A location safety form must be submitted through the VMA Production Portal prior to any equipment, facility or campus space reservations. You can use the portal to request insurance for public and private properties. It is mandatory to enter an all approved location safety form number at the time of equipment reservation on webcheckout. Please contact the Production Safety Office with any questions or concerns regarding the use of the portal.
By logging in with your Emerson credentials, the portal pulls in your academic information from Banner. You can select a class or organization you are actively registered in from the drop down menu. The next step is to set up a project, for each project you can make as many location forms as needed. For your academic projects we recommend creating a project per class or assignment and then submitting locations forms under that project. The form will gather basic information such as your name, student ID, email, project name, course, project dates, and professor. The form will then ask your location type, this will be either on campus, public property or private property.
Production Portal User Guidelines
Please note:
- All VMA projects are required to use the VMA portal to submit Location Safety forms to access equipment, request insurance, and report any safety notes or concerns on their projects.
- The student enrolled in classes or organizations and obtaining credit or recognition for the project is responsible for submitting the location safety forms under their name. No one can submit a form on behalf of other students or faculty.
- The Location Safety Form numbers are unique to each form and should not be shared with other students or repeatedly used for different projects.
- Students can add multiple forms under the same project for one course or organization.
- Students can add multiple dates on the same location safety form, for a unique location and use the safety form number for multiple checkouts for the same location.
- Failure to follow the above guidelines is a clear violation of VMA policies.
VMA Production Portal Flow
On Campus
To film on campus students must first reserve a room on Space Book. Once the room is reserved, the location form can be filled out. Depending on the location, students will be required to watch a video and confirm their project meets the requirements for the space. The form will be reviewed by the space managers and the Production Safety Office. It is important to allow time as reviewers may send notes back requesting more information or advising students of availability/limits of the space. Students must enter the approved safety form number into their EDC gear reservation.
Public Property
Listing the use of public property (in the city of Boston or a DCR property) will alert Emerson’s Government Relations Office, the office will assist with obtaining any permits needed. The form will also be reviewed by the faculty advisor, Production Safety Office, and risk management department if any extra insurance is needed. It is important to allow time as reviewers may send notes back requesting more information or advising students of availability/limits of the space. Students must enter the approved safety form number into their EDC gear reservation.
Private Property
For productions on private property, the Production Safety Office, faculty advisor, and risk management team will review the form. Insurance may be requested by the owner of the private property. Students must provide the full name and contact information of property owners. For third party rentals, an official replacement quote document must be provided.
Insurance Notes
Emerson college provides liability insurance for student productions on public and private property. You can apply to obtain a COI through the VMA Production Portal.
- Insurance may be requested by the owner of the private property. Students must provide the full name and contact information of property owners. For third party rentals, an official replacement quote document must be provided.
- Students must inform the Production Safety Office of foreign and domestic air travel with equipment, so that casing and insurance documents are provided.
- Emerson College policy does not provide rental vehicle insurance. Emerson College does not provide workers compensation insurance policy.
In case of loss or theft of equipment, an insurance claim will be submitted and an investigation will determine the final judgment on each party’s liability.
