Bill to eliminate additional shooting fees in National Parks

[n8ture]

Currently small production companies are lumped into the same group as the major motion picture companies.

Any filming in National Parks for commercial purposes requires a permit, location fees and other fees may be applicable.

One or two filmmakers with minimal equipment such as just a camera and tripod are exempt from location fees but are still required to pay for a permit and additional fees may be applied as well.

The current law was never intended to include the small indie film crew but language was never included to exempt the independent.

Still photographers are exempt from this law as they lobbied to have language included in the current law to exempt them from these requirements.

A bill is currently in committee that will allow the small film and video companies of five or less crew members to be exempt from any fees other than a single yearly permit which would cost $200.

Currently you would need a permit for each park you wished to shoot on and would likely have to pay additional fees on top of that.

Below is a summary of the bill that is currently in committee:

H. R. 5502
To amend Public Law 106-206 to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to require annual permits and assess annual fees for commercial filming activities on Federal land for film crews of 5 persons or fewer.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 27, 2008

Mr. BOREN (for himself and Mr. YOUNG of Alaska) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend Public Law 106-206 to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to require annual permits and assess annual fees for commercial filming activities on Federal land for film crews of 5 persons or fewer.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this Act is to provide commercial film crews of 5 persons or fewer access to film in areas designated for public use during public hours on Federal lands.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL PERMIT AND FEE FOR FILM CREWS OF 5 PERSONS OR FEWER.

(a) In General- Section (1)(a) of Public Law 106-206 (16 U.S.C. 460l-6d) is amended by--
(1) redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively;
(2) striking `The Secretary of the Interior' and inserting `(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided by paragraph (3), the Secretary of the Interior';
(3) inserting `(2) OTHER CONSIDERATIONS- ' before `The Secretary may include other factors'; and
(4) adding at the end the following new paragraph:
`(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR FILM CREWS OF 5 PERSONS OR FEWER-
`(A) For any film crew of 5 persons or fewer, the Secretary shall require a permit and assess an annual fee of $200 for commercial filming activities or similar projects on Federal lands administered by the Secretary. The permit shall be valid for commercial filming activities or similar projects that occur in areas designated for public use during public hours on all Federal lands administered by the Secretary for a 12-month period beginning on the date of issuance of the permit.
`(B) For persons holding a permit described in this paragraph, the Secretary shall not assess, during the effective period of the permit, any additional fee for commercial filming activities and similar projects that occur in areas designated for public use during public hours on Federal lands administered by the Secretary.
`(C) In this paragraph, the term `film crew' includes all persons present on Federal land under the Secretary's jurisdiction who are associated with the production of a certain film.'.
(b) Recovery of Costs- Section (1)(b) of Public Law 106-206 (16 U.S.C. 460l-6d) is amended by--
(1) striking `collect any costs' and inserting `recover any costs'; and
(2) striking `similar project' and inserting `similar projects'.

[n8ture]

Why should this matter to you if you don't shoot nature or wildlife films?

Because of the trickle down effect.

The parks have made millions of dollars imposing these fees. They would have had over $5k from me in February if I had gone to Yellowstone.

Do you think city and states won't jump on this with budgets getting squeezed from every direction?

Want to shoot ELD II in the park in Iowa City? Sure, no problem. $200 permit fee, name the city as an additional insured on a $1,000,000 liability policy and pay a city employee $65 an hour to monitor your activities.

Think it can't happen? Don't be so sure.

[filmmakerbruce]

Very good point!

We could all be stuck filming in our own basements if we don't speak up.

B

[EricDeanFreese]

My wife charges me a permit fee to use our basement.

[tim]

What does it currently cost to get a permit as a 1-2 man crew? Is it a nominal, filing-type fee (say $15 or something) or are we talking hundreds just for a day?

[n8ture]

It's $200 to just apply for the permit and they WILL stick you at $65 an hour to have a ranger follow you around in Yellowstone.
You need a separate permit for EACH national park, national forest etc.

To shoot in Yellowstone was going to cost me over $4k in fees. The still photographers I was going with didn't have to pay a dime.

[tim]

It's $200 to just apply for the permit and they WILL stick you at $65 an hour to have a ranger follow you around in Yellowstone.
You need a separate permit for EACH national park, national forest etc.

To shoot in Yellowstone was going to cost me over $4k in fees. The still photographers I was going with didn't have to pay a dime.

Whoa...

[n8ture]

And that's just for Yellowstone. Want to go next door to Grand Teton? That's a new permit and more fees.

[MartinPauly]

That's good news! It never made sense to me why the size of the production/crew was not considered a factor in the past.

Is this expected to go through smoothly, or would it be a good idea to write to the appropriate lawmakers and lobby for support?

- Martin

[n8ture]

I'd write anyone you can. There's no word on how it's going in committee right now.

You can track its progress here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-5502