The politics of letting tv crews film at columbia

Going to school in New York City means that it’s possible to walk around any corner and run into a television crew. And while any old tourist might witness a street closing due to “Law and Order” filming, only students at Columbia—and, okay, maybe NYU—can boast that scenes are shot on their very own campus.

But no matter how fun watching a moment in the spotlight may be for a TV-loving coed, for Columbia’s administration, TV crews on campus are more a logistical nightmare than a teenybopper fantasy realized. (Did i missed Sex in The City!!!)

By setting up strict filming restrictions, Columbia’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs tries to maintain the campus as at least one location in the city where students can study without distractions. Robert Hornsby, director of media relations, certainly takes seriously the matter of filming on campus: “Our policies for news media and filming at Columbia are designed to ensure that University events and daily activities are conducted without disruption and that the privacy of students and other members of the Columbia community is respected,” he explains in an e-mail.

And Columbia has gone out of its way to stick to its promises. While television shows with high-profile stars—like “Gossip Girl,” HBO’s “Bored To Death,” and upcoming drama “The Wonderful Maladys,” starring Sarah Michelle Geller—have recently been filmed on campus or in the immediate area, all filming has been efficient and unpublicized. “Gossip Girl,” in a move now famous around campus, shot their “Yale visits” episode here in August of last year—much earlier than they would have otherwise—in order to avoid causing a distraction for incoming students.

As a policy statement on the Communications office’s Web site reads, “Cameras are not allowed inside auditoriums, cafeterias, classrooms, corridors, dormitories, gymnasiums, laboratories, libraries, lobbies, residential halls, theaters, the Lerner Hall student center and other interior spaces unless permission is granted."

But no matter how bureaucratic the process, there’s no denying the rewards that come from opening Columbia to film and TV crews. Although the Office of Communications and Public Affairs declined to comment on the amount of money Columbia annually receives from allowing film crews on campus, there’s no doubt that the school profits—even after rejecting requests from most “commercial entities.” Given our economic times, the incentive to ditch student tranquility for extra cash seems higher than ever. If filming serves as an unwelcome intrusion of the commercial world lurking right outside our gates, is the monetary gain the filming also brings still worth it?

Still, shows like “Gossip Girl” being shot at Columbia because, “[the show] is believed to be somewhat similar to real college culture, so it isn’t totally out of place.” But the verisimilitude of “Gossip Girl” is pretty questionable. By allowing association between our school and the show, we may be giving a false representation of the average college student’s life.

Concerns over Columbia’s image becoming tainted by too many mass-market tapings are valid. After all, Butler Library is inscribed with the names of great intellectuals, not plaques that say “Blake Lively was here.” Columbia is meant to be a place that promotes intellectual culture, not shallow commercialism.

Then again, the possibility of gaining money and bragging rights makes embracing filming on campus awfully tempting. As long as we remember why we’re here, we can take pride in seeing the beauty of our campus as a backdrop—and we can respect the decisions of administrators who know better than we do how fast our endowment is shrinking.

And I have to admit, I’ll always get a kick out of re-watching that one episode of “Gossip Girl” and knowing that Dan is being hazed by some fictitious secret society on a spot where I ate lunch last week.

I will be leaving New York as of tomorrow, going to Israel as plan.