AIRAN SCRUBY
Staff Writer
Lights, camera, action … three words that may be heard less in the city of Malibu, due to a new ordinance that changes city policy on filming and media production.
Malibu Filming Ordinance 282 is scheduled to take effect Sept. 7 because of residents’ complaints of disturbances due to filming.
Though the ordinance will not make all filming illegal within the city, it modifies the existing code, limiting regulations such as filming hours, the approvals needed to begin filming and the number of consecutive days shooting is permissible.
Pepperdine is not within the city limits of Malibu, so filming will not be restricted on school grounds.
Jerry Derloshon, Pepperdine’s director of Public Relations and News, said he thinks the ordinance’s effect on Pepperdine’s students will be minimal.
“Most shows that want to film in Malibu won’t find the same environment at Pepperdine as they would in Malibu,” Derloshon said. “Scenes in restaurants and beaches can’t be recreated on campus, so the impact here should be negligible.”
Even if new regulations in Malibu prompted some to look to Pepperdine as an alternative filming location, Special Programs Coordinator Sally McIlwain said that scripts are carefully screened to make sure they go along with the university’s mission statement.
“Every time a production company requests permission to film, it’s considered in terms of the effect it will have on students,” Derloshon said. “The students are always our first priority.”
Student opinion about filming, both on campus and in the city of Malibu, seems to be mixed.
“Some people find it really exciting, while other students think it’s a hassle. Filming gets mixed reviews on campus, but we’ve heard both sides and try to consider everyone,” Derloshon said.
Shows such as “Zoey 101,” which has filmed at Pepperdine for the past two summers, will not likely be influenced by Malibu’s new ordinance. On campus, filming will continue to take place largely during the summer, as it did for “Battle of the Network Reality Stars,” and during the traditional school year, when it is not disruptive for students.
Though the ordinance does place new limits on filming in the city, it does not prohibit it completely, and in some cases, the ordinance relaxes the pre-existing code.
According to City of Malibu Film Office documents, the new ordinance removes the permit requirement for non-profit and student filming.
• It also changes the maximum crew size allowed without notifying the city from 10 people to 15.
• The number of “filming days by right” is extended from 14 to 16 days, and increases the number of still photography days allowed from 20 to 50.
• The ordinance bans helicopter usage in the city in the context of filming, and increases the required number of signatures from the owners of involved property necessary to obtain a permit to film in the first place.
• Limits filming locations under one permit, once unlimited, to three. The duration of a film permit has been shortened to 30 days.
08-29-2005
