FILLMORE : Council Weighs New Filming Fee Plan

Fillmore’s movie policy may be modified if the City Council adopts proposed amendments at a meeting tonight.

City Clerk Noreen Withers said a fee of $500 per day may be applied flexibly if the council votes to create a pre-production committee to review film proposals and set rates on a case-by-case basis.

Under the guidelines, location managers would be required to deposit in advance $500 for each day of filming, but might not have to actually pay that much. Withers stressed that the new policy would charge “up to” $500 a day, but that the actual charge would be less in many cases.

“If they planned to be in town for 10 days, they would pay $5,000,” Withers said. “But if the pre-production committee determined that the impact to the town would not be too great, then the company would get money back at the end of filming.”

Companies that alter their plans without notifying the city, or create a nuisance while filming, would find their refund reduced accordingly, Withers said. She added that the city does not regard film companies as a source of income, and hopes to make the regulations more equitable, especially to long-term projects. “We want to work with the industry, but not at the risk of the city losing control over what they do in town,” Withers said.

The Downtown Merchants Assn. has its own fee schedule and makes arrangements separately from the city. Chairman Larry Dunst said the association is also revising its policy “to be fair to both sides,” but estimated the final version is still weeks away.