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Cost of Filming in London
I was asked by an overseas film company to look into the cost of filming some tourist vids in London. Here’s some costs for permissions from the authorities.
If you don’t have permission, the minute you set down a tripod a van-load of Bobbies will descend on you, and cart you off the the Gulag. This goes even for open spaces.
The Royal Palaces charge £350 + VAT (17.5%) per hour for filming. They also say that normally we would film before or after opening hours. The Royal Palaces include:
Tower of London
Hampton Court
Kensington Palace
Banqueting House
Kew Palace
Royal Parks Charge Between £750 and £1000 + VAT for up to 4 hours. They include:
Greenwich Park
St. James’s Park
Hyde Park
Kensington Gardens
Trafalgar Square run by the Red Mayer of London is the biggest rip-off of all. It costs £500 + Vat per hour. They said that it can take 4 weeks or more to turn around a permission.
I’m yet to get a reply out of Westminster Council as regards spaces such as Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus.
These costs might within the budget of a Hollywood Major company, and they might even be within the budget of our potential client – though I await their reply with interest – this is the YouTube age. “We” are the media now, and that means that a video made by one camera operator and a dog can get half a million or more downloads. But whose YouTube can afford these prices?
Come on London. Film-makers want to encourage visitors. Don’t let rip-off Britain scare them away.
Hello
I completely agree that hire charges can be sometimes overprices. But usually this is to cover admin charges and insurance fees etc.
If you are planning your next film or photo shoot, why not get in contact we provide a library collection of locations and properties and we assist with the haggling of hire fees.
Vikkie.
Your effing FIT!!! i heart you mayte.