Filming & Still Photography

Commercial Filming Permits on Park Land

The National Park Service conserves and protects areas of untold beauty, grandeur and historical importance for current and future generations. The tradition of capturing images of these special places started with explorers who traveled with paint and canvas or primitive cameras. Sharing these images helped inspire the creation of national parks. Today, visitors to national parks continue to memorialize their visits through filming and photography.

Effective October 28, 2022, the National Park Service rescinded interim guidance that was in place during litigation regarding commercial filming and has returned to longstanding laws and regulations governing commercial filming in parks. Questions and answers about filming and photography.

 

How Do I Apply for a Permit?

Permit applications are available through each park's administrative office or website. You should submit a completed application along with the application fee to the park where you want to film or photograph as far in advance of your planned date as possible. In addition, you should request a meeting with park staff if your proposed activity is unusual or complex. Early consultation with park staff will help them process the submitted application in a timely manner.

Permit applications must be received a minimum of 4 weeks prior to the start of the project. Complex projects may take more time.

Please submit a completed NPS Form 10-931 [839 KB, fillable PDF] along with Pay.gov payment confirmation to the email address listed on the application.

Permit Fees

APPLICATION FEE
The non-refundable application fee for a commercial filming & still photography permit is $280. Please pay via Pay.gov.

This fee covers the costs associated with providing initial contact and consultation with permittees, initial review of a standard application, and the costs associated with issuing a standard permit, which includes, but is not limited to, the average time it takes for processing fees, permit development, consultations with the permittee, managerial consultations, and billing. The application fee and permit processing fees are non-refundable once the permit office has received your permit application.

Applicants should submit payments via Pay.gov. To make a payment:

• Enter "ARCH" in the Pay.gov search window.
• Payment will be made at: Southeast Utah Group - National Parks Commercial Filming Permit Fees – click on “Continue", and then "Continue to Form"
• Check which park your Special Use Permit is for. Under Permit Fee click on Application Fee.
• Enter a total dollar amount of $280.
• Follow the instructions and fill out the forms.
• Save your payment confirmation; you will submit this with your application.

COST RECOVERY

A cost recovery fee will be charged for monitoring. The cost recovery fee is directly associated with monitoring the permit activity. Fees will be quoted upon issuance of the permit and calculated based on the monitor's salary, time spent on site, and travel to/from duty location and permit site.

If additional compliance is required, a cost recovery fee will be charged for staff time to process the request. This process can take 6-8 weeks.

LOCATION FEE
Federal law also requires the NPS to collect a location fee that provides a fair return to the United States for the use of park lands for commercial filming and for still photography requires a permit. The NPS uses the following fee schedules for filming and photography:

Commercial Filming/Videography

• 1–2 people, camera & tripod only - $0/day
• 1–10 people - $150/day
• 11–30 people - $250/day
• 31–49 people - $500/day
• Over 50 people - $750/day

Still Photography

• 1–10 people - $50/day
• 11–30 people - $150/day
• Over 30 people - $250/day

 

Questions

For questions or additional information about photography in the park, please contact our office at [phone] or email: [e-mail]