Location Release forms - universities

dustino

dustino

Well-known member
Hello,
Over the next several weeks (maybe months), I'll be shooting interviews with academics and scholars at local universities for a documentary project I'm working on. So far, they are all at private universities (U. of Chicago and DePaul University). I'm not sure who I need to sign the location release forms. Just wondering if any of you pros out there who do this stuff all the time might be able to point me in the right direction.

I know the beauracracy of universities can sometimes be worse than that of the government (and for public schools - they are the government!). That's why I thought I'd ask here before even attempting to contact the university administators and get a laundry list of requirements. I'm hoping someone might have some tricks of the trade to get this done as painlessly as possible. Thanks for any advice!
 
I am faculty at a university and am not even allowed to film in my own offices due to the liability perceived by the institution - not just physical damage during the shoot, but reputational damage if they do not like the end product.

My suggestion would be to ask the academics if you can shoot in their homes. Most probably have home offices that can roughly replicate their academic environment.
 
Thanks for the advice, Hairy. I did 2 minutes of "reconaissance" and I think you are at a prestigious private school in the northeast. I've got a feeling that your institutions attitudes are probably pervasive to many schools. I think I'll limit my potential headaches and just scrap the idea of shooting at schools. Thanks.
 
I am also on faculty at a university.

Every university has a public relations department. It probably depends on how mainstream or controversial your doc is going to be. Universities love free publicity, and love to have their faculty touted as experts on various subjects.

They're more likely to be friendly towards mainstream news, and less likely to be amenable to independents. That being said, if what you're doing is perceived to be a positive for the university, they're likely to go along. Just realize that they'll also have one of their people present to "assist" you while you're there.

So, depending on the subject, it MIGHT be worthwhile to get permission from the schools to film there.
 
Just for the record, my doc is mildly controversial in that it explores police brutality and many of the subjects are highly critical of Chicago's mayor. Even so, the media relations at DePaul University (private school) here were super-nice and super-easy to deal with. I actually think my being a "nobody" indie guy worked in my favor. They signed my release with no problem. Just throwing that out there for others - it's definitely worth trying to hit up the media relations (or public relations) dept. if interviewing academics.

Thanks for the advice, BTW, Joe!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top