Storytelling Unit - Viewing and approving Location's

We had a talk with a woman from the Kent Film office about the permissions and requirements that we had to take into consideration when filming in a public place. This was very useful for me as I was able to understand what I needed to organise before requesting a location to be approved.

Since I only need two locations the first would be set in my house so no permissions were required. The second was to be in a park so I took the time to visit a few locations that I thought could work well. My first thought was mote park but when listening to the Kent Film Office talk I was made aware that they require a fee to film there so I decided to think of somewhere different as I could not afford the expense. I visited a place called Manor Park Country Park and took some pictures of where I could ideally shoot the scenes I needed.

Although this was a good location there was a fee for parking and it was a 20 minute drive from the other location.

I then decided to go and take a look at the Bearsted Woodland Trust park and take some photos of this location. I found this to be more ideal as the scenery was better for the shoot as well as it being only a 5 minute drive from the other location and a free carpark.

With Bearsted Woodland Trust being my first choice for location I emailed the Kent Film Office to make them aware that I wanted to film there. Unfortunately I had a reply back saying that the land was privately owned and I would not be allowed to shoot there unless I gained permission from the owners themselves. From this I then found the contact details on their website and emailed them expressing what I wanted to do. After a few emails back and forth with the deputy chairman of the park John Wale I have been given formal permission to film there on Wednesday 16th November.