Most students will not be on the silver screen, but a film shoot on campus gives them the next best thing: being on set while a shoot is taking place.
People are excited by the buzz of Hollywood filmmaking and the chance to see their school be used as a location on a favorite show or movie is something not everyone can claim.
Shows such as New Girl, Bones, The Office and 24 are just a few of the hit shows that Pierce College students can say have been filmed on campus.
Filming at Pierce does not directly affect students. There is little downside, even on weekdays, except maybe a slight detour on the way to class.
When Pierce shows up in the backgrounds of scenes, it gets publicity on the screens of thousands of viewers. People who see the beautiful campus might look up where it was filmed and decide to attend classes here.
The cost for a feature film to shoot on campus for a single day is $3,000, not including the days it takes for the crews to be on campus to dress the sets or tear down.
Some buildings have another cost on top of the regular fee to shoot. The Performing Arts Building costs $500 to shoot four hours. Production companies must also pay fees for on-site security personnel and specialty technicians.
These usage fees do not seem to make a dent in the major Hollywood production companies budget, but the fees totaled up is quite a sum of cash going straight into the school.
So don’t protest film crews on campus when the film money and school pride it brings in is good for Pierce.
