Urgent: In search of High School/ Middle Film Shoot Location for 4/24-26

Hi y’all,

My name is Megan Rutherford and I’m working on a graduate film production through the NYU MFA Filmmaking program. We had a location secured, but they backed out on us with one week to go. We’re looking for a high school or middle school that would let us film in their school gym with a basketball court, a locker room, and hallways this upcoming weekend, 4/24- 4/26. The shooting would take place during a weekend or after class times, so that there is no contact with any of students or faculty members. 

In order to shoot, NYU requires us to comply with strict safety requirements which will be overseen by a Covid Compliance Officer from an independent public health and safety company, InfexionShield. Crews, including actors, will be kept small (9 people), and every member will be tested 3 days before shooting, on the day that shooting starts, and the last day of shooting. Masks and social distancing will be required throughout the shooting, and all of the equipment and high-touch surfaces will be disinfected at the beginning, throughout, and end of the day. Furthermore, at the time of filming at least 4 members of the team will be fully vaccinated, and we expect that the rest will have at least one vaccine dose. 

Currently the positivity rate within the NYU community is just 0.75% (NYC COVID-19 Testing Data), well below the city’s which is between 2.9% and 5.3% depending on the borough (New York Forward), which shows the effectiveness of NYU’s safety measures.

The project is entirely academic, and I would love to offer any way to contribute back to the school community, either with a screening of the film, a workshop for an arts class, or any other activity that you would be interested in. That being said, and despite that we are working with a very limited budget, the production would cover costs related to security personnel or others that the school deems necessary. 

We would be incredibly grateful for any leads and I’m happy to answer any further questions. Thank you so much!