on the sort of location / environment for the filming, as the Producer it is my role to source / recce the locations and surrounding areas and get the legal permissions sorted. (One tip to remember – think about where the crew need to be get the shots that are required. This can affect who you need permission from.)

Sourcing locations involves taking a detailed brief from the Director. It is important to make sure I know exactly what needs to be filmed, what key aspect the location must have, what points would it be good to have and what is the budget. I would then gather together a list of my suggestions to meet the brief so that the options can be discussed with the client before I arrange to go and have a look.

On the recce it is important to –
•    Take plenty of photographs at a variety of angles
•    Make a note of the light available and noise surrounding the location
•    Make a note of the power sockets available to you
•    Make a note of the toilet, catering & parking facilities

Whenever you are sourcing a location I would always advise 1 -2 weeks in your pre-production for this. You will have a number of forms that your need to fill in, risk assessments will need to be completed and recces to be carried out.

Obviously this is not always possible and here at iceni we can work to tighter deadlines.
For example – previously I have organised a crew to film in New York and Miami and a separate crew to film in 3 different Europe locations all within a week. The whole project was turned around within 12 days so it can be done but is not preferable. I was in need of a holiday after this one!
Another tip is to keep detailed contact reports, this way you can keep track of who you have contact and what has been agreed.

If you are a small crew and you are filming on public land / pavements then you don’t always need written permission. But there are a few discrepancies with this theory.
If you are filming anywhere in Central London then you must contact the right Borough and get permission for everything. In more rural locations this is not necessary but it is always nice to let the local council know what you are doing and when – it is polite to give them a heads up.

Most of the time for smaller crews there is not a location charge for public places, but again it depends on what you are doing and how much disruption you may cause to the general public. You will need to consider contacting the local police station if you think this is the case.

If you want to film within a business or on private land you must contact the owner. For example, if you want to film in a shopping centre then you need permission from the owner to do so.

This brings me onto permissions and locations for when you are filming outside of the UK.

We have filmed in over 25 different countries and I have an extensive amount of contacts to ensure everything runs smoothly during the whole production. The main thing you need to work out if filming aboard is whether you are taking the kit with you from the UK or whether you are hiring the kit out on location – this depends on budget restraints really.

If you are taking the kit out of the UK you will need to arrange for a carnet. This is a legal document which you must get stamped at customs and there is a charge for getting this from the council.

All of this is as important as the filming itself! My role is to ensure everything is well thought through, contingency plans are in place, all legal requirements are met and that everything is organised so that the crew can just turn up.

I think one of the strangest locations I have had to source was ‘a role top bath which had to be in the centre of a large bathroom’. Thanks to all of my contacts I found the perfect location.

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