• AP, et al, Wednesday, April 28, 2010 11:25 PM

For the first time, television and film productions that shoot in New York City will have to pay for permits that have always been free. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration is blaming budget woes for the new fees, which would apply to films, commercials, music videos and television series shot in New York, such as the CBS drama "The Good Wife" and NBC's "30 Rock," reports AP.

While the $300 is a barely noticeable budget line in most multimillion-dollar television and screen projects, and most major cities - including Los Angeles, already charge permit fees, the policy is new to the Big Apple, which long prided itself on uniquely providing free permits and other perks to lure projects to shoot here.

It would be paid just once by a movie -- whether it's a blockbuster or a low-budget film and regardless of how many days it shoots in the city. TV shows would pay one fee per season. "I doubt it would be any kind of detriment to a high-budget feature or a TV series," John Johnston, who heads the New York Production Alliance, a network of unions and industry groups, told the New York Daily News.

Though filmmakers will not be charged for the permits themselves, they will be charged to cover the processing of the application for new projects requiring scouting, rigging and shooting permits. Police assistance will remain free, notes The Wall Street Journal. It adds that in Los Angeles, filmmakers pay permit fees of $625 for up to 10 locations for two weeks. In Phoenix, Ariz., the city's film commission charges $100 for a permit .

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