Permits and Insurance on a Two-Person Shoot

The paperwork that sits outside the shot list

Weather, power and lens choice get planned for. The paperwork that makes a location legal usually gets planned for last. A crew of two isn't exempt. A permit office or a venue manager asks the same questions whether you bring two people or twenty.

New York City is our worked example here because its film office publishes its rules in plain terms. Other cities differ, so treat this as a map of the questions. The local film office has the answers.

When a small crew needs a permit

The line is drawn by what you bring and what you claim, not by headcount. New York's film office says permit-free filming uses a hand-held camera, a camera on a tripod, and hand-held props or equipment, as long as the production does not assert exclusive use of City property, use prop weapons or vehicles, or ask for parking for production vehicles. Standing on a City sidewalk with a hand-held camera does not require a permit.

A permit becomes necessary once there is an equipment package, which the office defines as anything more than a hand-held camera, a camera on a tripod or hand-held items. It is also needed for exclusive use of City property, or if you need police or fire department assistance. The fee is $500 for each consecutive 14-day period or portion of one, so a shoot that crosses a boundary is billed for the whole next period.

For two people, the practical test is the light kit. A camera, a boom pole and a bounce board are one thing. Stands, a flag and a battery pack are a conversation to have with the office before the day, not on the sidewalk.

The certificate of insurance is the real gate

Once a permit is required, so is insurance. New York asks for commercial general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence, written on an occurrence basis rather than claims-made, with the City named as additional insured.

Small crews trip on the details. The named insured on the certificate has to match the company name on the permit application exactly, down to "LLC" or "Inc." The broker, not you, sends the certificate, and at least 48 hours before the application is filed. If the policy dates do not cover the whole project, a new certificate is due at least 10 days before expiry.

A certificate is not only a city requirement. An owner lending you a room will ask for one too, which is part of working in a space built for something else. The additional-insured wording is the part to ask them about first.

What a short policy covers

General liability is the policy the permit asks for, and it usually carries a $1 million limit that an umbrella policy can raise. It covers injury and damage to third parties. It doesn't cover your camera. Equipment is a separate coverage, as are auto, workers' compensation and errors and omissions, which protects the finished film rather than the shoot.

Short-term policies can cover a single production, in some cases for as little as a day, while annual policies suit anyone shooting several projects a year. If you bring in a second pair of hands, ask the broker how a freelancer is treated: workers' compensation is usually arranged through a payroll company and can extend to freelancers and volunteers. Prices vary by project, and the figures a payroll vendor advertises are a starting point for a quote, not a number to plan around.

What we would do first

Ask the film office whether the shoot needs a permit before buying anything. Ask the venue what certificate wording they expect. Then get a broker quote early, because the certificate has a lead time that the shoot date does not care about. Whichever of film, music or sound is the reason you are on location, the paperwork takes the same days to clear.