There is no set Diocesan or Church of England protocol about filming in churches.
It is up to each PCC to decide if they want filming at their church.
If your church is approached about filming, you should:
- Find out as much as you can about the project. Is it for a drama, a documentary, or a news piece? Is your PCC happy with the content of scenes at the church, and the context of the piece? Would you want the message of the film to be associated with your church? If the PCC thinks there are elements in this that don’t sit well with the Gospel (such as violence, sexual content or supernatural elements) you can decline the filming. Ask for all the information in writing.
- Ask for information in writing about the amount of time the crew want to film, how many people there will be, and what equipment will be used. Will they want to dress the church, or change any items on the inside or outside? Remember, you might need a faculty for some of this –ask your Archdeacon if you think that might be the case.
- Encourage the researcher to come on a recce. If they haven’t seen the church, they won’t fully know what filming there will be like.
- Insist on a copy of their Public Liability Insurance documents before they start filming. If they break or damage anything, or harm people while filming, they must be liable.
- Don’t expect much money from this. If the piece is for a new item or a documentary, there is likely to be little or no budget for filming locations. Dramas may have a budget, but it won’t be much. You could ask for a donation to the work of the church in return for providing a location for filming: perhaps £50 for half a day and £100 for a day.
- If a fee is a practical option it is probably a ‘facility fee’ – a fee simply for the use of the facility of the church.
- It should be clear that any costs incurred for the church should be reimbursed, eg use of electricity, or any cost in providing a paid church staff member while filming work is under way.
- You probably don’t hold meaningful copyright on the interior of your church (and the outside is a public space so you don’t hold copyright there either); copyright is generally the property of the creator of a specific artwork, design or artefact (or their heirs) and lasts for 70 years after their death. This is unlikely to be an issue in most churches unless the filming specifically features a particular modern artwork.
- Be careful what contracts you sign – you can always run them past the Diocesan Communications Team (www.dioceseofyork.org.uk/communications) or the Registrar.
- Ask when the filming will be shown, and share the news if appropriate.