Redlands, CA Filming & Production: Student Filming (2026)

City Code Section 12.42.020 defines STUDENT FILMS as commercials, motion pictures, television programs, videotapes or still photography produced by an individual currently enrolled as a student at an accredited college or university, provided the student does not, directly or indirectly, receive a profit from producing, showing or marketing the film. That definition sits inside the same Chapter 12.42 that requires a photography/filming permit from the Film Permit Officer for any commercial filming activity outside an established studio (Section 12.42.030), so a qualifying student production must still go through the same application, insurance and site-plan process as any other filming permit.

The financial break comes in Section 12.42.070: while every applicant otherwise pays a permit fee set by council resolution, subsection A expressly carves out student films (alongside charitable films by 501(c)(3) nonprofits) as requiring a permit but being exempt from the fee itself. A refundable cleanup and restoration deposit of up to $1,000 can still be required under Section 12.42.070(B) regardless of the fee exemption, and the student filmmaker remains subject to the same insurance, indemnification and reimbursement-of-city-costs obligations that apply to any other filming permit holder under Sections 12.42.080 and 12.42.100.