P E R M I T S
Home / Permits
Welcome to the Official Film Office of Greater Palm Springs!
STEP 1: Contact a Permit Specialist (760) 861-1182. A Permit Specialist will help you understand the permit process for Palm Springs and other local desert cities, including the unincorporated towns, tribal, state and federal lands located within the greater Palm Springs region.
We believe the permit process should be easily understood with quick access to agency information, contacts, and applications. The Film Office is here to assist you with that process. If at any time you need assistance, call a Permit Specialist at (760) 861-1182 for immediate support.
| ALL CITY PERMITS
Rancho Mirage is a resort city in the Greater Palm Springs region. In between Cathedral City and Palm Desert, it is one of the nine cities of the Coachella Valley.
Rancho Mirage has twelve golf courses, also known as country clubs. The city’s first resort was the Thunderbird Guest Ranch, opened in 1946 for entertainers and business clientele. Other golf resorts are the Tamarisk, Mission Hills, the Springs, Sunrise, Omni Resorts Rancho Las Palmas hotel (opened in 1979 to replace the Desert Air golf and private airport from 1954–1978), Rancho Mirage, Morningside, Mission Hills North Course, Westin Hotels Mission Hills resort, and Tuscania by Sunrise Company opened in 2006.
Processing Time: 3 days
Permit Fees: $550 with additional hourly staff time at the “actual rate.”
Permit Processing Fee:¹ $149.00
Neighborhood Notification Service:²
First Location: $249
Additional Location(s) $99
Insurance: $1 million liability
Police/Sheriff: $37.80/hour per officer + mileage (4 hour minimum)
Fire: Not usually required
¹Neighborhood Notification service and Permit Processing services are offered via the Film Alliance and not city billed. ²Neighborhood Notification may be required depending on production size and location – determined on a case-by-case basis.
Pilar Lopez | (760) 328-2266 Ext. 208
Email: pilarl@ranchomirageca.gov
Coachella is the easternmost city in the valley known as the greater Palm Springs region (or the Coachella Valley). It is located 28 miles east of Palm Springs, and 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
The eastern half of the greater Palm Springs region is below sea level, and the area’s average elevation is 68 feet (35 m) below sea level. The Salton Sea, a saltwater lake located about 10 miles South of Coachella, lies 227 feet below sea level.
The city also lends its name to the Coachella grapefruit; the town’s stretch of State Route 111 is named Grapefruit Boulevard in its honor. Harrison Street or State Route 86 is declared historic U.S. Route 99, the major thoroughfare that connects with Interstate 10 a few miles north of town.
Processing Time: 1-5 days
Business License Fees: Motion: $120 flat fee; Stills: $50/day plus $500 bond plus $100 annual fee
Permit Processing Fee:¹ $149.00
Neighborhood Notification Service:²
First Location: $249
Additional Location(s) $99
Insurance: $1 million liability minimum depending on filming requirement
Police/Sheriff: At cost, in advance, as determined by city and local Police Authority
Fire: At cost, in advance, as determined by city and local Fire Authority
Roads: Case-by-case basis
¹Neighborhood Notification service and Permit Processing services are offered via the Film Alliance and not city billed. ²Neighborhood Notification may be required depending on production size and location – determined on a case-by-case basis.
Office Hours: M-Th – 7:00 am – 6:00 pm
Hector Molina | (760) 398-3102 x 115 hmolina@coachella.org
Secondary contact: Luis Lopez | (760) 398-3102 x 118 llopez@coachella.org
Coming soon.
Desert Hot Springs
Also known as DHS, is a city in the greater Palm Springs region (or the Coachella Valley). The city has undergone rapid development and high population growth since the 1970s, when there were 2,700 residents.
Desert Hot Springs Film Commission
The goal of the Desert Hot Springs Film Commission is to help Desert Hot Springs earn the reputation as the most film friendly city in the Desert and to offer a wide range of unique filming locations.
