Grand Rapids

About Grand Rapids

Michigan is well known for being a film-friendly state, but directors and producers have historically overlooked Grand Rapids as a film shoot location. Grand Rapids has started getting casting calls, passed the auditions, and starred in a few feature films in the past two decades.

It's an attractive city, founded in the early 19th century on the Grand River, with an unusual and Gothic-looking historic district, a superb modern skyline, and some incredible natural areas.

Filmmakers who didn't overlook Grand Rapids when shooting their films produced movies like 30 Minutes or Less, a 2011 action movie about kidnapping and bank robbing directed by Ruben Fleischer. Two Grand Rapid streets were used for car and foot chases in the 2011 movie Setup, starring Bruce Willis and 50 Cent. Tom Hanks also visited a department store in Grand Rapids in the 2004 movie The Polar Express.

While the number of films shot in Grand Rapids might not be as prolific as in other Michigan cities, such as Detroit, they are what can only be called quality movies. That could be down to the relaxed attitude of the locals and authorities to filmmakers, or it could be just good acting and directing.

There's only one way to find out if Grand Rapids will work its screen magic for your production — scout out great locations and start filming. If you're not overly confident that this Michigan city will suit your production needs, look at some of the filming locations in Grand Rapids available on Giggster. Do that, and it won't be long before you're loading the trucks with gear and getting ready to roll. Before you do, make sure you're aware of all the filming regulations for Grand Rapids so you don't start your film shoot on the wrong footing.

Do I Need a Filming Permit in Grand Rapids?

Wherever you choose to film in the state of Michigan, including the city of Grand Rapids, there are times when you will be obliged to apply for a film permit.

You will be required to apply for a film permit if your production entails any of the following:-

The interruption of traffic on any city street

The interruption of pedestrian traffic on any city sidewalk

The use of a dolly or tripod on any city street, sidewalk, or in an alley

The use of a power generator on any city street, sidewalk, or in an alley

You will be filming from a moving vehicle

You will be filming on public, state, or federal property

Your film shoot affects public parking areas

Applications for film permits must be submitted to the relevant authority at least fifteen working days in advance. Applications submitted outside of that time frame will be liable to late fees. You will sign a contractual agreement and pay all fees before your film permit is granted.

Student Permits

Student productions may be eligible for reduced permit fees, but it's not a one hundred percent given fact. Whether or not your production will receive a discount depends on the production and is granted at the discretion of the relevant authority.

Special Effect Permits

When your production involves the use of any type of special effect, you will be required to apply for a separate permit from the Grand Rapids Fire Department.

Permit Management in Grand Rapids

City of Grand Rapids OSE

While the state of Michigan does have a film office, the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office, it doesn't deal with film permits. Film permits for towns and cities throughout the state are dealt with by the local authorities.

Film Permits for Grand Rapids are managed by the City of Grand Rapids Office of Special Events. Application forms in pdf format can be downloaded from the Office of Special Events website on the event planning and resources webpage. This type of application can be returned by email or by snail mail to the following address:

City of Grand Rapids Office of Special Events

1 Monroe Center NW

Grand Rapids

MI 49503

Film permit applications for Grand Rapids can also be made online via the City of Grand Rapids' official website. You will need to find the permit application page, register for a Citizen Access account, and use the correct online portal page for film permit applications. Online applications are usually replied to within three working days.

What Insurance Do I Need in Grand Rapids?

You must have general liability and worker's compensation insurance coverage to obtain a film permit in Grand Rapids.

While the Office of Special Events stipulates a minimum coverage, this may not be adequate for your production if you have a large cast and crew or are using special effects. The best thing to do is to use the following figures as a guide and consult with the OSE before purchasing insurance.

In all cases, the City of Grand Rapids and its employees must be named as additionally insured on the insurance certificate. The OSE also requests you state the locations and dates of your film shoot on the certificate.

General Liability

$1,000,000

Workers Compensation

$20,000

If you can’t meet any of these requirements, you’ll need to explain in writing why you can’t meet the requirement to the Office. They will determine if the shoot can go ahead without the necessary insurance.

Note that these requirements are minimum requirements. Larger and more complex shoots may require additional insurance which will be determined by the Office.

