Film Permit Update: February 2020

March 5, 2020 by Taylor Scaggs

Seattle Film Industry and Community:

Seattle is open for film business!

The City of Seattle remain in close coordination with the Centers for Disease Control, the Washington State Department of Health and Public Health – Seattle & King County, following the guidance of these agencies leading on the COVID-19 response. Authorities continue to emphasize that everyone take steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This is a quickly evolving situation, and we advise you to follow public health for the most up-to-date information.

At this time, Seattle-King County Public Health is recommending avoiding or postponing public events and meetings of over 10 people, for the next three weeks. There are no current restrictions to film permits or public locations.

As emergency services, including SPD, may be assigned to health and safety priorities, please always check in with the film office first if your production requires police officer or other staffing resources for your production.

We strongly encourage employers to stay up-to-date on new developments. Public Health – Seattle & King County plans to provide daily briefings to the media at 11:00 a.m. We also encourage you to:

Review recommended strategies for employers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including:
Review recommended strategies and updates from Public Health – Seattle & King County.
Create a business continuity plan that clearly outlines roles, responsibilities, and policies to minimize the spread of infection at your workplace, anticipate absenteeism, and more.

Seattle Film Permit Numbers

February brought in 36 productions across 36 shoot days! Commercial productions are still leading the work with over a third of our permits issued, followed by Still Photography and Documentary productions. Here’s a peek at the numbers:

Film Production in Seattle Impacts Look Ahead

The Third Chapter of the Seattle Squeeze

The third chapter of the Seattle Squeeze will last through 2024. Seattle’s downtown will continue to be in a state of transition to meet the needs of our growing city, and along with that comes some impacts to keep in mind!

Need Help with a Location? Hire a Local Locations Professional!

Keeping your schedule is critical to the success of your production. Navigating multi-location shoots requires intent and expertise. When scouting and shooting, we always recommend hiring one of the region’s location professionals. They are the experts and can help you navigate the landscape and permitting processes in Seattle and the region:

NWScouts.com: Seattle region location scouts and managers
Reel Crew: Washington Filmworks crew database
NWFilm.com: Northwest Production Index

As always, please contact the Office of Film + Music any time if you have questions or input.

Welcome Slade and Taylor to the Team!

March 24, 2016 by Taylor Scaggs

We are happy to announce the two newest additions to the Office of Film + Music + Special Events team: Slade Burgess and Taylor Scaggs! Slade is the Office’s new Film Permit Specialist, handling the intake and expediting process of film permits. Taylor will be keeping us sane and organized as our Administrative Specialist, moving us forward at every turn. The addition of Slade and Taylor will strengthen our office’s continuing work to make Seattle an even better place for the creative industries to thrive. Come meet them both at the Film + Music + Interactive Happy Hour on March 30 at the Spitfire.

Washington State Film Incentive Program Will Not Be Extended

March 17, 2016 by Taylor Scaggs

Washington Filmworks announced that the bill to increase and extend Washington’s Motion Picture Competitiveness Program did not move forward for a vote, effectively killing the legislation during this budget session. With robust incentive programs in Oregon and Vancouver BC, the Office of Film + Music supported the legislation to extend and grow the Washington State film incentive program as the best tool for building and supporting a robust film industry in Washington.

“It is extremely disappointing the film competitiveness legislation did not move forward during this session,” says Office of Film + Music Director Kate Becker. “The campaign and efforts to extend and grow the program during this legislative session were focused, strong, and well executed. I want to thank the hundreds of local cast, crew, and industry professionals who took time out of their schedules to support the legislation.

Washington’s film incentive program is funded into 2017. The Office of Film + Music is looking forward to coordinating incentivized film productions that will be filming in Seattle this and next year, and is committed to supporting future legislation to grow the program.

Coming to a Street Corner Near You: “Filming in Progress” Signs

February 4, 2016 by Taylor Scaggs

As part of the City’s continuing efforts to support film production work on the streets and sidewalks of Seattle, the Office of Film + Music is now offering “Filming In Progress” signboards to productions obtaining film permits.

As Seattle’s streets stay busy with construction and other projects, these “PAs best friends” help passers-by know what’s happening, and help messaging for nearby businesses and residents.

If you are a location manager or a producer, ask about how to check the signboards out during your film permit application process. After review of your film permit application and the impact from your production’s work on the street or sidewalk, your Film Permit Specialist may also require you to check out specific signs to assist with pedestrian holds or to support open businesses at or near the filming location.

If you are walking around Seattle and see a local crew working with one of these signs, stop by and say hello (though we can’t guarantee the production will be anything but a mayonnaise commercial).

