Ocala, FL Filming & Production: Street Closures (2026)

Ocala Code of Ordinances Sec. 42-14 governs commercial video and audio productions on public property, including city streets used for filming. A production must get a permit from the city manager's office and pay a $10.00 permitting fee before using public property; the permit spells out which days the location may be used, and the production must not destroy or damage the property. News organizations are exempt from the permit requirement, but commercial film and television productions are not. Once a location is permitted, the same section makes it a crime to disrupt that shoot: it is unlawful to create audible interference with sound recording beyond constitutionally protected expression, to shine or reflect light that disrupts consistent lighting on the set, to interfere with the ingress or egress of production equipment or personnel, or to place obstacles anywhere production is occurring.

The city may condition or deny the permit at its discretion to protect public health, welfare, safety or morals, but the ordinance exempts conduct protected by the constitutional right to peacefully assemble and protest, and conduct of citizens lawfully engaged in their own work. Because Ocala Electric Utility, Public Works and the Ocala Police Department all have interests in a public right-of-way closure, a production that needs an actual street closure, not just permission to be present, should expect the city manager's office to coordinate that permit with the separate general street-closing authority found elsewhere in the streets chapter.