ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

10 years ago - Jennifer Maybour

The general rule of thumb in Central London is that its fine until you put sticks down, as then you become an obstruction.
So if you are planning on going hand held with a couple of people you should be absolutely fine. If, like Paddy said, you're bringing in lights, grip equiptment and a whole production crew etc then you're going to need all sorts of permission.

10 years ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

I haven't tried OCS itself, but generally found Westminster film office very helpful.

Filming itself isn't illegal, and you can turn up and do so. You might cause an obstruction (which is a problem), alarm ratepayers (which may be a problem - things have changed but OCS and Soho are the kind of place some people might not want to be filmed), irritate establishments, get stuff stolen, whatever.

What film offices generally want to do is make sure risks are considered and mitigated. They will ask you to advise the police, 2 weeks ahead is polite. The police will be happy to let you do your thing unless they think it's going to cause trouble for them or the people they work for (ie ratepayers).

If you tell the film office what you want to do, they may have suggestions. If you're doing a covert documentary about clip joints their advice may be different than if you are shooting a few talking heads with a DSLR hand-held may be different than bringing a full unit and vehicles and getting in everyones way,