For more information, contact us at filmoffice@seattle.gov or http://www.seattle.gov/filmandmusic

Seattle Parks and Recreation Issues Request for Proposals for Magnuson Park Building 2

January 28, 2016 by Taylor Scaggs

Magnuson Park’s Building 2, a large undeveloped building built at the former naval air station, could become a giant fortress for film production, a sports arena, or a large open space for something else entirely. It all depends on proposals Seattle Parks and Recreation receives, having earlier this month published a public Request for Proposals (RFP) for the renovation and operation of the 144,000-square-foot double hangar known as Building 2.

Home to large feature film productions in the 1990s including Assassins and Stephen King’s Rose Red, and home to Arena Sports in the 2000s, the building recently underwent several safety upgrades and is now ready for rehab. Since closing its doors to filmmaking, Washington State implemented Washington Filmworks and the Washington State Film Competitiveness Program which supports the film industry by attracting feature film and commercial film production.

“Our competitors all have soundstages,” said Kate Becker to a Seattle Times reporter in this article. “This is the largest publicly held open-span building north of L.A. This is an opportunity we need to pay attention to.”

The complete Seattle Parks & Recreation Request for Proposal is online here.

Office of Film + Music Meets with Lawmakers in Support of HB 2542

January 28, 2016 by Taylor Scaggs

Office of Film + Music Director Kate Becker and Film Program Manager Chris Swenson met with State House and Senate lawmakers January 21 support of House Bill 2542 which would extend Washington State’s Film Competitiveness Program to 2023 and raise the annual fund cap to $10 million by 2020. The meetings were part of Film Day in Olympia attended by over 200 Washington filmmakers. “Mayor Murray supports the legislation to extend and grow Washington’s Motion Picture Competitiveness Program fund,” said Becker. “It is the local film industry’s best tool to stay competitive with other filmmaking regions, attract new film productions, and keep our filmmakers and talent working in Seattle and Washington State.” Becker was joined by Mike McCready (Pearl Jam, film composer), producers Lacey Leavitt (Eden, Lucky Them) and Jennifer Roth (Black Swan, World’s Greatest Dad), and film director Megan Griffiths (Eden, Lucky Them).

Mayor Ed Murray Declares January 21 “Seattle Film Day”

January 21, 2016 by Taylor Scaggs

Office of Film + Music Director Kate Becker is in Olympia today to present Mayor Murray’s “Seattle Film Day” Proclamation, and to support the new legislation to increase funding for the state’s film competitiveness program. In 2015, legislation to increase the incentive fund was supported by Mayor Murray, but did not receive a vote before the end of the 2015 legislative session.

COMMERCIALIZE-IZED IT! 2015 End of Year Edition

December 23, 2015 by Taylor Scaggs

Commercialize Seattle is the business development campaign designed to attract local film production and advertising business. Commercial production is an important component of the statewide film industry and instrumental in creating jobs and keeping film industry professionals in Washington.

As 2015 comes to a close, we look back on some of the prominent commercial work that hired local crew and production companies, oftentimes using Seattle’s landmarks and neighborhoods as a backdrop.

Mercedes:
Mercedes visited Washington State to film footage for several national commercials highlighting their 2016 GLA model vehicle, hiring over 50 local crew and 50 extras over the course of a week. The commercial filmed in eastern Washington, and in Downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill. A large portion of the filming took place at Rudy’s Barbershop and on 10^th Avenue between E Pine Street and E Pike Street on Capitol Hill. The commercials can be viewed online here and here.

Poweraid:
Poweraid filmed a national spot that featured Seahawks player Jimmy Graham. The spot made use of locations in the University District, Georgetown, as well as several in Shoreline. The production hired over 35 crew over the course of several shoot days. The commercial can be viewed online here.

National Automotive Commercials:
Overall, it was a successful year for automotive commercials in Seattle, with Ford, Kawasaki, Mercedes, and Toyota all filming national spots and hiring large, locally-sourced production crews (follow links for video).

Locally-Produced Commercial Work and Corporate Videos
In 2015, Seattle area production companies created content for Microsoft (source: TriFilm), Visit Seattle (source: Society), and On Deck (source: Urban Legend), HTC (source: Vossler Media Group), and many more clients. In just a couple videos, you can watch products, technologies, and services as they are set against iconic backdrops like Gas Works Park, historic Ballard, and Pike Place Market, all created in 2015 by local crews working for Seattle area production companies. Additional examples can be found in the Latest Work section of the Commercialize Seattle website.

(Frame from Mercedes “Shattered,” filmed in Seattle in 2015)

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