Application Instructions - MOME

Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment


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Letter in Lieu of Permit
Online Application
Application Instructions

Letter in Lieu of Permit

Online Application

Application Instructions


Application Instructions and Tips Important!!!

Before getting started, read these instructions and tips for a smooth application process.

Please use Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. (Some browsers are not compatible with our system.)

The fee is $500 for each consecutive 14-day period of your project. Fees are non-refundable.

At least 48 business hours before you submit an application for a new project, please ask your insurance broker or agent to send proof of insurance to insurance@media.nyc.gov. Please show your insurance broker or agent MOME’s insurance requirements. If your insurance is not in our system by the time you apply, it will not allow you to validate. If you are a student, please see MOME’s insurance requirements for student projects.

The on-line application system contains three basic parts:

Account: If you don’t already have an on-line permit account with the Film Office, the Parks Department, or the Street Activity Permit Office, please create a new account. Your account will contain applications for all the projects that you submit. Your email address will be your username.

Project: A “project” is your production. Examples of projects are a season of an episodic television series, feature film, television commercial, and a still photo shoot. The on-line application will for information about your project, including general information about your production (for example, the project duration and the number of cast and crew), company, contacts, and insurance. Projects usually contain multiple permits unless your activity on City property lasts only one day.

Total Project Duration: When you enter the project’s start and end dates, you must include all rigging, de-rigging, and rain dates for which you need a permit. The application does not allow users to change the start and end dates after the application is submitted. (If you wish to add dates after the project duration in your original application, you must submit a new project application and you will be subject to a fee for the additional dates.)

Insurance: If your insurance policy covers multiple projects, the application system will ask you to input your production company name exactly as it appears on the certificate of insurance (including spacing and punctuation). If the company has multiple certificates of insurance, the system will prompt you to select your specific project from a dropdown box. When you've selected the correct COI, click “Update Insurance”.
Do not select a project or production company that is not yours. If your project does not appear as a selection, please call your broker to make sure a certificate was e-mailed to our office. For more information, please review MOME’s insurance requirements.

Permit: Your production activity for a specific shoot date. The Film Office usually reviews and processes permit requests 72 to 48 business hours prior to your shoot day. (But if you are seeking to shoot in Times Square, submit your permit request 7 business days prior to your shoot day. Please follow these directions when submitting a permit request:

Multi-day shoot: If your shooting activity lasts for more than one day, you must submit a separate permit for each shooting day under the same Project Account. For example, if your TV commercial shoots over the course of 3 days, you will need to submit 3 permits under the same project.

Multiple locations: If you are shooting at multiple locations on the same day, each location must be entered separately (in shooting order). Shooting times between locations cannot overlap by more than 2 hours.

Questionnaire: Please read and answer all questions on the Questionnaire Page.

No edits: Once permits are submitted the system no longer allows you access to edit them. If you need to make changes, you must re-type the entire permit request (incorporating your additions and/or changes) and re-submit with the same name but add the word “revised.” Our office will withdraw your original permit and sign the revised permit.

Scene Description: You must provide a detailed scene description of the physical action being filmed in all exterior shots (including props, number of extras, weapons, animals on set, etc.). If you're filming at one location for the day, but will be filming interior and exterior scenes, you must break down the hours you're filming interior and the hours you're filming exterior (with details) in the scene description (EXAMPLE: 7am-2pm INT BAR: Various interior dialogue scenes. 2pm-8pm EXT BAR: Two actors walk and talk down sidewalk. They enter bar). List driving shots as a separate location in addition to any other scenes you're filming.

Parking: To obtain parking privileges, you must list all your vehicles in the Vehicle Tab when you submit your first permit request. If license plate numbers are unknown, input the vehicle type (cargo van, cube truck, campers, etc.) and add plate numbers by the first shoot date. If there are no vehicles listed in your Vehicles Tab, your parking requests will be removed, and your permit will be approved without them. If you're requesting only a half block or a quarter of a block of parking, please note in the Special Request Box which half or quarter. (EX: Half block closest to 6th Avenue or Mid-block, etc.)

Base Camping Vehicles: If you're shooting at multiple locations and base camping vehicles in one place for the entire day, enter all your locations (in shooting order) without adding parking. Assign all your parking requests to the last location and make a note of this in the Special Request box for each block of parking. (EX: BASE CAMP: 6am-9pm)

Police Assistance: Police assistance is ordered on the Questionnaire Page. Scenes involving weapons, fight sequences, crime scenes, actors in police uniform, prop police cars or scenes requiring intermittent traffic control must be covered by the NYPD Movie / TV Unit.

DCAS Property: To request a permit for DCAS property, you must follow the directions for DCAS permits. In MOME’s permit application, select “DCAS” rather than “Shooting” from the “Permit Type” drop-down menu. The DCAS form has a different questionnaire page.