Anyone ever hear about cops showing up at a porn shoot? I'm sure it must happen quite often, given all the sights and sounds (some probably ear deafening) that go on prior to and during shooting. Do the cops just tell you to keep it down or is it like a party and they bust it all up and tell everyone to go home. Edited by - Gummy Bear on May 10 2010
It happens... I have actually been called to several locations to deal with police officers showing up on set and doing an inspection. Shooting without permits is a misdeamnor. Sometimes houses are red-flagged for shooting and get busted frequently. And people do get arrested and everyone's ID gets taken and recorded. Sometimes, film/mini-DVs get confiscated and in rare situations, equipment gets seized. It isnt pretty.
I know of at least two occasions in the UK. On one of our shoots the cops showed up to complain that the curtains were open, "Could you please close the curtains?" and that was it. I think it's in the behind-the-scenes. And on a shoot of Marino two cops showed up while they were shooting in a van, the cops got in on the action and it was filmed. The cops got suspended, news articles about the second incident here and here. Jacco Edited by - jacco on 5/10/2010 6:24:36 PM
That would be the biggest problem that I would think of in CA. Too bad fornication is such a big felony in Michigan. We don't require permits at all for filming outside of Grand Rapids, Traverse City or Detroit (which happen to be our three largest cities in order of highest population to lowest)! Mid-size cities (for mainstream industry) actually will assist in location scouting, local crew searching, security at film sites, etc. even though they don't require permits or charge other kinds of fees. Muskegon I understand is a dream place to film in this regard. Unfortunately, porn still has a stigma here so once they find out you plan to film sex you may get a unfortunate different reaction, especially from the police!
Its really no different here... Everybody likes prisons but no one wants to live next to one and no one in the Valley really wants to live next to shoot house. Of course the man of the house may like it, until his wife finds out and then see if he can hang outside or even in the garage with the door open.
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realtip Deactivated User
2301 Posts 6/04
Posted - May 11 2010 : 12:26AM
I've heard people in the industry share stories about shoots getting busted by the cops. Chico Wang, for example, had mentioned getting busted by the cops, possibly a few times. There have been others too. If I were going to pick a porn shoot to witness firsthand, it would preferably be one that gets busetd by the cops. Those sound like the ones that are probably the most fun.
I think he was joking, Prophetman. Although the best part of Cops is when they handcuff an attractive female from behind and put her in the back seat for the first time!
I wasn't joking, some very short clips of it where on the net. I highly doubt if you can still find them though, the only place I know for sure that had them had them removed a long time ago. Jacco
I remember being outside a well-known studio near downtown Los Angeles taking solo pretty girl pics. I wasn't the producer, just the photographer. Los Angeles Police Department officers showed up and it was a $1,000 fine. ouch.
Wicked Pictures,Vouyer Media, Axel Braun Productions, Marc Dorcel, JoyBear Pictures, abbywinters.com 1390 Posts 7/05
Posted - May 18 2010 : 3:25PM
If you're working at one of the bigger studios (rather than a rented private residence), you may get a visit from a fire marshal. This happened on a big shoot I was a part of recently. He just came in, made sure everything was up to code, and left. Roads To Moscow / Twitter: @roadstomoscow
I used to watch porn. I still do but I used to, too. 1513 Posts 8/09
Posted - May 18 2010 : 6:12PM
Cops need to find better things to do with their time...you know like capture child murderer/rapists. Maybe if they would concentrate more on that in California we wouldn't have had the senseless murder of two teenage girls recently...
It was very awkward to say the least. The LAPD were polite but wanted everything shut down immediately. If shooting was going on when they returned, they said they would seize equipment. Like I said, I wasn't the producer that day. It was more of an administrative thing to the police, it seemed.
I get the impression that a lot of police officers make up their minds on the spot when the situation is not black or white, and any reaction is completely arbitrary.
I think the police want to make sure all the performers are of legal age. Apart from that, it seems pretty routine. If you do not have a shooting permit, you are breaking the law. The vast majority of shoots do not have permits.
Producer, Director, HBO/Cinemax, International Award Winner. 75 Posts 2/10
Posted - May 19 2010 : 6:46PM
I had Vice show up a few times, years ago at my Woodland Hills home. They were actually quite cool, no fines or anything. They just asked us to stop filming and suggested permits the next time... which we did. No problems after that. I think the problem with the permitting process in LA is that the rates remain the same whether your budget is 100k for the day or 2k for the day. Ultra-low-dough shows just don't have the budget so they have to steal their locations. I really hate shooting in LA and now avoid it for the most part.
^ Gary, how much is this permit that everyone tries not to buy? If it is only a couple hundred bucks, why not just buy it and keep the oink patrol at bay?
Its about $400 and its good for 2 weeks. And its location specific, so each shoot at a new location will require a new permit. It could add $2000 in costs to the average gonzo movie. Which is why no one gets them except for feature companies. Most producers try to get away with a commercial photography permit which I think is $90 but if they catch you will video equipment it wont matter anyway.
I did a shoot on Tuesday for PornPros.com for their website "Cumshot Surprise". It's a messy group scene and we were shooting outside by a pool that was a little visible from a few of the neighboring houses. There were 3 guys, me and one other girls, and 2 or 3 cameramen in the area. Someone must have called the cops because all of a sudden a few cop cars came and drove by the house, just kind of scoping it out. We had to stop the shoot for a minute, get dressed, go back inside and wait until they left. It ended up being okay though. The worst situation I've heard about is a bunch of cops busting into a house that people were shooting at without knocking, guns out and everything! It had nothing to do with the porn being shot there though, I heard they were just looking for the owner of the house who was renting it and had a warrant for his arrest and everything. How crazy! - Jesse Jordan http://twitter.com/jessejordanjj
I would like to see more porn shout outside and in other locations than the usual basement or couch, so I'm hoping that producers get their permits (or have the balls to continue without them)
Hahaha, you guys are hilarious. I know, it wasn't like we were bothering anyone. We were just naked, fuckin' and gettin' messy! There's nothing wrong with that, right? - Jesse Jordan http://twitter.com/jessejordanjj
Ive been on 2 sets that the cops shut down b/c the location did not have a permit for shooting and I've been on a few where the cops showed up but there was a permit, in which case the cops are much nicer lol. xoxo Kelly Divine
With all this talk about cops busting porn shoots (which brings to mind a bunch of legal questions, but I don't want to digress), am I the only one who thinks that cops might often show up on porn shoots just because they really want to see what's happening on a porn scene? But because they can't say that's the reason they're really there, they have to operate under the guise of enforcing the law? If I were a cop working a beat in an area that I knew was shooting a porno scene, I'm not sure that I'd be able to resist the temptation to show up just to check out the scene. But then again, people might start getting suspicious when the same cop starts mysteriously showing up at all the porn shoots.
Yeah. I can imagine the conversation going something like this. Officer: There was a report about the filming of pornographic activity in this area. I'm just checking to verify that you have a permit to legally shoot here. Pornographer: Yeah, Sure you are, Officer. Here's our permit. Officer: Thank you, Sir. Your permit is good. But while I'm here, I think I'll just stick around for a bit to make sure that everything is on the up and up... And to watch that girl take those two dicks in her ass.
I've seen this at strip clubs I've attended in the area. Every so often a policeman will show up, talk up the bartender, and just chill for a while checking out a little free nudity.
Posted - May 10 2010 : 2:57PM
Welcome