City of Savannah Permits & Guidelines

Checklist For Professional Permits

Register your project by completing the Project Registration Form. The Film Commission will reply with further details.
Please read all details below for information regarding fees, police requests, city owned locations and insurance requirements.
The City of Savannah does not require a film permit if filming activity is contained entirely to private property. Should filming, or any associated activity, impact public space such as sound, light spillage, or increased traffic resulting from the activity, a permit may be required. A permit may not be needed depending on the crew size or if the activity is low impact, however, this will be evaluated and determined by the City’s film staff. The City of Savannah requires productions to notify all businesses and residents within a two-block radius of all filming related activity on either public or private property regardless if a permit is issued. This includes the rental of private businesses for various production needs. Productions are required to operate in accordance with all local and state ordinances.
Upload your Community Notification Letter in your eproval permit application, and then distribute on YELLOW paper at least 48hrs in advance of filming activity per location. For an example of a notification letter, please click HERE.

Special Events

To view The City of Savannah’s Event calendar, please click HERE. Please note that there may be filming restrictions during certain events and the availability of City services at those times.

Warning

Failure of the production company to comply with the City of Savannah guidelines and conditions set forth in each permit, or the use of any location not specified in the permit, shall give Special Events, Film & Tourism grounds to revoke the permit or take other restrictive actions as necessary.
If a production preps, films, or wraps a location without a permit, the shoot will be shut down and the production may be fined.

Permit Fees

Please Note: A new fee structure is now in effect.

The City of Savannah charges a one-time non-refundable $30 Application Processing Fee per location

All Fees Are Non-refundable Except In Extraordinary Circumstances

Student Permit	$30 per location Any production associated with a class grade
Professional Permit	$325 per location Any professional production requiring a permit to film
Blanket Permit	$125 Any professional production that does not need to set up at a specific location and has a crew size of ten (10) people or less
Drone Permit	$150 per location This fee is in addition to Student, Blanket, and Professional permits for any production that has drone work
Rush Fees/Expedited Fees	Additional required fee for permits submitted less than 24-72 hours in advance. Note: Submission of a Rush Application does NOT guarantee approval $100 per location – within 72 hours of production $200 per location – within 48 hour of production $300 per location – within 24 hours of production
Amendment Fees	This fee is charged in addition, per occurrence, and per location $150 – low impact (minor changes such as parking requests) $250–medium impact (moderate changes such as equipment or roads) $350 – high impact (major changes such as film dates or traffic control)
Parking Fee	Parking meter fees shall be assessed per day at the rate listed on the meter. A daily impact fee, per location, shall be assessed for any general parking impacts, both metered or unmetered, and additional to any metered fees. On-street Metered $1.00 Per hour, per space as marked. Maximum $12.00 /Day. On-street Metered $2.00 Per hour, per space as marked. Maximum $24.00 /Day. Daily Parking Impact: $325.00 per location, per day for impacts to area parking. *This is in addition to metered parking fees.
On – Site Services Fee	Charged for filming at a City of Savannah owned property when a City staff member is required to be on-site during production Administrative Fee: $150.00 Per Location City Staff Overtime: $45.00 Per Location, Per Hour, 4-hour minimum
Historic Properties Impact Fee	Charged per permit, per location. Please note that these locations are only available to professional productions. Students may not film at these sites. City Hall – assessed based on impact Minimum $750/day // Maximum $3,000/day Cluskey Embankment Store – assessed based on impact Minimum $750/day // Maximum $1000/day Savannah Powder Magazine – assessed based on impact Minimum $750/day // Maximum $800/day
Traffic Engineering Fees	These fees are in addition to the Amendment and Rush/Expedited fees applied by the City’s Film Office $100.00 Per location, within 72 hours of production $200.00 Per location, within 48 hours of production $300.00 Per location, within 24 hours of production $150.00 Minor changes, such as parking capture adjustments $250.00 Moderate changes, such as road adjustments $350.00 Major changes, such as dates, traffic control, etc.
Failure to Notify	Issued for failure to notify impacted properties of any filming that is being conducted on public or private property. First Notification Failure – $1,500.00 Up to the amount listed, and may include suspension of permit Second Notification Failure – $5,000.00 Up to the amount listed, and may include suspension of permit
Violation of Permit Fee	First offense $250.00 Second offense $500.00 Third offense $750.00

Note: Drone Permit Fees, Rush Fees, Parking Fees, and Amendment Fees are in addition to the $325 (Professional Fee) or $125 (Blanket Fee).

