Calabasas to hike fees for filming permits

By Michael Picarella Acorn Staff Writer

The city of Calabasas will get more money from filmmakers when movies are filmed in the city. According to Calabasas media operations director Deborah Steller, City Permit Services, a group that’s handled film permits in the city for a year, reviewed the fee structure and requested the changes. The city council approved the modifications recently and the updates were effective immediately.

Calabasas previously charged $60 when a permit was granted. The city had neither cancellation fees nor road use fees nor charges for filming without a permit. That’s all changed.

"I also run the film office for the city of Malibu and in the city of Malibu, I do 700 permits a year," said Kim Nilsson of City Permit Services. "The (new Calabasas) structure is almost identical. It’s really standard practice. Calabasas just didn’t have it in place yet."

About four filming permits were cancelled last year, according to Nilsson. The city had previously been out $60 when an applicant cancelled. The newly adopted cancellation fee pays for the work that’s done when a permit is processed.

The cancellation fee is $100—the full application process fee.

Another change to the permit process is the addition of road use permits. The system had no fees for driving and filming on city streets, and there was no permit or fee required for cast and crew parking, which could easily be troublesome for city streets.

Calabasas will charge $200 per day for road use. This is required for any type of driving and filming on public roadways, and for parking on streets for five to 30 vehicles. If a film company wants to park more than 30 vehicles, the fee jumps to $400 per day.

Another change to the permit structure is the fee for filming without a permit. The previous system had no fees for companies filming without a permit. Now, anyone filming without a permit will be responsible for double the permit fee. If the regular fee would have been $500 for a film company, the penalty for shooting without a permit will be $1,000.

But discovering anyone who’s filming without a permit—especially in Calabasas with its many gated communities—is difficult, Nilsson said.

"Unless you’re out on a particular street and you call me and say, ‘Hey Kim, they’re out filming, do they have a permit?’ Unless we actually see them or somebody reports it, they don’t get caught," Nilsson said. "There’s probably more filming going on than we actually permit."

The changes, Nilsson said, probably won’t affect the number of permits that are issued. Last year, the city of Calabasas gave out about 29.

For more information or to contact the Calabasas film office, please call (805) 495-7621.

City Permit Services provides services at nights and on the weekends when city staff is usually unavailable.

"It’s been wonderful to have them involved," Steller said. "It’s always been somebody from the city doing extra duty, handling film permits. It’s really nice to have an outside company that has a good handle on this."

The cost of permits varies. Film permits are required for any production that’s filming or taking static shots within the city limits. Student filming also requires a permit, but costs can be waived when the school signs a form, according to Nilsson.

Permit applications can be attained on the city’s Website. Use the following link to download a copy: www.cityofcalabasas.com/filmpermits.html.