Clayton County, GA Filming & Production: Student Filming (2026)

Sec. 43, Sec. 2 defines a STUDENT FILM as a not-for-profit film, shot in eight (8) hours or less, made by currently-enrolled students under the sponsorship of an accredited school or institution of higher learning. The sponsorship must be evidenced with a letter on school letterhead, signed by a school administrator, and the production must present a certificate of insurance. Sec. A(7) then exempts a qualifying student film from the base filming permit requirement, but only if the student makers and their school agree in writing that, should the film ever be released for commercial purposes, all permit costs and fees become due and payable as though the exemption had never applied.

Even while exempt from the permit fee itself, the production still owes all fees other than the permit fee, meaning charges for street closings, parking restrictions, or off-duty police officers under Sec. 4 are not waived by student status. Sec. B adds that any exempt activity requiring commercial vehicles still needs a permit, notwithstanding that no fee is imposed for it. Student productions sit alongside the chapter's other no-permit categories, spontaneous news-media coverage, private weddings and family events not sold commercially, court-related filming, and small crews of three or fewer people using no more than two cameras and two tripods, but the student exemption is the only one carrying a written commercial-release clawback obligating the school and the filmmakers by name.