Payment

Payment can be made with check or money order made payable to the City of Savannah. “Film Permit Fee” should be identified on the “notes” line of the check or money order.

For More Information

Call 912.351.3837
Special Events, Film & Tourism
1 Waring Drive – inside of Daffin Park
Savannah, Georgia 31404

Savannah Police

Savannah Police Department Fees

Extra-Duty Type	Regular Day	Holiday
Professional Film	$45.00/hr	$50.00/hr
Professional Film Supervisor	$55.00/hr	$60.00/hr
Student Film	$40.00/hr	$45.00/hr
Last Minute Job Notifications	+ $5.00/hr	+ $10.00/hr

Events requiring five (5) or more officers to work simultaneously require a minimum of one (1) Film Supervisor.
All rates are billed at a four (4) hour time minimum.
Officers shall not negotiate extra-duty lower pay rates with employers.
Cost Recovery rates apply to all extra duty jobs.

If a production needs to cancel a scheduled officer, you must do so 24 hours prior to the officer’s scheduled time. If you need to cancel or reschedule due to weather, you must cancel 4 hours prior to the officer’s scheduled time.

Professional Productions are billed via invoice from the SPD Outside Employment Office.

Download Full Police Film Policy.

Savannah Police Department Recovery Fees

Cost Recovery – Administrative Fee	$1.00/hour
Cost Recovery – City Vehicle	$6.00/hour

Note: City of Savannah Police Officers, Police Vehicles, Police K9, Mounted Patrol and Police Buildings are not available to use in films and photo shoots.

Savannah Fire Department

Any special effects that include explosives or fire will require a permit from Savannah Fire Department.

Savannah Fire Permit

Savannah Fire Permit Fee Schedule

Fire Marshal

$50/hour (4-hour minimum)

Savannah Fire Marshal’s Office
912.644.5960

Traffic Engineering

Savannah/Chatham County Arterial Road Map

Insurance

Type of Insurance Required: Commercial General Liability

Minimum Limits (per occurrence): $1,000,000

Insurance Certificate addressed as follows:

The Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah
P.O. Box 1027, Savannah, GA 31402

Note: Evidence of Insurance must be submitted before a permit can be effective.

Notification of Affected Businesses and Residents

The production company is required to notify all businesses and residents affected by the filming activity within a two block radius. Notification shall take place following the City’s review of the application and no later than 48 hours in advance of the film activity.

** The City of Savannah requires productions to notify all businesses and residents within a two-block radius of all filming activity on either public or private property regardless if a permit is issued.**

Download an example of a notification letter.

All notification letters must be approved and uploaded using this form in order to obtain the requested permit. Notification must be printed on YELLOW paper and distributed to all business and residents at least 48hours in advance of filming activity.

Confirmation of delivery may be requested of production to prove distribution.

Special Events, Film & Tourism reserves the right to deny or revoke permits where insufficient time has been allowed for proper notification, or when the notification process has been improperly applied.

The Production Company must notify impacted properties, as determined by the Director of Special Events, Film and Tourism or his/her Designee, no less than 48 hours prior to the presence of any film-related activity in the permitted area. Failure to do so will result in a fee charged to the Production Company.

The following fees will be charged to production companies found to be out of compliance:

First Offense – Up to $1,500 and suspension of Film Permit
Second Offense – Up to $5,000 and suspension of Film Permit

For More on Permitting, please contact:

Nioni Broome
Film Services Coordinator
Special Events, Film & Tourism
City of Savannah
nioni.broome@savannahga.gov
912.351.3837 (Office) / 912.661.7153 (Cell)