Filming in National Parks?

Matt Sconce

Matt Sconce

Veteran
If I wanted to film scenes set in a National Park, how would I get permits to do that? If I did it guerilla style, could I use the footage later and market it to companies, or can a National park halt my sales or sue me? The park in question is Yosemite National Park in Ca, USA. The movie is a 60-80 minute Mock-Umentary (It does not slam or slander the park at all).
 
I found this on the site for Yosemite:

"Insurance Requirement
Proof of insurance is required and documentation must carry a commercial liability (minimum of $1 million) issued by a U.S. company. Insurance certificate must identify the production company by name and business address. If permittee uses a different name than listed on insurance policy, the relationship between insured company and permittee's company must be identified. The United States Government will be named "additional insured" on the insurance certificate. If further specificity is needed, the U.S. Department of Interior, Yosemite National Park, P.O. Box 700, El Portal, CA 95318", should be used.
Generally the minimum acceptable amount of liability insurance is $1 million each occurrence. High-risk activities or activities which may have the potential for resource impact require higher liability amounts. Smaller, low-risk projects or still photography may be eligible for a reduction to $500,000. Contact our office for details. A request for a permit may be denied if there is no proof of adequate insurance. Personal or homeowners liability is not acceptable. Certificate should be generated by the insurance company. Hand written "certificate holder" information is unacceptable. We will accept a faxed copy of the certificate until your insurance company can mail us the original."




How would a small sole proprietor business get this 1 mil insurance and what type should I get? Thank you for helping!
 
I Have researched this before, the rules usually apply to mass productions, they arent gonna tell you to get the hell out if you standing at yellowstone with a tripod and DVX. If your using a dolly or any equipment over a steadicam anything you have to set up over a peroid of time or comondere part of the part you must pay the fees if your just strolling around with a tripod and camera mabye a couple actors no harm no foul.
 
We will have a boom mic and a make up artist, and possibly a cast of 10 to 15. What do you think...will the boom mic sink us?
 
msconce said:
We will have a boom mic and a make up artist, and possibly a cast of 10 to 15. What do you think...will the boom mic sink us?
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Make sure you add one more crew position, "Look out". Make sure everyone has their running shoes on.
 
Just think of it this way...if you see someone with a big round hat and a green shirt that says ranger on it...jus run outta their site and hide in like a bush or something.

If you use a boom mic...then people would probably start taking notice..then probably park rangers would start asking you questions and then eventually lead to the $1 million insurance plan and to stop filming until you get it...and then if you say no i cant..then they'll ask you to get outta thurrr.
 
msconce said:
We will have a boom mic and a make up artist, and possibly a cast of 10 to 15. What do you think...will the boom mic sink us?
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its not the boom mic, people do interviews at parks with boom mics all the time, its walking around with 10-15 people thats what makes you look more like a production than an indie film, contact the park service and ask for the hook up just for a bit.
 
once you have a finished project they are not going to stop you ( provided you didn't cause a accident in park when you shot) ..

BUT with 10-15 crew/actors all gathered in one location with camera/boom etc you will get STOPPED .. if everybody looks like high school students or very young college students they will probably tell you to leave .. if older they might ask for ID , do a little checking on you and/or take your equipment for a few days ..
so you might consider doing the scenes that have many persons outside the park and keep the scenes where you need to see the vista's to under 5 persons ( never 5 gathered = wireless on actors ... cameraperson and director at camera and all others 30ft away ...do NOT attempt to shoot on weekends ..
 
msconce said:
If I did it guerilla style, could I use the footage later and market it to companies, or can a National park halt my sales or sue me?
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im pretty sure they'll kill you on the spot...no?
 
donatello said:
once you have a finished project they are not going to stop you ( provided you didn't cause a accident in park when you shot) ..

BUT with 10-15 crew/actors all gathered in one location with camera/boom etc you will get STOPPED .. if everybody looks like high school students or very young college students they will probably tell you to leave .. if older they might ask for ID , do a little checking on you and/or take your equipment for a few days ..
so you might consider doing the scenes that have many persons outside the park and keep the scenes where you need to see the vista's to under 5 persons ( never 5 gathered = wireless on actors ... cameraperson and director at camera and all others 30ft away ...do NOT attempt to shoot on weekends ..
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Good advice, thanks! But I was wondering how much insurance up to a million is per month? I have 100,000.00 renters insurance and I pay a measly 1.75 per month through wellsfargo. If I do get permits for shooting in the park, the boom mic and crew can be there, we would have a ranger guide, and would be paying 50.00 per hour of filming. Our budget can cover that, but if the insurance is a ridiculous amount then we definitely couldn't do it. Anyone know what a monthly average would be for 1 mil insurance or where to find out?
 
msconce said:
So basically, if we use a boom mic, we should have a permit?
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No, basiclly if your shooting a commercial production you need insurance and permits. This is not only true in national parks but major cities. Actually you need the permits but to get permits you need insurance. A catch 22. :(

If the rangers or police believe you are not a casual tourist they will ask for permits and insurance and shut you down, They my give you a summons to boot.

BTW you have liability issues of a major proportion if you shoot with or without permits and someone is injured on your cast or if they injure someone else.

Had a crew man walk into pool jaccuzzi during a shoot and scrap a big chunk of meat off one leg. He had a lawyer on the phone before he got to the hospital. We had accident and liability insurance which covered his injury and stupidy as well:laugh: There are many companies that provide acciddebt and liability insurance for film/video and events.

Beware!

