An email was sent out by Donne Dawson of the Film Office. Some improvements! Still some clarifications needed. Here is the content of the email: Aloha mai kakou, It looks like we have found a solution to concerns raised regarding the Hawaii Film Offices new online film permitting system, particularly the commercial automobile liability requirement and $10 fee to use the online system. I have had numerous discussions with the Department of Land & Natural Resources (DLNR), our state Attorney Generals Office and the Risk Management Division at the Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) to work through these concerns. DLNRs Land Management Division has agreed to allow our wedding, portrait, scenic and landscape photographers to secure film permits through the Wiki Permit system as a workable alternative to our new online permitting system for use of DLNRs Open/Accessible (O/A) sites. We have agreed in principle to allow the following: 1) Use of permits within the framework of DLNRs Wiki Permit program and using the existing fee system and existing level of general liability insurance ($300,000 per incident/$500,000 aggregate). Given that photographers are not usually the permit applicant within the Wiki Permit program, these photographers would need to apply as photographer/event coordinator and provide the requisite insurance that identifies the entity and covers them for photography/event coordination. This wording and insurance requirement would be necessary only if the photographer is not going to fall under another event coordinator who has secured a Wiki Permit for the same event. 2) No added commercial automobile insurance will be required to utilize the Wiki Permit system, just the general liability insurance at the level referenced above. 3) This will allow photographers who have secured a Wiki Permit to shoot within the locations that the Land Management Division has articulated in the Wiki Permit system (generally shorelines of designated coastal areas below the vegetation line.) 4) If a photographer needs to shoot in other DLNR jurisdictions such as State Parks or O/A locations, then they would have to apply for either an online e-permit for Open/Accessible sites or a standard permit through the Hawaii Film Office (HFO), paying the applicable fees and providing the requisite levels of insurance including the commercial automobile insurance requirement per the State Comptroller. 5) The fees that are in place for the new online O/A film permit system will remain, as will the requisite fees for our state agencies such as State Parks $100/day per State Park location. Again, those fees are not part of the DLNR Wiki Permit system but would be applicable for standard film permits and through HFOs new online system. 6) Any film permits for county jurisdictions (such as county beach parks) must be secured through the appropriate county film office. 7) Keep in mind this alternative is only appropriate for small photography or videography businesses, not large commercial productions. Wiki Permit applicants must abide by the terms and conditions set forth within this program which includes limiting camera equipment to only essential and typical equipment necessary for the events such as weddings, family/individual portraits, and scenic photography. We are grateful to DLNRs Land Management Division for their support in allowing us this alternative to our standard and O/A film permitting system. We will formalize this new option with DLNR in the coming week and will be communicating these adjustments via our website and email to the industry. Please contact me with any additional questions you might have. We appreciate your patience as we have been working through this new process in our attempts to address the concerns raised by our photographers. Mahalo nui, Donne Dawson
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 05:31:19 +0000