El Dorado County, CA Filming & Production: Student Filming (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing definition
- El Dorado County Code § 5.58.010
- Permit trigger
- student films needing public property
- Exempt only if
- no road closure, drone, or personnel
- Issuing authority
- County designee (Building & Planning)
- Effective date
- Ord. No. 5236, Aug. 19, 2025
Summary
El Dorado County Code Section 5.58.010 defines regulated motion-picture activity to expressly include student films made to satisfy a post-secondary school course requirement, putting them under the same countywide filming-permit rule as commercial shoots. A narrow exemption in Section 5.58.020 covers only portrait-style student photography that needs no road closure, drones, or county personnel.
Motion picture, television, still photography means and includes all activity attendant to staging or shooting commercial motion pictures, television shows or programs, commercials, digital media, still photography and student films produced to satisfy a post-secondary school course requirement at an educational institution in any medium including film, tape or digital format.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 13 Update 4).
Full Breakdown
58, Filming Permits, took effect countywide on August 19, 2025 under Ordinance No. 5236. 010 defines the regulated activity, motion picture, television, still photography, to include staging or shooting commercial motion pictures, television shows or programs, commercials, digital media, still photography and student films produced to satisfy a post-secondary school course requirement at an educational institution, putting a film-school class project on the same footing as a studio production. 020(A) then requires a permit from the County designee before anyone uses public or private property for that activity.
Only four narrow categories are exempt: breaking news coverage, purely personal or family recordings, filming at a certified studio, and portrait photography of individuals, students, or families not requiring road or facility closure, reimbursement for personnel, or use of drones. 040 as any commercial shoot: dates and hours, a description of the activity, personnel and vehicle counts, and, if a UAS is used, the remote pilot certificate and registration paperwork. 060.
Violations & Fines
A student production that films in public without a permit, or that skips the road-closure, drone, or personnel-reimbursement conditions that would have kept a portrait shoot exempt, is treated as an unpermitted filming activity under Section 5.58.020(A). Section 5.58.060 lets the county issue a verbal or written notice, and if the violation is not corrected, revoke the permit and halt all activity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do student filmmakers need a permit in El Dorado County?
Is there any exemption for student photography?
Who issues the filming permit for a student project?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in El Dorado County
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