A couple of years ago, Reno-based cinematographer Bryon Evans was working on a low-budget film with his friend, director Mitch Yapko, in Los Angeles.
“I just wanted to go outside and get a quick shot of this building,” Evans said. “(Mitch) said, ‘Stop. You can’t put your tripod on the sidewalk.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean? It’s just a quick shot. It’ll take me five seconds.’”
Lawmakers in L.A. know the industry—and that location fees can be lucrative for local coffers. But in Nevada, few such barriers exist. “Then we come up here, and we’re filming a short film … with kids riding bikes in Carson City,” Evans said. “I put my tripod on the sidewalk, and I say, ‘Mitch, look what we can do.’”…