The Los Angeles River is one of the most iconic filming locations in the world. It has been used for everything from huge Hollywood blockbusters to small student films. Some of the most prominent examples include Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Drive (2011), The Italian Job (2003), and of course GREASE (1978).
All good locations should tell a story, and the LA River is perfect in that regard. The stark contrast of the river against its harsh concrete banks with the looming skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles in the background weaves a tale of urbanism vs. nature. More importantly, it looks very cool.
So, let’s say you want to relive The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) and feature the iconic LA River in your film project. How do you go about it? To start with, you must determine what section within the river you would like to film.
The LA River is nearly 51 miles long and flows from Canoga Park to Long Beach. In addition to passing through the City of Los Angeles, the river also passes through several other incorporated cities such as Burbank, Glendale, and Compton, to name a few. Most of the river is under the control of the Los Angeles County Department of Flood Control, and many sections are controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers, including the most popular filming location in the river by far, the section that runs through downtown Los Angeles. For the purposes of this article, that is the section we’ll focus on.
For areas under their control, the Army Corps of Engineers will review filming requests for the LA River through the standard FilmLA permit application process. Important to note: the minimum deadline to apply for the LA River is no later than 10AM, five (5) business days prior to first activity, but it’s always a good plan to allow more lead time whenever possible.
Despite its apparent lifelessness, the LA River is home to a wide variety of creatures, including more than 250 species of birds. Because film activities might disturb eggs or nesting fledglings (some of which are endangered or protected species), productions may be required by the Army Corps of Engineers to hire an avian biologist to conduct a survey of the proposed location and ensure no creatures will be harmed or displaced. Small-scale activity may not warrant this, but driving scenes, SFX, or other high impact activities will likely trigger this requirement.
While keeping an eye on the weather is always advisable when filming outdoors, it’s an absolute necessity when your plans involve the LA River. Not only is filming in the river prohibited when it is raining, filming activity is also off limits five (5) days before or after any real or forecasted rain.
Once you’ve decided the LA River is right for you, it’s time to apply for a permit at my.filmla.com. On your permit application, be sure to indicate the address of your river access point and select “river bed” as the location type. Most productions choose the 475 N San Fernando Road access point, as that is the closest to the popular downtown section, but there may be other access points that better suit your needs.
If you have any questions about an area filming location or the permit application process, we encourage you to contact the Solution Services team at FilmLA (213) 977-8600 or info@filmla.com.
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Email: info@filmla.com
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