Shelter Island triples filming fees

NEW YORK, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- New York's East End has seen plenty of movie filming since it was first used in 1921, but now Shelter Island is taking steps to dull it down.

Shelter Island hasn't seen a major production since 1978's "The Dain Curse," a made for television miniseries starring James Coburn, New York Newsday reported Sunday.

Even so, the island recently tripled fees for film permits and created a whole new "mega-filming" category for any production bringing 100 or more people to the island.

A film application for the island now costs $500 for a minor project, $1,500 for a major project and $2,000 for mega-filming, plus daily fees of $1,000 to $2,500 a day.

"We're just trying to get ahead of things," said Supervisor Al Kilb. "We had one application for a week of filming. We gave them a place to park ... On their own, they migrated to another location. They rented it. It was all legal, but it jumped way outside the parameters of the permit. We wanted to tighten up the whole filming thing."