Film Permits
To support and foster the growth of the local film industry while protecting the safety and welfare of the City's residents, business and public property, the City has established a film permit ordinance to define the requirements and standards for filming in Boise. The City sought feedback from several stakeholders in order to best balance encouraging commercial activity and economic development while protecting the property rights of the City, its residents, and businesses and safeguarding the public's health safety and welfare.
Based on key feedback from stakeholders, the ordinance allows for specific exceptions from the permitting requirements, provides an annual permit option to accommodate local production companies' regular work, and established permits in tiers of impact to determine specific guidelines and expectations.
Apply for a permit online to determine the type of permit needed and the fees associated with each permit.
Exempt Projects
The following scenarios are exempt and do not require a film permit:
- Filming activities on public property for private, non-commercial uses
- Filming activities wholly conducted on private property (e.g. a studio), whether used for commercial use or not
- Still photography, student, contest, charitable films and news media filming
These projects can be certified as exempt free of charge by following the licensing procedures.
Permit Required
Unless exempt, all commercial filming requires a permit. Permits are broken down into tiers of impact based on the specific activities such as location, interruption to pedestrian or vehicular traffic, use of pyrotechnics or weapon props, and more:
- Low Impact
- Medium Impact
- High Impact
- High Impact with SET (Special Event Team)
Annual Low-Impact Film Permits
Any locally-based person conducting only low-impact filming may apply for an annual license for such activities in lieu of numerous individual low-impact tier film permits. If they have a filming activity throughout the year that is not low-impact, but rises to a higher tier of impact, a one-time permit can be applied.
"Locally-based" includes individuals whose primary permanent residence is located within the state of Idaho, or a corporation, limited liability corporation, partnership, or limited liability partnership that was formed in the state of Idaho and maintains an active registration with the Idaho Secretary of State.
Fees
Fees for film permits are aligned to the tiers of impact associated with the project. Apply for a permit on line to determine the type of permit needed and the fees associated with such permit.
Additional Resources
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