The Borough of Westwood has determined that family-friendly commercial filming is an important industry in the Borough and should be regulated to maintain the health and safety of all persons, mitigate the disruption to all persons within filming areas, maintain the safety of property within the Borough of Westwood, and control traffic congestion at certain locations within the Borough. This chapter is not intended to apply to purely private filming events, including, but not limited to, the filming or photographing of a wedding or private social function, or the filming by any public entity; neither is it intended to include the filming of news stories.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The capture of still or motion images on any recording medium including digital or physical formats, for commercial, educational, or entertainment purposes. Filming includes activities intended for distribution or viewing in theaters, television, streaming services, computers, mobile devices, social media, or any other public or private display platforms.
Any film which is financed and/or distributed by a major motion picture studio, including but not limited to the following:
Universal Pictures.
Warner Brothers, Including New Line Cinema, Castle Rock Cinema, Village Road Show and Bel-Aire.
Paramount, including MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movie.
20th Century Fox, including Fox searchlight.
Sony/Columbia.
Disney/Miramax.
MGM/United Artists.
Dreamworks.
Any major streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, or Amazon Prime Video.
Any production for which the budget is at least $2,000,000 or has a total combined footprint of 50 people, cast/crew/executives/background, etc.
A film that is created or funded by a non-profit organization, which is a corporation that is established to serve a charitable or educational purpose.
Any and every public street, highway, sidewalk, square, public park, playground or any other public place within the Borough which is within the jurisdiction and control of the Borough of Westwood.
A film produced by a student enrolled in a filmmaking or television class at an accredited educational institution.
A.
No person or organization shall film or permit filming within the Borough of Westwood without first obtaining a permit, therefore, which permit shall set forth the location of such filming and the date or dates when setup, wrap up and filming shall take place. A permit is required to be applied for at least 10 business days prior to the first date that setup/filming is to take place, or an expedited fee will be incurred.
B.
Permits shall be obtained in the office of the Borough Clerk during normal business hours. Applications for such permits shall be in a form approved by the Borough Clerk and shall be accompanied by a permit fee in the amount established herein.
C.
One application and permit shall be required for each location. Said permit(s) must be readily available for inspection by Borough officials at all times at the site of the filming.
D.
No permit shall authorize filming for more than three consecutive days in any one location, and in no event shall filming at one location within the Borough exceed a total of six days in one calendar year, regardless of the number of permits utilized in reaching the six day maximum. This six-day limitation may be extended only if the filming requested constitutes a major motion picture as defined herein. When filming is requested with respect to a major motion picture, the approved location of such filming and approved duration of such filming by specific reference to day or dates shall not exceed six days in duration. Any days necessary to be used for set up in preparation for a major motion picture filming may, at the discretion of the Borough Clerk, be counted as a filming day where such set up is anticipated to involve the following: traffic congestion at the location caused by vehicles to be parked on the public street; applicant's ability to remove film-related vehicles off the public street; when the applicant is requesting restrictions on the use of public streets or public parking during the course of the filming; nature of the film shoot itself, i.e.: indoor or outdoor, day or night; prior experience of the film company/applicant with the Borough, if any; and consultation with the appropriate Council representative as designated by the Mayor. The Borough Clerk in his or her discretion may extend the six day filming location limitation provided for herein where such filming occurs entirely upon public lands following a favorable review of the factors set forth herein.
E.
If a permit is issued and, due to inclement weather or other good cause, filming does not in fact take place on the dates specified, the Borough Clerk may, at the request of the applicant, issue a new permit for filming on other dates, subject to full compliance with all other provisions of this chapter. No additional fee shall be paid for this permit.
F.
The Borough Clerk may refuse to issue a permit whenever the Clerk determines on the basis of objective facts and after a review of the application and a report thereon by the Police Department and by other Borough agencies involved with the proposed filming site, that filming at the location and/or the time set forth in the application would violate any law or ordinance or would unreasonably interfere wit the use and enjoyment of adjoining properties, unreasonably impede the free flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or otherwise endanger the public's health, safety or welfare.
