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| California Film Permit Czar |
Los Angeles, CA—The great film director Werner Herzog
advises young filmmakers to forge film permits!
The permits require hefty fees, expensive liability and workman’s comp
insurance that aspiring filmmakers simply cannot afford. The result is lost art and missed
opportunities as government tyranny once again raises its ugly head.
The minimum permit fee weighs in at $1,000.00 and when you
add in additional requirements making films in Southern California is
extraordinarily difficult for all but well-financed studios. Of course the studios are smart enough to
film anywhere far away from the L.A. Film Permit Nazis.
Film permits are required even if you’re shooting inside
your own home! The cops will be sent out
to shut down no budget productions and to cite these dangerous criminals. This is just another sad example of government
excess.
I think every filmmaker understands that if streets must be
shut down and dangerous stunts are filmed there are legitimate issues of cost
and public safety. But a tiny
production by hobbyists, film students or beginners does not deserve the boot
of government on their necks.
Steven Spielberg made his first films as a child in Arizona. He never had to fear that cops would shut him
down. Imagine what would have been lost
had that legendary filmmaker been deterred by extortionate government thugs?
In Los Angeles the aspiring artists resort to what we call Guerrilla Filmmaking. They hide their
movie making activities and shoot scenes with a sharp eye out for the
cops. We’ve seen the government clamp
down on children’s lemonade stands in recent times and this makes about as much
sense.
The cost of film equipment has plummeted, as the quality has been
better than ever! People are learning
the magic of making films and the quality that amateurs are accomplishing is
astounding.
Whatever happened to the First Amendment? When did we began to tax expression, art and
thought?
More importantly if you kill filmmaking productivity through
tax extortion and over-regulation normal income taxes won’t be realized
either. The result of this insanity is
that a huge percentage of film production has run far away from Southern
California.
The politicians don’t seem to understand that the people
left behind are the non-productive, imprisoned criminals and those addicted to
entitlements. Does the City of Detroit
mean anything to anyone?
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