The Los Angeles Unified School District on Friday tentatively lifted its day-old suspension of commercial filming at campuses to allow five film projects to move forward.
At the same time, the district will continue a review of existing practices and update, as needed, district procedures for handling film requests “to better ensure that the use of our schools is appropriate,” L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said in a statement.
Fred Savage and Rob Lowe avoided being expelled from Marshall High when the school district allowed filming of their new show, “The Grinder,” to continue. (Ray Mickshaw / TNS)
The district’s reversal came a day after Cortines had suspended filming, following reports by NBC-TV Channel 4 that film shoots had disrupted classrooms and damaged L.A. school property.
One campus shoot, at Hamilton High, was for a pornographic film, the station reported.
Cortines quickly ordered a halt to commercial film projects and asked the district’s inspector general to look into how the nation’s second-largest school system handled them.
But Cortines and others changed tack after deciding it would be unfair to disrupt film projects in progress, especially because they seemed to comply with district guidelines.
“I understand the importance of filming in Los Angeles and the benefits it provides to our schools and the local economy,” Cortines said in his latest comments on the matter.
The incident at Hamilton occurred four years ago, officials said, when the district was misled about what the film company wanted to do.
“Filming permits and district records show producers of the 2012 release ‘Revenge of the Petites’ paid cash to film on Hamilton’s campus on two consecutive Saturdays in October 2011,” according to the NBC4 website. “The crew also filmed a carwash scene that included public nudity in the school’s front parking lot.”
Filming ‘Revenge of the Petites’
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