What Kind of Filming Locations Are Available in Grand Rapids?

You won't need to be much of a detective to scout out great filming locations in Grand Rapids. They're pretty easy to come across, and there are plenty to choose from.

If you spot some locations that give you a sense of deja vu, it's probably because they'll have been featured in the films mentioned in the introduction to this article. To save you from doubting yourself, you may have spotted the city's South Division Avenue in a car chase and the Sixth Street Bridge in a foot chase in the same movie. They're just two to keep you going; the rest you'll have to work out for yourself.

When you need a park area that will serve as an event space, you should look at Rosa Parks Circle. It's perfect for a Christmas holiday movie when illuminated. The ice rink is in place for the festive season.

If you’re shooting a teen movie and need a skatepark, Westown Commons is the park to check out. For a natural woodland setting with paved trails, creeks, and wooden bridges, Aman Park is ideal, and so are Ball Perkins Park and Burton Woods.

The number of outdoor locations in Grand Rapids is almost without end. You'll find wide streets and riverside walks, not to mention the river itself. The Grand River is about as scenic a city river as you can get for high-speed boat chases or on-the-water action shots. If you're on a big-budget shoot and need a waterway with bridges and buildings on either side that you can film from a helicopter, you've found it. If you're on a low-budget production, keep that last thought for future reference. You never know when you might need it.

If you're shooting a movie like Footloose or Black Swan and are scouting for the best dance studio, you'll find more than one available in Grand Rapids that is fit for purpose. If you need somewhere with a hometown feel for line dancing or a country-style hoedown, you'll come across one of those too.

Some empty spaces can be quickly converted to whatever purpose you require with nothing more than dressing up. There's even a car park to film at or hire to park your production vehicles.

When the script calls for the cast to be in a bar, taproom, or brewery scene, Grand Rapids has you covered for shooting locations. Fully decked-out restaurants are not quite so numerous, but there is still a variety.

In Grand Rapids, you'll find a place that can double as a hotel lobby, wedding chapel, conference room, or bar, and it won't cause an overexpenditure of your budget either. There's an old saying that goes – seek and you will find. That can easily be applied to looking for filming locations in Grand Rapids. Whatever you want is there, somewhere; you have to find it.

Special Requirements in Grand Rapids

Site Plan Production

When you apply for a Grand Rapids film permit, you should submit a site plan for each location. While that may sound like a relatively simple procedure, it's not. To produce the site plan, you will be required to create a very detailed map including:-

The names of all of the streets around your shoot location

Denote any one-way streets

Mark areas you'll be using that have parking restrictions, parking meters, or are in a RAPID bus zone

Mark areas where you will need to hood parking meters or erect parking barriers

Mark streets which may incur closure or interruptions to the traffic

Show where the production and catering vehicles will be parked

The location of your cameras during the shoot

Indicate the direction of any moving vehicles you'll be using for filming

Mark the points where power generators will be stood

Show where portable bathrooms, if used, will be positioned.

The above procedure must be completed for every shoot location. That means if you have chosen six different filming locations, you should create six site plans from which there is no escape. Don't submit site plans with your permit application, and it's likely to be refused.

Building Permits

If you will be using a tent or tents during your film shoot, you will be required to apply for a Building permit from the City of Grand Rapids Development Center. You can apply for this online via the City of Grand Rapids official website in the permits section. You may be required to have a tent inspection, in which case you will be charged a fee.

Tent Inspection Fee - $25 per tent

Special Effects Permit

To obtain a special effects permit for pyrotechnics or open flames in your production, apply directly to the Grand Rapids Fire Department. This can be done online via the City of Grand Rapids' official website. It may be deemed necessary for you to have an inspection before the permit is issued. The cost of the inspection is billed to the production company.

GRFD Fire Safety Inspection - $101

Organizing Road Closures

You will not be allowed to make road closures without the permission of all of the businesses and residents who might be affected by said road closure. The anticipated closure of state roads has to be communicated to the Michigan Department of Transport. They may require you to have a police or traffic officer on duty during the closure. In both cases, extra fees may be incurred. Fees are also charged for barriers, temporary no-parking signs, traffic cones, and arrowboards.

