Text me or email me if you will be there this evening!

Please join the Filmmaker/Photographer contingent at this Friday’s First Amendment rally at Union Square. Recently proposed regulations seriously threaten the rights of photographers and filmmakers to operate in NYC, and they could go into effect as soon as this August. Other laws already restrict our rights to parade, dance, meet, bike, shout, and assemble.

Join performance artists Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Critical Mass bike riders, and Picture New York — a new coalition of concerned filmmakers and photographers, for a festive and un-permitted celebration of the First Amendment.

Friday, July 27, 6:30pm
Union Square, north end
Press Conference and Creative Rally

Bring: marching bands, gospel choirs, props and signs, cameras, projections, bikes, YOU and YOUR FRIENDS, and the 44 sweet words of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Upload: photos and videos of the rally or of your First Amendment feelings to YouTube and Flickr and tag them “camerawars” and “pictureny”. Send links to the Mayor’s office at jcho@film.nyc.gov and to info@pictureny.org.

Why now? Recently proposed regulations by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Broadcasting, and Theater could severely restrict the ability of even casual photographers and filmmakers to operate in New York City. A group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than a half hour (including setup and breakdown time) could be required to get a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance. The public comment period has been extended to August 3rd, but the regulations could soon go into effect thereafter.

Please take action before August 3rd:

1) Click here to email comments to the Mayor’s Film Office and the City Council committee that oversees them.

2) Upload videos and photos. Post your NY works or works about these rules on YouTube, tag them “PictureNewYork” and “CameraWars”. Send links to jcho@film.nyc.gov and to info@picturenewyork.org.

3) Click here to sign a petition.

4) Join the spectacle at Union Square on Friday at 6:30pm to add to the image of New Yorkers celebrating their rights to free speech and assembly.