Filming at Yale

If you’d like to film on campus, please follow these steps:

1. Fill out the filming application form and include a copy of your insurance policy. A Certificate of Insurance naming Yale University as additional insured for the day(s) of filming, load-in, and strike must be submitted a minimum of 48 hours prior to filming and/or load-in. Coverage ranges from $1-5 million and is determined by the nature of the project.
2. Call OPAC at 203-432-1345 when you’re ready to schedule your visit. Please try to give us as much notice as possible; it might not be feasible accessing certain buildings without 24 hours’ notice. 
3. Students under the age of 18 must have their parent or guardian sign off on the film company’s release form. Students who are age 18 or over can sign on their own. All students should be informed that their participation and signing of agreements and forms related to this filming is voluntary.

Please visit the university’s  Filming at Yale website for guidelines and location information.

OPAC would like to make it as easy as possible for you to record news or documentary footage and interviews on our campus and will be happy to facilitate your efforts. Please email filming@yale.edu or call us at 203-432-1345.

Some restrictions apply to where and what you can record on campus. Out of concern for the privacy of our students, faculty, and staff, we do not allow cameras or any other recording devices into our residential colleges, classrooms, or the gymnasium. It is also necessary for an OPAC representative to escort your film crew at all times while on Yale property. 

Access to some iconic locations is granted on a case-by-case basis. These locations include:

• Sterling Memorial Library
• Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
• Residential college courtyards
• Woolsey Hall
• Battell Chapel
• Harkness Tower

We can also provide you with high-quality B-roll of some of the most popular filming locations on campus, including Yale’s landmark buildings.

Anyone wishing to film or take still photographs on the Yale campus must inform OPAC in advance by emailing filming@yale.edu or calling 203-432-1345.

Yes. Please inform OPAC in advance.

No. Members of the media and commercial photographers must be accompanied by an OPAC escort while on the Yale campus, and any filming must be arranged in advance. However, we are an urban university and we cannot restrict filming done on city streets.

Yes. The university reviews each request on a case-by-case basis. Issues such as the time filming is to take place and the project’s subject matter are considered when reviewing requests.

Be sure to share with the OPAC officer handling your request what you are looking for. We have many suitable campus locations to choose from; however, please note that when the academic calendar is in effect, your first choice may not be available. We also can arrange to shoot your interview in our TV studio.

Yes, and we encourage you to use it—especially if you are shooting the campus as background for a story not directly related to Yale. Available footage includes ground and aerial shots of campus. To preview and download footage, please email filming@yale.edu.

Yale University does not provide free parking, but you can review the Visitor Parking lot options on the Yale University Campus Map when planning your visit.