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The film "Irrefutable Proof" must move its major car chase scene from Armory Square in Syracuse to Winter Park in Florida.

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A movie being filmed in Syracuse must move at least one film shoot to Florida, due to late permits and last-minute expenses requested from the city of Syracuse.

On Jan. 11 and 18, Armory Square was scheduled to light up with a high-speed car chase, followed by a fiery, elaborate car accident at the corner of Franklin and Walton Streets. It was a major scene in Ziad Hamzeh's upcoming film "Irrefutable Proof," set in a fictional city but filmed in Syracuse.

As with any event which closes down several city street blocks, the organizers must clear the scene with city officials, police and the fire marshal.

Jason Torres, the film's production manager, said the film crew filed all their permit requests a month ago. The first day of principal photography was Dec. 29, 2014. They're currently halfway through shooting. Two weeks ago, Torres said they were asked to re-submit all their permit requests.

At 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, the crew received a call from the Syracuse Central Permit Office asking for $20,000. If they couldn't pay the city, they wouldn't be cleared to film the Armory Square scene.

"They called literally one business day before this shoot was scheduled to happen," said Torres, on Thursday night. "No one had brought up money like this before. We had everything all planned. The fact that they're doing this now shows they have no idea what they're doing."

Syracuse Chief of Staff Bill Ryan said the film team filed an Permit Application for a Liability Waiver on Dec. 23, 2014, but the application fee of $50 was never paid.

Ryan confirmed asking the crew for the $20,000 on Thursday to cover liability insurance, rental of the fire trucks and eight-hour shifts for eight police officers.

"We weren't trying to make any money; we were trying reimburse the costs of a scene like that," said Ryan. "Keep in mind you're talking about crashing cars in an urban setting, in Armory Square. Yeah, we wanted liability insurance. We planned for the worst case scenario."

Ryan said the $20,000 could have been negotiable because the city didn't know how many officers or trucks would be needed.

"Maybe we could have gotten by with three police officers or shorter shifts, but we didn't know that because we never had that discussion," Ryan said.

Furthermore, the city asked the film crew to contact Lt. Joe Gallaway from the Syracuse Fire Department to submit an open flame and a pyrotechnic permit application, which he says the crew never did.

"If you do fireworks in city of Syracuse, you have to have a licensed pyrotechnic guy in order to do it," Ryan said. "When those permits didn't come in, we never knew [the scene] would go forward."

Hundreds of extras were scheduled to appear in the chase scene, as well as stunt driver Grady Bishop ("2 Fast 2 Furious," "We're the Millers," "Spring Breakers"). Two trailer trucks were headed to Syracuse, filled with cars and equipment needed for the scene, including eight stunt drivers and pyrotechnics specialists.

In the absence of permits, Ryan reached out to his colleagues in Rochester to get a benchmark for city film costs. He learned Rochester charged "Spider-Man 2" $330,000 for insurance, police and fire department rentals back in 2013.

"I realize this is a completely different movie and 'Irrefutable Proof' has a small film company," Ryan said. "We were not trying to be difficult. I was very disappointed that this occurred. You've just got to follow the rules."

An "Irrefutable Proof" production meeting.

"Irrefutable Proof" director Ziad Hamzeh said the crew definitely submitted all the required city permit applications at least four weeks ago, but the city requested them again two weeks ago.

"What else are they going to say?" said Hamzeh. "They didn't deal with it until yesterday and that's when they started making demands. It's a really horrible situation and we lost so much money."

Hamzeh said the city made film-making in Syracuse "undoable" by putting tremendous pressures on the crew.

"We couldn't have made this film without the kindness of the people of Syracuse, but there is a distinction between bureaucratic offices and the people." Hamzeh said. "Ironically and amazingly, the city is the one hurting the process."

From Central New York to Central Florida

The city asked for a meeting with the film management at 8 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 9 to come to a new agreement, perhaps at a lower cost, but by then Torres had responded they were moving the car chase scene to Florida.

"I was disappointed to hear they couldn't pay our prices and were going to go elsewhere," Ryan said. "We were certainly ready, willing and able to come to some agreement with these folks."

