Commercial Filming & Photography

RESOURCES FOR COMMERCIAL FILMING & PHOTOGRAPHY

Grand Canyon Resort Corporation issues filming/photography permits for photography, filming, and sound recording to ensure protection of resources, to prevent significant disruption of normal visitor uses, or when projects involve props, models, professional crews and casts or set dressings. Permits are required for access to areas normally closed to the visiting public.

POLICY

The Grand Canyon is recognized worldwide as an area set aside and administered with preservation at the core. The Hualapai Indian Reservation sits on 108 miles of the Grand Canyon where they own and operate Grand Canyon West. In order to preserve and protect resources and to assure the enjoyment of those resources by the public, the following guidelines are established by the Hualapai Tribe as they relate to filming and photographic activities within the Reservation boundaries.

SCOUTING

Scouts must be escorted by a member of the Grand Canyon West (GCW) Marketing Team or a Member of GCW Management. The fee for the first scouting visiting includes a $200 Service Fee to cover the cost of the Site Manager in addition to General Admission tickets. Charges for other services/tours will apply if requested.

HOW TO APPLY

APPLYING FOR A PERMIT:

  1. A complete application packet must be submitted a minimum of 30 days prior to the requested date.
  2. The required, non-refundable application fee of $250 must be submitted with the application packet.
  3. More complex requests must be submitted a minimum of 45 days prior to the requested date.
  4. Urgent requests will be addressed on a case-by-case basis and are subject to additional fees such as Rush Processing surcharge.

THE APPLICATION PACKET MUST INCLUDE:

  1. Certificate of General Liability insurance issued by an insurance company operating in the United States
  2. Detailed production schedule and proposed locations
  3. Detailed equipment list
  4. Filming and Photography Permit Application
  5. Detailed cast & crew list
Application Packet

FILMING, PERMITS, AND CONTRACTS

Email: marketing@grandcanyonresort.com
Phone: 928-227-2519

FEES

APPLICATION FEE: $250

LAND USE FEE: $5,000

DRONE USE FEE: $2,000

RUSH PROCESSING FEE: $500**

See the complete list of fees here

(monitoring*, scouting, additional administrative review time)

All costs of evaluating the request will be billed to the applicant, whether a permit is issued or not.

*Grand Canyon West staff will be required to monitor certain filming, photography, and sound recording activities. Crews are responsible for paying daily location fees and for monitors as well as any staff costs associated with the project. Activities that require a monitor include, but are not limited to, any filming below the rim of the canyon, large crews, projects with extensive equipment, filming “talent” in high-visitor use areas, and when there is the potential for resource damage or impacts to visitor use.

**Rush processing fee is added to filming requests that are processed within 14 days or less of filming start date.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DRONE USE

  1. Drone use is strictly regulated
  2. You must have an FAA licensed operator
  3. To apply for Drone use you must fill out the Drone Authorization Form in the Application Packet along with a copy of the Pilot’s License and the Drone Registration.

RESTRICTIONS

  1. Filming is restricted at Quartermaster Canyon/Point
  2. Filming in wilderness areas is restricted

EXEMPTIONS

  1. Visitors engaged in filming/photography intended for their personal use and enjoyment
  2. Filming of breaking news (an event that cannot be covered at any other time or location) by news crews
  3. Projects requiring only aerial filming from a helicopter or fixed-wing airplane
  4. Filming that is conducted pursuant to a cooperative agreement or contract with Grand Canyon West

DEFINITIONS

Commercial filming: digital or film recording of a visual image or sound recording by a person, business, or other entity for a market audience, such as for a documentary, television or feature film, advertisement, or similar project.

Model: a person or object that serves as the subject for commercial filming or still photography for the purposes of promoting sales or use of a product or service. Models include, but are not limited to, individuals, animals, or inanimate objects such as vehicles, boats, articles of clothing, and food and beverage products.

IN THE MEDIA

Since 1988, Grand Canyon West has been making the West Rim of one of the world’s Seven Natural Wonders accessible to visitors from around the world. The West Rim has played setting for hundreds of news and feature stories, including a National Geographic special, extensive coverage on NBC’s The Today Show and the Travel Channel, and feature films including:

  • Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch
  • Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis
  • Nurse Betty, starring Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock
  • American Idol, hosted by Ryan Seacrest
  • America’s Got Talent
  • Kanye West’s Touch the Sky music video
  • Fool’s Rush In, starring Mathew Perry and Salma Hayek
  • Next, starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel
  • Guvva Gorinkatho’s Subramanyam For Sale music video
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