A crucial consideration for any attraction contemplating participation in a movie, TV show, or other video production is how the facility—and perhaps the attractions industry as a whole—may be portrayed, directly or indirectly. Past productions have included negative scenarios that can then reappear in reruns or on demand through streaming services.
In a movie scene filmed at Water Wizz water park in East Wareham, Massachusetts, a character is injured while zip lining.
“We don’t even have a zip line,” says Patricia Kells, president of Water Wizz.
To prevent surprises and to protect an attraction’s reputation, Emerson Brown, media relations senior manager at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, recommends reading through the script and contract carefully before agreeing to host a production.
“Our media relations staff does the initial vetting of any filming requests we get. Then, it advances up the chain, and eventually to our contracts department if the project aligns with our institutional goals,” Brown says. “Brand alignment and reputation is the filter I encourage everyone to use first. You should always ask yourself, ‘Does this opportunity fit my organization’s values and does it help further one of our institutional priorities,’ which for us is ocean conservation.”