The filmmakers had to stick to a schedule to meet their film deadlines, so they booked a last-minute trip to Florida to film the car crash in a new location.

The "Irrefutable Proof" cast and skeleton crew will hit the road in late January to start shooting in Winter Park, a city near Orlando.

"It kind of deflated the momentum we had," Torres said. "We talked to all the [Armory Square] business owners to make they're not being put out. We had a lot of buzz going and we told a lot of people we were doing it here [in Syracuse]."

Hamzeh said the Metro Orlando Film Commission was able to confirm permissions for the Winter Park car chase and crash in two hours.

"That's the difference between a city that wants to have films there and a city that's obviously pushing films away," Hamzeh said.

Onondaga County Film Commission

Eric Vinal of the Onondaga County Film Commission had been working as a liaison between the city and the film's management. Torres doesn't blame Vinal for the sudden cancellation, but rather the city's lack of understanding to the film industry operations.

"Without any sort of protocols in place for this sort of thing, it's extra stressful," Torres said. "It boggles my mind. There's been ample time to get this all done."

Ryan said clearing film permits is not something the city does on a daily basis, but they were willing to waive permit deadlines and negotiate expenses if the film's crew had met with the city officials today.

"We're learning as we go along," Ryan said. "There's probably a better way to do this and there were certainly communication issues."

"Irrefutable Proof" is the tenth movie Torres has worked on. He has been making films for seven years and rarely runs into problems like this in large cities.

"In places like Rochester, Los Angeles, New York City, even Buffalo, there's film offices and people know how to get this stuff done," Torres said. "Eric's been super helpful but he can only do so much when there are no people in place to understand what we do. He's working on establishing relationships, but here we are. We're the guinea pigs."

Torres said "Irrefutable Proof" has about a quarter of a million budget.

"We're not even a big feature," Torres said. "If we can't accomplish something on a smaller scale, then there's no way feature films can be made in Syracuse."

'A constant struggle'

Every step of the filmmaking process has been an uphill battle in Syracuse, Torres said. After an all-day film shoot at the Landmark Theatre on Jan. 8, Hamzeh noted every one of their film trucks and cars had been ticketed.

Torres fought hard to film the movie in Rochester because the city already has the infrastructure to host major films ("Spider-Man 2" for example).

"[Rochester] would've been a smooth integration for us," Torres said. "It's just fighting for everything here. We've had to compromise for everything."

Richard Castellane (the film's screenwriter) argued for the film to stay in Syracuse.

"It's a passion project for him," Torres said.

The film is set in a fictional city, but Torres says people will instantly recognize Syracuse buildings in the movie, like Syracuse University, Onondaga County Courthouse and the Landmark Theatre.

"There's no infrastructure here for the film industry to get stuff done," Torres said. "It's a constant struggle and this [chase scene] was the last straw."

Ryan agreed the infrastructure for filmmaking in Syracuse is new, but that doesn't mean the city wanted the scenes to be filmed elsewhere.

"We were happy to have him here, but there's got to be some organization to it," Ryan said. "If you don't follow the rules, what are we to do?"

Torres said other scenes within the city have gone smoothly, at the Landmark Theatre and at Syracuse University.

"The university almost didn't let us shoot on campus," Torres said. "In the end, they gave permission. It's a testament to the fact the city needs to get their s--- together and realize the opportunity this is."

Hamzeh said "Irrefutable Proof" will lose thousands flying people out to Florida for the new shoot. With the cost of flights, hotel rooms and moving all the film equipment, Hamzeh says it's like shooting a whole new film.

"We'll deal with it, we'll move ahead, but it's a real predicament for the good people of Syracuse," Hamzeh said. "What's happening is hurting the film industry there. No wonder there's no infrastructure. Syracuse is not inviting to future movies. It's not worth it."

Torres said he spent yesterday and today trying to keep morale up.

"We're all crushed," Torres said. "This has been a super stressful day. I'm pretty pissed. I smoked a lot of cigarettes today. The city of Syracuse owes me a pack of cigarettes."

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