Processing Time: 5 days – Longer for complicated permits
Motion Pictures/Film Application Fee: $150 plus $40/day
Still photography Application Fee: $ 75 plus $15/day
Permit Processing Fee:¹ $149.00
Neighborhood Notification Service:²
First Location: $249
Additional Location(s) $99
Police Department: Case-by-case basis – $71/hour with an 8-hour minimum
Fire Department: Case-by-case basis – Fees vary depending upon services required
Roads Department: Case-by-case basis – Fees vary depending upon services required
¹Neighborhood Notification service and Permit Processing services are offered via the Film Alliance and not city billed. ²Neighborhood Notification may be required depending on production size and location – determined on a case-by-case basis.
Indian Wells is a city in the greater Palm Springs region (or the Coachella Valley). Incorporated in 1967, it lies between Palm Desert and the resort town of La Quinta.
The city hosts the fifth-largest tennis tournament in the world, the Indian Wells Masters tennis tournament—presently known as the BNP Paribas Open. The Indian Wells Masters is one of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 high-level events operated by the Association of Tennis Professionals, and one of the four WTA Premier Mandatory tournaments of the Women’s Tennis Association. It is held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which contains the second-largest tennis-specific stadium in the world.
Processing Time: 3-5 days
Permit Fees: $26
Permit Processing Fee:¹ $149.00
Neighborhood Notification Service:²
First Location: $249
Additional Location(s) $99
Business License Fees: $61 plus $1 for each additional automobile
Insurance: $1 million liability
Police/Sheriff: $37.80/hr per officer – 4 hr min.
Fire: Payment for services as needed.
¹Neighborhood Notification service and Permit Processing services are offered via the Film Alliance and not city billed. ²Neighborhood Notification may be required depending on production size and location – determined on a case-by-case basis.
Jon Berg | (760) 776-0229 | jberg@indianwells.com
Contact Indian Wells for downloads | (760) 776-0229
Indio is a city in the greater Palm Springs region (or the Coachella Valley). It lies 23 miles east of Palm Springs, 77 miles east of Riverside, and 127 miles east of Los Angeles. It is about 98 miles north of Mexicali, Baja California on the U.S.-Mexican border. The word Indio is Spanish for Indian.
Indio was once referred to as “the Hub of the Valley”, the Chamber of Commerce jingle in the 1970s, and today the jingle is the “City of Festivals” because of all the special events held in town.
Processing Time: 7 days
Permit Fees:
Still Photography Fee:
Application Fee $50
Location Fee $10/per day or $50/per 7-day week
Film/Television/Video Fee:
Application Fee $100
Location Fee $10/per day or $125/per 7-day week
Permit Processing Fee:¹ $149.00
Neighborhood Notification Service:²
First Location: $249
Additional Location(s) $99
Insurance: An insurance certificate must be submitted. Requirements: Minimum $2 million General Liability Limit, Proof of Worker’s Compensation, City of Indio named as additional insured. $10 million Aircraft Liability (when applicable).
¹Neighborhood Notification service and Permit Processing services are offered via the Film Alliance and not city billed. ²Neighborhood Notification may be required depending on production size and location – determined on a case-by-case basis.
Edith Sanchez | (760) 391-4175
Email: esanchez@indio.org
Jim Curtis | (760) 391-4174
Email: jcurtis@indio.org
La Quinta is a city located in the greater Palm Springs region (or the Coachella Valley) and borders the cities of Indian Wells and Indio.
The Robb Report credits La Quinta as the leading golf destination in the US. Among those destinations is the La Quinta Resort and Club, a resort dating to 1926, where director Frank Capra wrote the screenplay for Lost Horizon. The Tom Fazio-designed golf course at The Quarry at La Quinta is ranked among the top 100 golf courses in the United States. In January 2008, the Arnold Palmer Classic Course at the city’s SilverRock Golf Resort became one of the four host golf courses for the annual Bob Hope Chrysler Classic PGA golf tournament.
Processing Time: Applications should be submitted at least 30-days prior to the planned film shoot. Incomplete applications and applications submitted with less than 30-days for processing may not be reviewed and issued in time for the planned shoot.