Stephen Cannon
 
I've personally been to Yosemite over 20 times, probably totaling more than 40 days or so. That said, I know absolutely NOTHING about their policies, nor am I a ranger or a lawyer -- so my advice is don't listen to what I have to say, or listen at your own risk. LOL! Now that the disclaimers are out of the way, being a climber, I've explored large sections of the park that are off the beaten path both in the Valley proper and up in the high country (Tuolumne). First, in all of those times, I've never seen an official-looking crew doing anything. So, if you "look" like a crew, people WILL notice. Second, I think the two giveaways are the boom and the 15-person group of people walking around. However, large groups of "tourons" really isn't that rare, so if the group looks like a bunch of hikers and not a film crew with dollies, cranes, etc., people might not notice, but if everyone is standing around acting out a scene in front of a camera, I think you'd get noticed. Third, the rangers are out and about all of the time in the obvious places. If you stay near the tourist areas you'll probably get spotted (these obvious areas include not only the pullouts and picnic areas such as El Cap Meadow and Bridal Veil Falls, but also the popular trails such as the trails to Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and Glacier Point, etc.). HOWEVER, that said, if you were careful and scouted your locations beforehand, you might just be able to find some out-of-the-way locations that you might be able to pull off guerilla-style. This, of course, depends on what you had in mind in the way of backdrops for your flick, and on things like whether you'd be willing to hike in a ways or go to places like Tuolumne instead (although I'm betting you're after a waterfall or Half Dome or El Cap). And if you do go guerilla-style, remember to use the old Jedi mind tricks, they can go a long way sometimes (look and act confident at all times to everyone, and then only play totally dumb and innocent when actually approached and questioned by someone who is official). Anyway, just thought I'd share some thoughts. And my "official" recommendation is not to attempt anything without a permit. And without a doubt, some of the Valley cops are TOTAL JERKS, so take that into consideration too. This really comes down to a trade-off between dealing with all the official beuracracy and risking getting the whole crew up there and getting shut down (I doubt you'd get arrested or anything like that, but who knows?). You'll have to make that call by weighing the risks on your own of course.
 
hmmm...this is all excellent food for thought. I live an hour away from the park and go there alot so I really do not want to mess this up for myself or the Mockumentary. I think we will need a total of 3-5 days of filming in the park. We can get the scenery, with a tripod and camera and do not need permits for that, but the shots where the actors are in front of known locations will need to be shot with the crew. I guess that means permits and that means insurance. We will be able to film a lot of locations outside of the park that look like Yosemite, so that will help a lot. Any other advice and could someone please point me in the right direction for the insurance required for this project. I don't even know what the insurance would be called for a film, or who the best people to go with are?
 
I was taking pictures of the Vietnam war memorial a few years back and was stopped by a ranger. He asked if I was a professional and I had no choce but to admit (Had a 350mm f2.8 lens on a motor driven SLR on monopod...). So he told me the monument was under National Park jurisdiction and all pro photography could be done only with proper permits, even press/documentary photography. I claimed ignorance (true!) being a foreigner. He just asked me to stop and leave, which I did.

About insurance: why do not just contact (call, e-mail) some insurance companies and ask how much such an insurance might be? Why shoud we know things like that?
 
Petrus said:
About insurance: why do not just contact (call, e-mail) some insurance companies and ask how much such an insurance might be? Why shoud we know things like that?
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Because, I assume that, a lot of the people on this site work with permits and insurance for their films. It is always best to ask someone who has experience, and follow in footsteps that worked. That is my philosophy at least. What worked for them will probably work for me.
 
msconce said:
Because, I assume that, a lot of the people on this site work with permits and insurance for their films. It is always best to ask someone who has experience, and follow in footsteps that worked. That is my philosophy at least. What worked for them will probably work for me.
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I've shot some in national parks without notice. Got lucky. This, with a dolly and track no less. If a ranger sees you, he will stop you. Depending on the sophistication of your set-up, he/she may give you a pass, or may shut you down completely. This is a risk. If you can afford to shut down and reloacte, then do it.

Production insurance isn't as expensive as you might think. Most locations require the same $1 million liability coverage (some require $2 million). I researched rates a while back, and from what I recall, it was something like $1,200 for a production lasting a few contiguous days. I passed on that since coverage for an entire year was only like $3,000, or something about that (maybe it was $3,500, I can't remember). If you plan to do a lot of shooting during the year, the annual policy is clearly the better deal.

Permits (a separate fee, apart from the cost of insurance) in general, tend to run anywhere from about $500 to $1,000 a day (sometimes good for up to a few days in a row).

Like I said, if you can afford to shut down and relocate, try shooting without a permit and insurance. The only thing you really don't need a permit for is "family home video" and "criminal investigation video." Clearly, "family" video is NOTHING more than like a one-chip camera photgraphing your REAL family doing actual unscripted family things.
 
This Helps SO MUCH! I did not know it was called production insurance and had no clue about the rates! I can now know where to research! It appears Yosemite offers permits at 50.00/hr or 500.00 per day to shoot in the park so for five days of shooting, and 1 mil insurance, I am looking at about 6000.00 That is not a bad overhead, when most of the actors are wanting to work for free and a possible payment, upon success. The script is brilliant and the actors are great so the only thing that can wreck this is... ME! I need to study some more cinematography and shoot more movies so that in two years, I can be ready for this. It appears that we will film two summers from now, so I have time for all this paper work, equipment purchases, schedule clearing and so forth. I appreciate all the help, and will let you guys know what I find out along the way.
 
There's a possibly much better alternative for you on the insurance, which is to get under some other company's umbrella. Essentially they sign on as co-producers of your film, and in exchange you get to use their insurance. My company has recently purchased an annual policy and we do resell our insurance to smaller productions in this way, at greatly reduced rates over what you'd be looking at to have your own policy. Many other companies will do the same... in fact I know a few production companies that do almost nothing but this.
 
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