From: Jim Carlile (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Aug 01 2007 - 18:45:50 PDT
Quote:
"Just because LA has famously onerous regulations doesn't make these
proposed regulations for New York good ones. These proposed rules are not a
"loosening up" compared to what we had before them. They are eleven single-spaced
pages governing the kind of film and video work that has never required a permit
before."
--Indeed they are loosening up. Prior to these rules, cops could throw you
out from anywhere. It was completely arbitrary.
Quote:
"And we don't want to compare New York City to some suburban enclave or the
industry town that LA is. That's the whole point."
--You guys have a weird idea about L.A. It's hardly "sterile and
over-regulated." Regardless, every place has filming permit rules. What's interesting
about the NY proposal is that you do NOT need to get a group filming permit
for limited times. That is an EXTREMELY good deal compared with anywhere else
I've heard of.
Quote:
"New York City has an entirely different tradition in film - of street
photography, of a vital sidewalk life that's been captured in documentaries and
still photographs and experimental work like Jack Smith's and many people on
this list."
--You can still do all that stuff. In fact, now you can do it with impunity.
A half-hour is a good amount of time for a crew to film without having to
get a permit. Try that anywhere else.
Quote:
"Of work that is, as Jem Cohen, who led the formation of Picture New York,
wrote: "by its very nature, inextricably born out of free and random movement
through the city, street photographers cannot know exactly where and when
they intend to work, or for how long. One cannot regulate an art form or
activity by negating its very premise. The proposed rules, in refusing to recognize
the spontaneity which is at the core of street photography, are untenable for
that reason alone.""
--That's way overwrought. These rules will not eliminate street filming. If
anything, they will force cops to keep a 'hands-off' policy for limited
times. That's not the case right now.
A good point is made about protest filming. And the insurance requirements
for +30 minute shoots are onerous. But the permits are free. I think
eliminating the liability insurance for non-commercial filming is a good idea.
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