Permit Fees: Rates have changed for 2022. Please contact the Film Office for current schedule.
¹Neighborhood Notification service and Permit Processing services are offered via the Film Alliance and not city billed. ²Neighborhood Notification may be required depending on production size and location – determined on a case-by-case basis.
Film Permit Application: Contact Levi Vincent (760) 861-1182 for important information.
Palm Desert is a city in the greater Palm Springs region (or the Coachella Valley), approximately 14 miles east of the city of Palm Springs and 122 miles east of Los Angeles.
A major center of growth in the greater Palm Springs region, Palm Desert is a popular retreat for “snowbirds” from colder climates (the Eastern and Northern United States, and Canada), who swell its population by an estimated 31,000 each winter. In the past couple of years Palm Desert has seen more residents become “full-timers”, mainly from the coasts and urban centers of California, who have come for both affordable and high-valued home prices.
Processing Time: 5 days with no encroachment, 2 weeks with.
Permit Fees:
Film/Television $100 Application fee plus $25/daily or $125/weekly
Photo $50 Application fee plus $10/daily or $50/weekly
Permit Processing Fee:¹ $149.00
Neighborhood Notification Service:²
First Location: $249
Additional Location(s) $99
Incroachment: $251
Insurance: $1 million liability.
Police/Sheriff: Contact Palm Desert PD (760) 836-1600
Fire: Contact Sonia Cooley – Fire Marshall (760) 346-1870
¹Neighborhood Notification service and Permit Processing services are offered via the Film Alliance and not city billed. ²Neighborhood Notification may be required depending on production size and location – determined on a case-by-case basis.
Code Compliance/Business Licensing:
Claudia Jaime
cjaime@cityofpalmdesert.org
(760) 346-0611 ext 443
Sylvia Carrasco
scarrasco@cityofpalmdesert.org
(760) 346-0611 ext 582
Permits are required for film/photo throughout the City of Palm Desert.
PALM SPRINGS
Where to Start:
Complete the film permit here: PDF Download and submit to: permits@palmspringsfilm.com
COMMERCIAL FILMING/PHOTOGRAPHY PERMITS
COVID-19:
*** All productions are required to staff a Certified COVID-19 Safety Compliance Officer. Please contact the film office for full requirements ***
Facilities fee: Facilities managed by various city departments have fee schedules established for their use. Use fees appropriate to these facilities will be applied in addition to application and location fees.
Service Fee: Fees will be changed to cover expenses to the city for personnel, equipment and vehicle expenses incurred by the city to assist a film project. This will reflect actual cost to the city and are applied, in addition to application and location fees.
Film & Motion Picture:
Application Fee: $172.00
Location Fee: $46.00
Per Week: $229 (7 day period)
Still Photography:
Application Fee: $86
Location Fee: $17
Permit Processing Fee¹: $149.00
Neighborhood Notification Service²: Learn More
First Location: $229
Additional Location(s) $99
Order Notification Service
¹Permit Processing Fee applies to any single city permit with unlimited locations with that jurisdiction, and is non-city billed and billed separately.
²Neighborhood Notification Service, upon City demand, is usually required for residential productions and based on a case-by-case basis for business. It is non-city billed and billed separately. The City will inform us when Notification is required.
Palm Springs is home to one of the country’s largest collections of mid-century architecture. Thousands of film friendly homes, apartments, hotels, businesses and other buildings were designed in this fashion across the city. International mid-century enthusiasts, filmmakers and photographers come to Palm Springs to admire the design, film on-location and photograph its beauty.
Palm Springs is a desert resort city in the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 107 mi east of Los Angeles. Palm Springs covers approximately 94 square miles, making it the largest city in Riverside county by land area.
Please call the Greater Palm Springs Film Alliance & Film Office for a list of city contacts, including processing times, tips and suggestions:
Levi Vincent | (760) 861-1182
Email | permits@palmspringsfilm.com
Direct | levi@palmspringsfilm.com