G.
Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Borough Clerk denying or revoking a permit or person requesting relief pursuant to Subsection F may appeal to the Mayor and Council. A written notice of appeal setting for the reasons for the appeal shall be filed with the Borough Clerk. An appeal from the decision of the Borough Clerk shall be filed within 10 days of the Borough Clerk's decision. The Mayor and Council shall set the matter down for a hearing within 30 days of the day on which the notice of appeal was filed. The decision of the Mayor and Council shall be in the form of a resolution supporting or reversing the decision of the Borough Clerk at the first regularly scheduled public meeting of the Mayor and Council after the hearing on the appeal, unless the appellant agrees in writing, to a later date for the decision.
H.
No permit shall be issued for filming upon public or private lands unless the applicant shall provide the Borough of Westwood with satisfactory proof of the following:
(1)
The number of members of the filming crew.
(2)
The estimated number and description types of all vehicles to be used by the crew, including vehicles used for transportation.
(3)
A description of arrangements for parking for crew and work vehicles during all phases of filming, ie: setup, film days, and wrap days.
(4)
A description of sanitary arrangements to be made for crew and bystanders.
(5)
A description of crowd control measures.
(6)
A description of all location areas for filming or incidental activities.
(7)
A description of cleanup methods to be used.
(8)
A description of any electrical requirements and the methods of satisfying those requirements, including all electrical permits required.
(9)
Such information necessary to establish that the applicant can comply with the rules and regulations set forth herein.
(10)
Proposed hours of operation.
(11)
Proof of notification to all adjacent property owners or tenants within 200 feet or further as determined by the Borough Clerk of setup, filming, and cleanup areas at least 10 days prior to setup or filming.
(12)
Proof of insurance coverage as required.
(13)
Proof of performance bond via cash or certified check in an amount double the permit fee to the Borough.
A.
No permit shall be issued for filming upon private or public lands within the Borough of Westwood unless the applicant for such permit:
(1)
All applicants must be 18 years of age or older, or if applicant is younger than 18, applicant must get written permission from parent or legal guardian and the application and insurance needs to be in the parents or legal guardians name.
(2)
Provides proof of insurance coverage for bodily injury for any one person in the amount of $1,000,000, for any aggregate occurrence in the amount of $3,000,000 and for property damage for each occurrence in the aggregate amount of $500,000. The Borough of Westwood shall be named as an additional insured on the policy, and a certificate of insurance shall be delivered to the Borough at the time that the permit is issued.
(3)
Agrees in writing to indemnify and save harmless the Borough of Westwood from any and all liability or damages resulting from the use of such public lands.
(4)
Posts a cash or certified check in the amount equal to double the total film fee for each application submitted in favor of the Borough and protecting and ensuring that the location utilized will be left, after filming, in a satisfactory condition, free of debris, rubbish and equipment, compensation to any and all affected properties and that due observation of all Borough ordinances, laws and regulations will be followed. If no claim is made upon the bond, the bond shall be returned to the permittee within 30 days of the completion of the filming.
(5)
The applicant will have a greenlight meeting to discuss the production of the film in the Borough and for the Borough Clerk to formally give approval.
B.
The holder of a permit shall take all reasonable steps to minimize interference with the free passage of pedestrians and traffic over public lands and shall comply with all lawful directives issued by the Borough Police Department with respect thereto.
C.
The holder of a permit shall conduct filming in such a manner as to minimize the inconvenience or discomfort to adjoining property owners attributable to such filming and shall, to the extent practicable, abate noise and park vehicles associated with such filming off the public streets. The holder shall avoid any interference with previously scheduled activities upon public lands and limit to the extent possible any interference with normal public activity on such public lands.
D.
The holder of a permit shall take all reasonable steps to minimize the creation and spread of debris and rubbish during filming and shall be responsible for removing all equipment, debris and other rubbish from the filming location upon the completion of filming or the expiration of the permit whichever comes first.
E.
