Film Friendly Birmingham
The City of Birmingham has a reputation as one of the finest communities in Michigan and the City is now committed to providing opportunities for the filming industry to utilize many of the quality filming locations throughout the City.
Dating back to the 1820’s, Birmingham is a City steeped in history that has evolved over the years into the premier traditional downtown in the region. High quality downtown streetscapes, beautiful shops and boutiques, quality restaurants, tree lined residential settings and beautifully maintained parks make Birmingham ideal for filming many types of scenes.
Our community understands that the nature of the filming industry is such that timing can be critical to the choice of a location for shooting. It is for this reason that Birmingham has recently developed a new, film friendly process that allows Production Filming Permits to be obtained in 4-7 business days. Also, the City has appointed a Film Liaison in order to make a single point person available to filming and production firms. Our liaison is available to guide applicants through the permitting process and to expedite the review in order to ensure permits are issued in a timely fashion.
With the assistance of the Film Liaison, our goal is to assist the film industry in satisfying the City’s application requirements while making it a smooth and seamless process for the applicant. To begin the permit process, please download the Production Filming Permit Application. For additional information on production filming in Birmingham, please review the entire Production Filming Ordinance and the Fee Schedule, as well as the Hold Harmless Agreement.
In addition, we are pleased to offer an extensive photo gallery with images of Birmingham to assist you in your location scouting. Our Market Analysis Mapping online service will assist you in your search for available office or industrial space for your production needs and to provide you with business listings to assist you in scouting locations or searching for goods and services to support your operation.
We will also have an Additional Resources section coming soon to view maps detailing points of interest throughout the City, park locations, historic properties, information on concerts and special events throughout the City, hotel and merchant information and links to other agencies and groups that may be of assistance to you. For assistance with merchant contact information, available space and Birmingham’s many special events, please contact John Heiney, Principal Shopping District Director, by email at info@enjoybirmingham.com, or by phone at 248.530.1250.
We look forward to working with the film industry, and thank you for your interest in our City.
For personal service and assistance, please contact:
Matt Baka, Film Liaison
Email: mbaka@ci.birmingham.mi.us
Telephone: 248.530.1848
Cell phone: 248.321.9241