After "Five Star Weekend," Select Board Overhauls Town's Film Policy

The Select Board voted Wednesday to overhaul the town’s film policy, just months after Universal Productions’ adaptation of author Elin Hilderbrand's novel The Five Star Weekend wrapped up filming on Nantucket. The new policy significantly increases the lead time required for filming requests and raises the fees that production companies must pay the town.

“I appreciate all the work that’s gone into this,” Select Board member Brooke Mohr said.

The Select Board expressed serious concerns with Universal’s shoot last August and debated denying the request before voting 3-1 to allow it. In the wake of the hearing, the town’s Culture and Tourism Department worked to revise the policy and give the Select Board more time to review applications before the process is already well underway.

Concerns with the shoot included disruption, the show’s potential contribution to over-tourism on-island, and the fact that Universal representatives were unwilling to specify the recipients of donations they claimed to be making to offset the film’s impacts.

“We're being kind of loved to death,” Select Board member Matt Fee said at the time. “I just think we have to be very careful about promoting the island.”

Culture and Tourism Department director Shantaw Bloise Murphy said Wednesday that the details of the donations are still not known. But the economic benefit the production provided to Nantucket has come into focus.

The production spent roughly $2 million on accommodations, compensated 15-20 businesses for disruption, contracted with 17 businesses for filming locations, and paid the town over $139,000 in fees.

“It was a huge benefit to have that crew there. We did their wash, dry, (and) folds for four weeks. It was a great boost to a drop in our shoulder season, and I appreciate it, and I thank them for all of the support that they gave to local businesses,” said Amy Eldridge of Holdgate’s Laundry. “I know several other businesses that actually had actors come back and make major purchases at local businesses for their friends and families for the holidays.”

With those numbers in mind, the Select Board approved a significant revision to the town’s filming policy.

Previously, requests to film had to be submitted at least 60 days in advance. Now, it’s 90 days, and for productions taking place between Memorial Day and Labor Day, there’s an additional hard cutoff for requests on May 1st. For productions with more than 50 crew members, like Five Star Weekend, 120 days of lead time are now required.

Almost all relevant fees were increased, with the most notable increase being the daily rate for filming on public property. The daily rate went up by $100 to $600 during the summer season and to $450 for the rest of the year for productions with crews of fewer than 10 people. For larger crews, the daily rate jumped by $500 to $ 1,500 in the summer and by $1250 in the rest of the year.

“In comparison to...other towns, our fees were significantly low,” Bloise Murphy said. “We were really low.”

The revision is essentially a complete rewrite of the existing policy, making dozens of both substantive and non-substantive changes. Updates include amending the policy to cover drones, clarifying when the Select Board is required to approve a production, specifying the personnel responsible for overseeing requests, and adding a clause stating that productions will not have access to town water and electricity. The complete list of changes is included in the Select Board’s agenda packet, available here.