The permit holder shall post signs in advance of the setup/filming advising the public of the filming time and location. The permit holder shall remove all signs in the filming location once the filming in that location is completed. The Borough Clerk has the discretion to determine the location of the posted signs beyond the 200 feet if necessary.
F.
The holder of a permit must make arrangements for off street parking for crew and work vehicles at all times unless approved by the Borough Clerk.
G.
Filming shall be permitted only Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., or sundown, whichever is earlier, provided that all requests for night scenes shall be approved in the permit to be granted in accordance with these regulations. The setup, production and breakdown required by all filming shall be included in the hours as set forth herein unless given specific approval by the Borough Clerk.
H.
Where the applicant(s) production activity, by reason of location or otherwise, will directly involve and/or affect any businesses, merchants or residents, these parties shall be given written notice of the filming at least 10 business days prior to the requested shooting date to be informed. And any objections may be filed with the Borough Clerk, said objections to form a part of applicant's application and be considered in the review of the same. Proof of service of notification to adjacent owners shall be submitted to the Borough Clerk no later than 10 business days prior to the requested setup/shooting date.
I.
The Borough reserves the right to require one or more on-site patrolmen in situations where the proposed production may impede the proper flow of traffic, the cost of said patrolmen to be borne by the applicant as a cost of production. Where existing electrical power lines are to be utilized by the production, and on-site licensed electrician may be similarly required if the production company does not have a licensed electrician on staff.
J.
The Borough Clerk may authorize a waiver of any of the requirements or limitations of this chapter and may authorize filming on other public property not defined as "public lands" and may authorize filming other than during the hours herein described or may extend the duration of a permit beyond six days or may waive any other limitation or requirement of this chapter whenever the Borough Clerk determines that strict compliance with such limitations will pose an unreasonable burden upon the applicant and that such a permit may be issued without endangering the public's health, safety and welfare. The Borough Clerk may authorize the filming other than during the hours herein described. In determining whether to allow an extension of time under this subsection, the Borough Clerk shall consider the following factors:
(1)
Traffic congestion of the location caused by vehicles to be parked on public street;
(2)
Applicant's ability to remove film-related vehicles of the public street;
(3)
When the applicant is requesting restrictions on the use of public streets or public parking during the course of the filming the Parking Utility must also be notified for approval;
(4)
The nature of the filming shoot itself, i.e., indoor or outdoor, day or night; and
(5)
Prior experience of the film company/applicant with the Borough, if any.
K.
Copies of the approved permit will be sent to the Police and Fire Official before filming takes place and to the New Jersey Film Commission. The applicant shall notify the Fire Official and the Police Department 24 hours before filming takes place and permit the Fire Official and the Police Department to inspect the site and the equipment to be used. The applicant shall comply with all fire and safety instructions issued by the Fire Official and the Police Department.
The schedule of fees for the issuance of permits authorized herein are as follows:
A.
Basic filming permit: $125.
B.
Expedited film fee: $175 per application if approval is needed less than 10 business days prior to production.
C.
Private property daily filming fee: $200 per day in addition to the basic filming permit.
D.
Public land or Borough property daily filming fee: $750 per day in addition to the basic filming permit.
E.
Major motion picture daily filming fee: $1,000 per day including setup and wrap days, in addition to the basic filming permit.
F.
An additional $500 is required for every 100 people at each location after the first 100.
G.
Recurrent weekly television series programming.
H.
Non-profit filming permit: $75 per week and no additional fee.
I.
Student filming fee: No fee with proof letter on school letterhead and a copy of current school student identification card.
A.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the filming of news stories within the Borough of Westwood, or personal filming which is not intended for public use or distribution.
B.
In addition to any other fees or costs mentioned in this chapter, the permit holder shall reimburse the Borough or affected business owners for any lost revenue, such as parking meter revenue, repairs to public property or other revenues that the Borough or affected businesses were prevented from earning because of filming.
Where the owner of the premises is not the applicant for a permit required by this chapter, both the owner and the applicant shall each be liable for violations hereof. Any person, firm, or corporation violating this chapter or these rules and regulations, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 per day or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, or both. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.