Q & A with Juliana Luecking, Public Comment Filmmaker
Picture New York, a group formed in response to new rules the Mayors Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting proposed for filmmaking and photography on city streets and in other public spaces, had a major victory on August 3, the final day of a public comment period the Office set up. After the group hand-delivered a petition signed by over 34,000 opponents of the new rules, the Office scrapped the proposal and agreed to draft a new one, and release it for another public comment period. Under the rules the Office proposed in June, groups of two or more, filming with a tripod would be limited to 30 minutes in a single location. Groups of five or more would have no more than 10 minutes. And two or more people, filming for 30 minutes or more, would be required to have a permit and a $1 million liability insurance policy. Picture New York and the New York Civil Liberties Union feared that the restrictions would be disastrous for amateur filmmakers and even tourists. Filmmaker Juliana Luecking made the first of several YouTube videos by activists against the regulations, and recorded a press conference at NYCLU headquarters just before the Film Office visit on August 3.
Did you get the impression the Film Office gave in begrudgingly, or that they were at least, starting, to agree with you? I have a mixed understanding of that. They didnt let us in the office. I didnt know if it was about security or that they really didnt want to confront us as a group. The guy that accepted it from us was very easygoing, but didnt really say much and didnt really want to speak to reporters that were there.
How difficult was organizing all this? The phenomenon that in two weeks Picture New York, a group of very experienced, savvy, media folks and artists were able to generate such a big media campaign without financial support at all just blows me away.
Why did it matter to you so much? There was really never a need for this before. And I dont think anythings changed, culturally, to warrant a change in the Constitution. And I think thats what this eventually would require. It's a real threat to freedom of speech, freedom of expression.
Has anyone ever tried to shut you down while you were out filming? At [the] World Trade Center I tried to set up a tripod and the police had me take it down immediately. That was back in February.
How did you get involved in the public comment process? I didnt even know there was a public comment process. I read about this in the New York Times, and I called the NYCLU to tell them that I thought I was kind of a poster child for this issue. But even before I interviewed with them I just made a video and I put it up on YouTube as soon as possible because I just knew it was wrong. And, my videos about three minutes, and I just kind of step-by-step describe what the regulations are like, and question why should I have to get permission for doing what Im doing? So, luckily the folks at Picture New York posted my video. And from there, they did great outreach. I really had no idea it would be that big. I just felt like I had to say something about it.
What has the process of getting permission to film in the streets been like up to now? The city wanted to know, basically, if you were going to be blocking a street or a sidewalk, or using a crane or any of that big movie equipment, which makes sense. And the other few people in that crew that would do this work of applying for the permit, theyd name the particular time, the exact location, you know like, what [section] of the sidewalk theyd be using. And The city would decide if that was going to be disruptive or not. And I believe after the World Trade Center went down New York was really encouraging more filmmakers and more business to come to New York. I mean, weve seen zillions of film crews everywhere.
Are you going to stay involved with this issue? What Im interested in, actually, is if anything like this, these regulations, is affecting any other small towns, bigger cities, rural areas, even, in the United States, if theres any connection between city councils and government wanting to shut down photography. Im hoping that we can set a tone in New York that this stuff has to be figured out with the inclusion of the Constitution in mind. So, the video that I cut [on August 3rd] is available [on pictureny.org]. And I might do one more thats encouraging people to check out whats going on in their own area.
What would you do if you the rules had become law? I would continue shooting past 30 minutes, and if a police officer ordered me to stop, I would try to continue until they forced me to stop and arrested me. And then Id go out and do it again.
Matt Elzweig