Film This!

Upcoming LAUSD Filming Application Deadline The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools will not be in session during the annual winter recess break beginning Monday, December 21, 2020 through Friday, January 8, 2021. LAUSD school facilities may still be available for filming and/or parking use during this time, however requests must be discussed and coordinated with school site administrators prior to the applications being submitted to FilmLA for processing. With limited staffing during the winter recess break, communication with school administrators, procuring custodial staff, and gaining access to school sites may be challenging. As such, the deadline to submit a license application to FilmLA for use of LAUSD school facilities during the winter recess break is Wednesday, December 16, 2020.

Filming in Commercial Districts During the Holiday Season City of Los Angeles Each year, in an effort to reduce the impacts of construction, events and filming on businesses that rely on holiday sales, the City of Los Angeles implements temporary restrictions on production activity in commercial districts. For 2020, mindful also of the challenges facing these businesses as a result of COVID-19, filming activity involving lane closures, street closures and street parking wil...l be limited in all commercial/retail areas of the city during the following windows of time: November 25 29 December 4 6 December 11 13 December 18 27 Individual filming requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and must meet a standard of minimal impact that satisfies the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, the Department of Transportation, the local City Council office and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Temporary Holiday Filming Moratorium for the LAX Area In an ongoing effort to provide future filming opportunities on active roads in Southern California, the LAX Film Office in conjunction with FilmLA and supported by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is issuing this notice. There will be a temporary moratorium on any permit requests for closures and/or rolling breaks on any roadways within a four (4) mile radius of LAX during the period November 20, 2020 through November 30..., 2020 (Thanksgiving) and December 18, 2020 through January 4, 2021 (Christmas / New Year). This short term measure, taken after careful review of the on-going LAX construction, traffic counts and the time pressures precipitated by the volume of both cargo and travelers projected during the upcoming holiday season, will continue to ensure that the LAX area will remain viable for more anticipated filming requests after the holiday season has concluded. Consideration of permit requests for filming prior to or after the moratorium dates will continue to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with reference to the existing guidelines.

Filming During a Stay at Home Order: Recommendations from FilmLA Since June, when on-location film production resumed in Los Angeles under modified public health orders, the State of California has viewed workers supporting the film, television and commercial production industrywho number in the hundreds of thousands here in Greater LA as essential for the state’s critical infrastructure.... FilmLA is unaware of any plans to revisit or modify the state’s essential worker definitions, but new Stay at Home orders this week remind us that the COVID-19 pandemic’s progress is unpredictable, and new business regulation can affect any industry at the state, county or city level, at any time. With Coronavirus case counts surging and many sectors of the economy reeling, FilmLA asks all industry customers to be vigilant to help protect jobs and public health: First and foremost, we urge strict observance of the LA County Public Health Order, Appendix J, written to help protect your cast, crew and vendors from COVID-19. Inattention to these protocolseven in just a handful of situationscould jeopardize community confidence in our ability to operate safely. In addition, now and through the end of the year, we urge filmmakers to voluntarily limit and/or avoid activities likely to invite a negative community response. Examples of high-impact activities include, but are not limited to: any activity requiring Community Filming Surveys, activity that affects customer access to retail businesses, significant prep, strike or filming on secular and religious holidays, and requests that involve extended street parking, overnight filming, street closures, or aircraft use. We realize that bringing filming to our communities always involves balancing a variety of stakeholder needs. As of today, applications for complex shoots will continue to be processed by FilmLA and reviewed by permit authorities on a case-by-case basis. But we also urge customers to keep community concerns in mind. The decisions we make today could determine the welcome we’ll receive tomorrow. Thank you for supporting filming in Los Angeles.

Special Considerations for Filming on Location Filming on location can pose certain risks compared with shooting on a studio/stage set. Given the changing epidemiology of COVID-19, particular attention to current public health guidelines and outbreak hotspots is important. Those responsible for selecting a location should take the following considerations into account.... Provide adequate space, such as additional trailers, tents and eating space, during location filming to allow for physical distancing. Perform wipedown of high-touch areas at least daily. Minimize use of crowd scenes or street scenes when a controlled flow of people is not possible. Outdoor Locations Prioritize locations where access can be secured and members of the production can be kept away from the general public when possible. The location shall provide sufficient space for performing planned production activities while adhering to physical distancing recommendations. Prioritize locations with access to hand- washing facilities. Provide ample mobile hand hygiene stations. If shooting in inclement weather, provide adequate shelter facilities such as tents to allow physical distancing of cast and crew. Indoor Locations Productions should avoid locations that recently have been occupied or used by people who may have been infected with COVID-19, if possible. If an occupied private home or building location is required for shooting, the occupants should be asked about signs/ symptoms of COVID-19 and should vacate the premises for proper cleaning and sanitizing prior to pre-production crew and production cast and crew entering the facility. Productions shall select buildings that can be easily and effectively cleaned and that provide sufficient space for performing planned production activities while adhering to physical distancing recommendations. Locations with hand-washing facilities available should be prioritized. Allow adequate ventilation of indoor locations. Scouting Traditional, in-person location scouting is considered essential to the success of a production. However, given the need for physical distancing and minimizing entry into private spaces, consider alternative options. To the extent possible, location teams should pursue alternatives to traditional, in-person location scouting, such as creating virtual options including the use of photographs and digital scouting. Tech and director scouting should occur in small groups to the extent possible. All departments that provide assessments of scouting locations (environmental hazard assessment, engineering, etc.) as well as the location teams shall be trained in appropriate PPE use and provided sufficient PPE. Locations shall be prioritized during scouting that allow complete control of the site, including controlling access, ability to shut down the site for cleaning and high standards of hygiene.