The City of Santa Clarita values student filmmakers and recognizes the student filming community as the creators of tomorrow. Our office is here to help film schools, universities, and colleges help students in obtaining a film permit to film class assignments in Santa Clarita. If you are a student that is interested in filming in Santa Clarita, please follow the below the guidelines and instructions to ensure your project’s success. 

What is a Student Film?

A student film is defined as a student project for a class assignment with insurance coverage provided by the school. If your school cannot provide all the necessary insurance coverage, email us at film@santa-clarita.com

Requesting Information from Your School

As a student filmmaker, you may receive subsidization of certain permit fees. In order to qualify for these, you will need to provide:

• A letter from your professor or advisor on official school letterhead that includes:
  • Your full name
  • Class number or program of study
  • Dates and title of your production
  • A statement clarifying your project is strictly for non-commercial educational purposes
  • Signature from your professor or school official dated within 30 days of your first proposed activity.
• General Liability Insurance and endorsement. For pdf examples of insurance and endorsement, click (pdf link to insurance and endorsement)

Obtain Property Owner Permission

You must obtain permission from the property owner of any location(s) you are planning on filming at. If you are interested in filming on City property, contact the Santa Clarita Film Office at (661) 284-1425 to check availability and rates. Note, filming on City property may incur use or monitor fees.

If you are looking for locations, be sure to check out our Location Library. (Link to “Location Library”)

Submit an Application

To apply for a film permit, download and complete the Permit Application (pdf link to permit application) and email the completed application to film@santa-clarita.com

As you fill out your application, you will need to disclose, in detail, exactly what you wish to film. This includes:

• Contact information (include at least 2 names and telephone numbers of someone from your crew)
• The size of your cast and crew
• The equipment that you plan to use along with specific information on each location(s) you wish to film at including the date(s) and time(s) you wish to film, a detailed description of the scene(s) and any activity taking place as part of the filming.

For more information and helpful resources on the application process, please visit our Apply For a Film Permit page. (Link to “Apply For a Film Permit)

Fees and Payments

Certain film permit fees will be subsidized for students that can provide all the required documents from their school. Most simple student permits end up being $0 in permit fees.

Depending on your production needs, some non-subsidized permit fees may apply such as property usage and personnel fees. Payment for any fees are required prior to permit approval. Payment is accepted in the form of cash, personal checks, and credit cards.

Distribute Filming Notifications

As a cost saving benefit to students and as part of the permit process, you’ll be required to distribute filming notifications to the impacted filming area. These notifications detail the filming schedule, activities, and contact information of your production should anyone have any concerns.

Our office will provide you with the notifications and a map of the area with addresses that must be notified. These filming notices must be distributed at least two business days before any filming activity. Notifications cannot be placed in mail boxes or on cars. Filming notifications must be left on doors or at gates.

If you or someone from your production is unable to distribute the notifications, the Film Office can handle it for you, but you will be responsible for the associated costs.

Permit Approval

Once we have received all the necessary paperwork from you, the Fire Department has reviewed and approved your filming request, notifications of filming have been distributed, any necessary payment has been received, and any other special circumstances have been met, your permit will be approved.  The approved permit will be emailed to you or you can pick it up from our office.

You must adhere to all conditions of the permit and abide by the General Filming Rules (link to “Rules, FAQ, and Safety”) in additional to all Local, County and State rules, regulations and laws regarding filming.

Keep Permit Available and On Set

You are required to keep at least one copy of the approved permit with you on-location at all times and it should be made available for review to any City staff or public safety personnel.  Copies of the permit should also be provided to all public safety officers and security personnel present at the location. The permit should also be shown to any community member that asks to see it.

While filming is ongoing, you are also expected to be available to assist us in responding to any community concerns that arise.