Pico Rivera, CA Filming & Production: Student Filming (2026)
Key Facts
- Covered production
- Post-secondary course-requirement student films
- Commercial film permit
- Not required for qualifying student films
- Substitute permit
- Temporary Use Permit, Section 18.05.040
- Review authority
- Zoning Administrator
- Issuing office for other filming
- Director of finance
Summary
In the City of Pico Rivera, Municipal Code Section 5.61.010 defines a student film made to satisfy a post-secondary school course requirement as covered filming activity, and Section 5.61.020 exempts those student productions from the standard commercial filming permit while still requiring a Temporary Use Permit under the zoning code.
"Motion picture, television, still photography" means and includes all activity attendant to staging or shooting commercial motion pictures, television shows or programs, and commercials, 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. ... Projects which qualify under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as charitable organizations and activities and student film productions to satisfy a post-secondary school course requirement at an educational institution. A temporary use permit is required pursuant to the procedures prescribed in Section 18.05.040, Temporary Use Permits, of Title 18, Zoning;
Full Breakdown
Chapter 5.61 governs motion picture, television, and still photography activity citywide, and Section 5.61.010 defines 'motion picture, television, still photography' broadly enough to expressly include 'student films produced to satisfy a post-secondary school course requirement at an educational institution,' in any film, tape, or digital format. Ordinarily, Section 5.61.020(A) requires anyone using public or private property to shoot commercial motion pictures, television, or still photography to first apply for and receive a permit from the director of finance. But subsection (B)(3) carves out an exemption for projects which qualify under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as charitable organizations and activities and student film productions to satisfy a post-secondary school course requirement at an educational institution, relieving them of the Chapter 5.61 commercial film permit.
That exemption is not a free pass, though: the same subsection immediately requires the production to instead obtain a Temporary Use Permit under Section 18.05.040 of the zoning title, which routes the request to the Zoning Administrator for the standard TUP findings on traffic, parking, and neighborhood impact rather than the finance director's commercial filming rules. Other exemptions in subsection (B) cover news-media reporters on spot news assignments, purely personal noncommercial recording, filming at a certified studio, and still photography for advertisements shot on the advertised business's own property with no public right-of-way impact.
Violations & Fines
A student production that skips the Section 18.05.040 Temporary Use Permit is unpermitted filming activity in the public right-of-way or on private property without authorization, which falls back on Pico Rivera's general penalty in Section 1.20.010: a misdemeanor carrying up to a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail, or an infraction with $100, $200, or $500 tiered fines, with each day of continued unpermitted activity a separate violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do film students need the same permit as a commercial production crew?
Does the exemption cover high school film projects?
What permit do I file for a student shoot on a city sidewalk?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pico Rivera
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Student Filming in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Los Angeles County handle student filming.