Example Fees You May Be Charged For Road Closures

Police Officer - $75.31 per hour

Police Sergeant - $84.56

Traffic Cones - $2 per cone

Barricade - $20 per unit

Temporary No Parking Sign - $6

Arrowboard - $200

Parking Meter Hood - $20 per unit

What Does it Cost to Film in Grand Rapids?

The fees listed in this section apply only to a film permit for Grand Rapids.

Film Permit Application Fee -

$25 non-refundable

Film Permit -

$300 for the first location

Additional Locations and Days -

$200 per location and day

Student Permit Fee -

$25 application only

Late Application Fee -

$25

Additional Fees

The listed fees do not include any other fees you may be charged by the city authorities for road closures, filming in the city's parks, or filming on private property.

Geographical Jurisdiction of Grand Rapids?

Grand Rapids is a big city with an extensive urban spread that occupies around forty-six square miles of Kent County in the southwest of the state of Michigan. The city, which has a population of approximately two hundred thousand, is the second largest in Michigan. The city is intersected by the Grand River, which runs through it from north to south. To the north, Grand Rapids is bordered by a rural area full of small towns, orchards, farmlands, forests, and the city of Comstock Park. To the northeast of the city boundaries lies the Grand Rapids Charter Township, and to the east is East Grand Rapids and East Paris. Grand Rapids' southern border is edged by Kentwood and the southwest by Wyoming. The closest towns to Grand Rapids' western boundary are Standale and Walker. If your film shot location should fall outside of the city boundaries of Grand Rapids and into the jurisdiction of East Grand Rapids, you will need to apply to the East Grand Rapids city authorities for a film permit. When your filming location spreads into the Grand Rapids Charter Township area, you will need to apply for a filming permit from the Grand Rapids Charter Township Ordinance Department.

Outreach in Grand Rapids

The City of Grand Rapids Office of Special Events has strict community outreach guidelines. You must adhere to those guidelines to ensure you're either granted a film permit or the one you've been issued isn't revoked.

When your film shoot involves the closure of any road in Grand Rapids, you will be obliged to obtain written permission from every resident and business that may be affected by the road closure. To do this, you will conduct a door-to-door survey to gather each home and business owner's signature or distribute notifications and collect them a day or two later. This procedure will be imperative to your production getting a film permit.

The Office of Special Events does not assist with the notification process in any way. It's entirely up to the production company to complete it. The OSE insists the notifications should be done thirty days before the estimated shoot date, which will be before you apply for your film permit.

Filming in the neighborhoods of Grand Rapids is not such a common occurrence. It's a good idea to distribute notifications to residents and businesses within a five-hundred-foot radius of the shoot location if you decide to film in a residential area, even without road closures. By doing that, you could save yourself a bunch of time-costly problems.

Community Management in Grand Rapids

The City of Grand Rapids authorities prioritize their residents and business owners before any production company that wants to film in the city. That means you should keep the community around your film shoot location sweeter than sweet. If you don't, you may find yourself wading through the proverbial dung heap, your film shoot canceled, and you and the rest of the cast and crew heading back to where you came from without any scenes on the reel.

You may have done all the stipulated notifications and gone all out to let the nearby community know about your filming activities, but that still doesn't mean problems won't arise. You will need a community manager in cities as touchy about filming as Grand Rapids is.

With a community manager on-site during filming, you'll have someone to deal with that temperamental resident who woke up late for work, didn't get their morning caffeine fix, and is stomping mad because the road they always drive down is closed to traffic. Yes, they may have signed the notification permitting you to film, but it will be forgotten in the heat of the moment.

Your community manager will be able to remind them of the paper they signed and, by recommending an alternative route, will diffuse what could be a disastrous situation. Never underestimate the job of a community manager. They are truly worth their weight in gold.

Conclusion

Grand Rapids is a fantastic filming location, so long as you remember, film crews play second fiddle to residents and businesses. Follo the city's Office of Special Events guidelines, distribute the required notifications and have a great community manager on-site to do all the public relations.

City Guide Filming in Grand Rapids, MI

Production Permit Fees

Minimum Insurance

Additional Permits

Discounts