There is no state permit to film nor are there permits to film in most Missouri cities. Permits for filming in national parks, forests, recreational areas and monuments are generally required. Public and privately-owned locations will require permission and usually proof of insurance. Advance communication with the Kansas City Film Office is recommended to prevent time consuming delays and unnecessary expenses.

For more information about filming in the State of Missouri:
Missouri Film Office
mofilm@ded.mo.gov
(573) 526-3566

There are no state filming permits; however individual cities and/or counties may require permits for filming.

Please contact the KC Film Office or the state of Kansas, Kansas Arts Industries Commission for more information: (785) 296-4927.
In addition Wichita, KS has a film liaison at Visit Wichita – wfc@visitwichita.com.

There are no permits issued by KC Film Office or the City of Kansas City to film in KC.

You will need filming permission agreement permits for the following:

• Kansas City Parks and Recreation, Parkways and Fountains
  • Film/Photo Shoot Online Request Form
  • Contact Heidi Markle: heidi.markle@kcmo.org
• City Market District
  • Contact Sue Patterson: spatterson@thecitymarket.org
• Country Club Plaza
  • Contact Breana Grosz – bgrosz@taubman.com
• Power and Light District
  • Contact Alicia Cook: acook@cordish.com
• KC Streetcar
  • Contact Donna Mendelbaum: dmandelbaum@kcstreetcar.org
  • KC Streetcar Guidelines 
• Jackson County Parks
  • Contact Angie Jeffries: AJeffries@Jacksongov.org
• City of Mission Hills, KS
  • Contact Meghan Woolbright: mwoolbright@missionhillsks.gov
• Johnson County Parks
  • Contact Kellen Jenkins: Kellen.Jenkins@jocogov.org

Kansas City, Missouri

The KCMO Traffic Control Permits for filming in KCMO are required when you will be working within a right-of-way (a sidewalk closure, street closure, partial or full lane closure) or any activities that impacts public use of the streets and right-of-way. It is also used for production vehicle parking permits (unless you have secured parking on private property).

Instructions and Application for KCMO Permits

Kansas City, Kansas

For City of Kansas City, Kansas street closures and traffic permits visit Kansas City, KS Permit Application

Contact Cassandra Taylor 913.573.5400 for questions or information.

3rd Party Traffic Control Options (you may want to start with these companies)

• Road Runner Safety Services – (816) 472-5457
• K&G Striping – (816) 741-3339
• Traffic Zone Services – (913) 428-2575
• Smart Traffic Co. – (913) 26-3575
• Morgan Contractors – (816) 313-5721
• Streetwise – (816) 331-2355

There are no permits required for drone filming. However, there are FAA guidelines that all productions should be aware of:

• Commercial drone filming requires a remote pilot certification from the FAA.
• Those certified drone operators must also register their drone with the FAA.
• Drones may not fly higher than 400ft in the air.
• They must remain in the operator’s line of sight, unless an additional visual observer is present.
• Flying at night no longer requires a waiver, so long as the operator is up-to-date on their certifications with the FAA and has anti-collision lights installed.
• The same is true for flying over people and moving vehicles; no waiver is required so long as the operator’s certification is current.

In Kansas City, no city permit is required for commercial drone filming, but you must have location permission for wherever the drone pilot will be operating from, like with any other commercial filming.

We also recommend that you make the KCPD Media Relations Unit aware of your filming to avoid any unnecessary interruptions from the public.

Media Unit Public Information Officers

• Captain Jake Becchina  Jacob.Becchina@kcpd.org
• Sergeant Phil DiMartino Phillip.DiMartino@kcpd.org
• Officer Alayna Gonzalez Alayna.Gonzalez@kcpd.org

Residents and businesses are generally open to scouting when they understand that you are doing a job. We highly encourage scouts and location managers to notify the municipality’s police department of your activity as a “heads up”. It may be effective to contact the film office and request a letter of endorsement for scouting. We require that location scouts work with safety in mind – notifying the authorities to their presence, notifying business associations/neighborhood associations (KCMO Homes Assc.) and staying in communication with KC Film Office. Locations require proof of insurance.

We encourage you to honor the beautiful and authentic neighborhoods and areas you film in in the Greater Kansas City area. You’ll need to use the neighborhood notification form AND notify the neighborhood association you are filming in. Please email a copy of the neighborhood notification to the film office.

Your flier/letter must have the following information:

• Production Identification (name or alias)
• Accurate dates and times of filming
• Blocks affected by the filming
• Description of filming (include specifics – noise, lights, special effects, etc.)
• Contact information for local production contact
• Contact information for KC Film Office

Prior to distribution send a copy of your flier/letter to the KC Film Office

Note: Additional meetings, consideration and/or outreach may be required for high-impact activity.

They are two different things. Though there is no city-wide permit to film in Kansas City, MO, there are certain entertainment districts like the Power & Light District, City Market and the Country Club Plaza, for instance, that do require a permit to film within their district. In these cases, you would not only need to procure a permit to film from these special districts, but you would also need to obtain separate permission from any business within the district you wish to film in.

We recommend contacting KCPD Media Relations to make them aware of your presence filming unless you are solely filming on private property. If you have ANY prop weapons, you MUST contact KCPD or the local municipality police department as well as KC Film Office – film @ visitkc.com

Media Unit Public Information Officers

• M-F (816) 234-5170
• Captain Jake Becchina  Jacob.Becchina@kcpd.org
• Sergeant Phil DiMartino Phillip.DiMartino@kcpd.org
• Officer Alayna Gonzalez Alayna.Gonzalez@kcpd.org

Hire an off-duty police officer:

• Website
• Request Form
• (816) 234-5388
• offduty@kcpd.org

The KC Film Office showcases many local businesses and residences open to filming in our Locations Database. If you wish to have your home or business included in our database, please fill out the Becoming a KC Location Form and submit it to film@kcmo.org.

The KC Film Office is a certified Film Commission that promotes Kansas City as a premiere destination for film production. We work to attract film, television and commercial projects to Kansas City and proportionally increase the economic impact of the film industry on the region. We act as a liaison between productions, surrounding municipalities and the community as well as assist productions in navigating the City’s local incentive program.

The film office is happy to read the scripts of projects planning to film in Kansas City. We do not offer critique of your work but will read to assess what KC locations and resources might be a good fit. We do not submit scripts for consideration to producers as this is beyond the scope of services our office is able to provide.

No. The KC Film Office does not offer funding nor are we involved in the financing of projects in any way. However, we are happy to assist in applying for Kansas City’s local film incentive.

There are local organizations that offer grants, like the Teri Rogers Film Grants from ArtsKC. You can learn more about those alternative funding opportunities here.