Birmingham shortens permit approval process to attract filmmakers to the city

On Jan. 5, the City Commission took the first step toward attracting more production companies to the city by adopting new regulations for production filming, including a four- to seven-day permit approval process.

"One of the things that we heard loud and clear from pretty much every single area we researched was that the film industry works on a very quick turnaround. While we're not interested in a two-hour approval process, where we don't get to check it out with all the city departments to avoid any potential problems, we do want to have a quick turnaround," Planning Director Jana Ecker said.