Anne, One reality about film-making is that it is a dynamic process. The directors rarely have full creative control over the content and intellectual property and often substantial changes can happen in post production after shooting is completed. So the "idea" of the film that an institution / location may be told about can become very different when the final cut is distributed. As a location an institution sets its own criteria as to what people and projects they associate themselves with. There are many benefits that can come from being a location for a major feature film - from the payment of location fees, the hiring of staff as extras, to the media and PR exposure to being associated with a big production. As in all things there are drawbacks as well. Considerable staff time can be spent on facilitating and monitoring filming. Production crews can be less than careful of spaces and objects - they are often focused on getting the shot list completed as fast and efficiently as possible and they have insurance to cover "damages", and unless it is a documentary that is specific on your institution and mission then you are more of a "place" than something more significant in the final film. As to what is "decent", well, that is in the eye of the beholder. Different people can have vastly different viewpoints on that- especially if the issue is a fictitious work. It is very hard to quantify in a museum policy other than being involved with illegal activities as you had previously noted that your institution does. An institution could benefit from a review board of staff from different departments that are all impacted by a film project to assess if there is an overall benefit or not for any specific project. As a conservator I have sometimes worked on stabilizing and repairing art works that could be seen as provocative and "indecent". While I have my own personal set of tastes I do not see it as my function to judge but rather to preserve the integrity of the work and the artist's intent. I am a firm believer in the freedom of expression and in the right to create. But if an employee expressed discomfort with being involved with a project due to its subject I would strive to find a way to keep them busy with another task, if possible. And I suspect that this may be all that you can expect in your situation. Your institution may choose to get involved with a project that you have personal issues with and the best that may happen is that you can exercise the choice not to be involved with it. Cheers! Dave David Harvey Conservator Los Angeles, CA On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 6:46 AM, Anne M. Nagrant <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > To clarify my inquiry, > > > > The decision to welcome filmmakers here is already made. Management (and > management's management) are eager to bring in more movies. This isn't up > for staff discussion at this point. > > > > My question was trying to get at this: if somebody is using your museum to > shoot a fictional story, does anybody "decide" if the movie's subject matter > (or plot) is decent (ie decent enough you won't mind your museum affiliated > with such a film)? Or do you permit all groups, as long as they agree to > your museum's rules and policies? > > > > I have a feeling that most museums would permit all groups, but wanted to > check. > > > > Thanks! > > Anne > > > > P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > *From:* Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On > Behalf Of *Anne M. Nagrant > *Sent:* 22 January 2009 20:03 > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* [MUSEUM-L] selecting who may film ? > > Our museum recently started permitting film-makers to use our site. To date > we've had two: a documentary, and a straight-to-DVD student film. > > > > My question is, for those museums who allow filming, do you exercise any > kind of "editorial" (or other) control? It made some of my co-workers and I > squirm when we learned the film was a horror flick whose plot involved child > sacrifice (those scenes were filmed at a different location). > > > > Management's take is that as long as the film doesn't include anything > illegal (children smoking, x-rated content, drugs) then we must/can not make > a judgment of who can use our site or not. > > > > Is this the case at other museums also? Does it depend on if your museum is > public or private? Yes film groups do sign documents and pay to film here. > > > > Anne > > > ========================================================= Important > Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).