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# Price of admission on the Third Street Promenade goes up
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/price-of-admission-on-the-third-street-promenade-goes-up/
- Published: 2004-03-29T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:04:30.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Entertainment, Promenade, #archive-import

*Film and photo crews will face higher rates to use downtown Santa Monica as a backdrop*

From television hits “Beverly Hills 90210” and “the West Wing,” to feature films like “Freaky Friday,” the Third Street Promenade has served as the backdrop for a variety of Hollywood shoots.

But filmmakers hoping to use the Promenade for their next blockbuster will face increasing fees from Bayside District Corp., the city-subsidized nonprofit organization that runs downtown. Board members voted unanimously last week to jack up the prices charged for some types of shoots.

It currently costs $750 for a half-day shoot on the Promenade and $1,500 for a full day, while a still photo session can cost producers $500\. Under the new price list, half-day shoots will cost $1,000, a full day will go for $2,500 and still photo sessions will cost up to $1,500\. Most other fees will stay the same, while a lesser charge for student filmmakers will be reduced slightly.

Officials said the prices are still less than half of what’s charged at other outdoor malls. The reason, they added, is the film crews actually are actually an asset to downtown Santa Monica.

“We could never pay for the advertising that we get as a result of having filming, both still shoots and commercial filming, on the Promenade,” said Kathleen Rawson, Bayside’s executive director. “There’s no way. It’s priceless.”

> “We could never pay for the advertising that we get as a result of having filming, both still shoots and commercial filming, on the Promenade. There’s no way. It’s priceless.” — – KATHLEEN RAWSON Executive director, Bayside District Corp

Bayside controls a $900,000 budget, two-thirds of which comes from City Hall. Last year, Bayside generated $32,218 in filming revenues and it expects to generate about $37,000 this fiscal year, which ends this summer. Rawson told board members the film income is “a nice cushion,” but later added she doesn’t know exactly how much the fee increases will generate, because filming comes in spurts.

“It’s all dependent upon what the season is like,” she said. “It’s going to be very hard to project. I didn’t make any changes in the budget based on a change in fees because it’s so hard to say what will happen.”

Bayside officials rarely turn away crews — but they will if the shoot has a negative impact on downtown businesses or impinge on nearby residents. Other considerations include impacting the carts that sell goods along the pedestrian walkway, street performers and access for emergency workers.

“We won’t for example, close down Santa Monica Boulevard,” Rawson said. “There are physical restrictions because it is never our goal to have severe traffic or pedestrian impacts that would be negative.”

Board members voted to raise the fees without any discussion. As part of the decision, they also agreed to increase the fees groups must pay to stage events downtown. Currently, a one-block event costs $1,500, while an auto show or a “festival,” that runs the length of the Promenade, costs $3,000\. Under the new fee schedule, a one block event will cost $1,700, auto shows go for $3,200 and staging a festival will cost $3,800.

Kathleen Rawson

Executive director, Bayside District Corp.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 29, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032904.pdf?ref=smdp.com)