Finding YouTube Friendly Filming LocationsHere in Tampa Florida permits are required to film just about anything anywhere. The permits are free, however you need to have liability insurance and include the county and any municipality you will be filming in included as also insured on your policy. There are few other specifications but essentially you are looking at around $10,000 annually for a basic policy that will let you obtain permits. If you get into pyrotechnics or firearms, the cost obviously goes up and you need to have licensed experts, an ambulance on site etc before filming.
Of course, that only gives you permission to film on county property, you cannot go into the Walmart parking lot and start filming without permission from Walmart and that probably needs to come from some corporate vice president in the head office. So don't expect to walk in and ask the manager of the location for permission.
The same is true for strip malls, the property is not owned by any individual store, they rent the space from someone that owns the entire property and the owner must be the one to give consent for filming.
For most small film makers a large insurance policy is cost prohibitive and don't have the time to clear access through corporate channels.
So how do so many people film?
Well, some do it gorilla warfare style and hope they don't get caught. But once you try to commercialize something people start looking for permits and releases.
Sure you can walk into McDonalds and film with your iPhone and post it on YouTube, but technically McDonalds could sue you for damages and that could cost you millions.
Of course they wont waste much time suing people that don't have money, but even defending yourself could cost tens of thousands of dollars and you really have no defense, so they will get a judgement against you and ruin your life, destroy your credit and put you on the verge of jumping off a cliff.
Where is the line?
If you have a permit from the city, you can film from public land, if you step into their property, you need their permission or else.
If you are a big YouTuber, they know you make money. Hey, they can investigate you and find out if it is worth their time to sue you. If not, they may just order YouTube to take down the content.
Make no mistake about the value of these big brands like Walmart and McDonalds. They will spend millions to protect the billions hat they earn. They have entire law firms watching videos and software that scans the internet for anything that would tarnish their brand.
If you are caught in the middle of that, saying something derogatory or showing something that they are not favorable to, you might be ripe for a law suit.
Of course, if you had permission, no problem.
The problem with franchises is that the franchisee does not have authority to let you film. You cannot make a deal with your neighbor that has a McDonalds franchise to make a movie inside the store using the McDonalds brand.
They don't own the brand, they simply has a license to use it in a limited capacity.
OK, this is giving me a headache! Where can I film for FREE? With no hassle.
Probably no place unless you are inside and you own the dwelling.
Or you can work with a studio like Mr Dog Poop Studios that is insured, has experience with permits and legal issues, can work to get releases and will cover the costs.
Otherwise, you have to limit yourself to what you have rights to film.
Even if you are on private property, make sure you have a release from the owner, because if your film makes a shit load of money, they might want a cut. So protect yourself in advance with the proper permits and releases.
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