travelling into LA from Europe with gear, carnet ATA ?

[oliver imfeld]

guys,

i'll have a gig in LA mid january and i would like to bring some of my gear (Dragon plus some accessories), whats the best way to do this without getting into troubles; the client, production and products are german based, i'm from Holland.

a) coming as a tourist pretending to film some alligators ?
b) ATA carnet, business declaration ?

I'll also need to rent some extra gear like RocketX/Sonnet, angenieux 25-290, mattbox/filters, legs/fluid head; which rental house would you recommend ?

thx guys, cheers
o

 

[Demetri Zuev]

It depends. If you'll have 100 pelican cases, carnet is the only way. On the other hand, I've been travelling to NY and LA with a backpack that holds pretty much a whole camera kit except mattebox and lenses, never had any problems.

 

[Joachim Hoge]

If you bring a carnet, I'm pretty sure you will need a business visa. That's expensive and hard to get as a camera man these days. It's a lot easier to get a journalist visa, but the producer will have to prove its not entertainment your making.
I did a tv show in Norway where we always travelled to the US to shoot some fun segments to for the show. It was a sports talk show. We got the journalist visa until 3 years ago, then the embassy got much stricter and refused on the ground that it was entertainment we were making.
After that I had to travel on tourist visa.

edit: They do this to protect their jobs and to get the visa you have to convince them that no american cameraman/dp can do the job. They want the production to hire local crew

 

[Chris McKechnie]

I've traveled a lot internationally, and have always had a Carnet. LA has some strict customs officers, who are by the book. I've never had a business or journalist visa and it's never been an issue, but again, always traveled with a Carnet. The one thing to remember about Carnets is it requires 4 signatures once it's issued.

At the customs office of airport origin
Upon arrival at your country of destination
Upon leaving your country of destination
When you arrive at your country of origin

Carnets have saved my bacon numerous times, so I wouldn't leave a country without one, especially if traveling to LA since most of the LA customs officers are aware of what city resides next door - Hollywood

 

[Dan Kanes]

Best wishes in your travels!

For a rental house - I keep my equipment at a small, friendly, niche rental house just north of burbank called DIGITAL FILM STUDIOS. Really nice people, easy to deal with, and because they are smaller they will go the extra mile to make sure you receive star treatment.

www.digitalfilmstudios.com
818-771-0019

Danny is the guy to talk to over there.

 

[Joachim Hoge]

But Chris, you seem to travel "The other way" (from the US). Coming into the US with gear and Carnet and no working visa is a recipe for trouble I think.
On the other hand, Norwegian customs told me I didn't need a Carnet if I only travelled with my own gear and nothing rented AND I had the receipts with me, as the point of the carnet is just to make sure you don't cheat the government for vat (sales tax) buy selling or buying gear abroad
So I always have a carnet with rented gear, but I have stopped when traveling with personal gear

 

[Steve G]

If it is a proper job, get the proper documentation. Carnet and visa. Probably an o2 visa for a corporate. If you get caught at customs/immigration with the wrong papers, you could be expelled, and not allowed to travel back to the states in the future. US customs/immigration take this stuff seriously.

 

[Bill Sepaniak]

guys,

i'll have a gig in LA mid january and i would like to bring some of my gear (Dragon plus some accessories), whats the best way to do this without getting into troubles; the client, production and products are german based, i'm from Holland.

a) coming as a tourist pretending to film some alligators ?...

You said the magic words, "I have a gig in LA mid January ... I'm from Holland ... "

From the the nature of the question, I assume that you will not have the proper visa that would allow you to "legally" work in the U.S. In other words, you will be traveling to the U.S. from the EU under the "Visa Waiver Program." As I am sure that you aware, legally you cannot be employed in the U.S. or work in the foreign press, radio, film, journalism, or other information media. See: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-program.html

Traveling with your gear .... especially "professional looking gear " ... like a Dragon ... could raise suspicion with customs/immigration folks. And, don't forget, you are traveling to "Tinsel-Town" ... the customs/immigration folks in LA know what professional gear looks like.

If if it was me, I would rent. I have done numerous gigs in the UK, and except for the first time, when I schlepped my gear ... and almost got caught ... I have always found it easier to rent what I needed.