Permits and Parking - My Biggest Location Fail

The biggest lesson I learned about location scouting and permits came on a commercial shoot where we had to move a whole city block's worth of cars. I arrived on set to discover production hadn't secured adequate parking permits for our grip truck, camera van, and talent trailers, despite assurances they had.

What went wrong was a classic communication breakdown. The AD had verbally confirmed permits with the location manager, who thought she'd handled it, but never actually submitted the paperwork to the city. We were parked in a tow-away zone, and within an hour of rolling cameras, local parking enforcement descended. We had to halt production, frantically scramble for alternative parking three blocks away, and then shuttle equipment and talent back by hand. It cost us nearly three hours of daylight and burned through a significant portion of our contingency budget in fines and overtime.

My solution now is simple: I personally confirm to see physical copies of all relevant permits weeks before the shoot date for anything impacting DIT operations, especially parking. If I don't see the paper, I flag it immediately. Always verify, don't just trust; assume nothing when it comes to location logistics. Have you ever had a similar permit nightmare that cost you valuable shooting time?