Every detail of a movie or television set is meticulously planned out, from the storyboards to the finished product. And when a director wants to feature artwork in a scene, he or she must get permission from the artist to display the art.

In 2011, Amelia Hutchins saw this need as an opportunity and started Coastal Cleared Art (www.coastalclearedart.com), a company that secures that right to display artwork in TV and film productions. 

“Every piece of art that is used on set in a film has to go through a clearance process. This has become exponentially more important over time in our litigious culture,” Hutchins said. “Set decorators used to be able to grab art from thrift stores or just about anywhere and not have to worry too much about the provenance. However, as people started to come out of the woodwork and sue over great aunt Edna’s needlepoint appearing in a film without approval or compensation, the industry had to respond by making sure that all artwork has been cleared for use by the appropriate copyright holder.”

Copyright remains with the creator of the artwork even when he or she sells the piece to another person, and it does not transfer with the physical copy of the item.  

“Many people assume that if they buy a piece of art from an artist that they own the piece and can do whatever they wish with it. That is absolutely not the case,” Hutchins said. “Unless the purchaser has negotiated a copyright release from the artist in the form of a signed release, which often increases the price of the piece significantly, then the purchaser may own the piece, but the artist retains the copyright.”  

Hutchins works to ensure that the artist actually owns the copyright and that he or she did not infringe on anyone else’s copyright in making the piece.  

This might be the case if the artist used unlicensed photos as part of a collage or otherwise used images that were owned by another.

Hutchins got into the business when she donated her time on a small, local production.

“I was incredibly lucky to land on that show because the set decorator, Andy Krish, was amazingly generous with his time and knowledge despite the crazy pressures of the job,” Hutchins said. “He brought me out to a lot of the sets and explained how things worked and put me to work here and there. As it happened, we did a lot of driving around, and one day he said something like, ‘You know what this town needs? It needs a good source of cleared art. It would definitely make everyone’s life easier in the art department. Various people have been talking about it for a while but nothing has ever come of it.’”

Hutchins worked as a professional artist prior to starting her company and has used her contacts in the art world to connect with artists and build the company’s library of artwork.

“Being an artist in Wilmington, I already had a pretty broad range of contacts to approach about using their work,” she said. “That is one of the benefits of living in a small city. If I didn’t know someone who had the type of work I was looking for, then I usually knew someone who knew someone.”

Art licensed by Coastal Cleared Art has appeared in a number of locally filmed productions including Iron Man 3, We’re the Millers, Tammy, One Tree Hill and Under the Dome.   

Artists receive a payment each time the art is used in a production.

Most of the art that is used in film and TV is actually prints, not the originals, Hutchins said.

“My business relies exclusively on the use of digital files. It allows me the flexibility to print to size and digitally manipulate images to suit the requirements of a set,” she said. “If a decorator is working on an old motel room and they need art that looks like it has been in there for 20 years with every occupant smoking at least a pack or two during their stay, I will apply my own personally designed ‘smoked out’ filter, and there you have it. “If there is a piece of art that would be perfect in the office but it has to match the corporate titan’s club chairs, then we can make it happen. There have been situations where we need a specific piece of art and the most timely solution is to create something digitally on the spot. Digital technology really provides endless opportunities to be newly creative.”

There are some aesthetics that seem to be popular across the board, Hutchins said.

“Roosters are big. Rarely do I work with a show that doesn’t want a rooster somewhere,” she said. “I also have several dreamy, soft-focus landscapes that are rented continuously.”

Finding new pieces is a constant challenge and critical to keeping the library fresh, Hutchins said.

“The really fun part of the job is that there are always the strangest, most random requests that are really challenging to fulfill,” she said. “If I don’t have something that works in my inventory, I will go hunting for an artist that fits the bill. So it is not unusual to be hunting for ’70s-looking ponies painted on suede or mermaids frolicking with orcas.”

Hutchins also seeks artists interested in licensing their work.

“I love it when artists contact me about using their work. The great thing about this type of work is that it allows for such a huge range of styles and skill sets,” she said. “I’m willing to consider just about anything. Of course, landscapes and pieces that blend in well as color fields in the background are always really popular. I’m also always looking for good modern abstracts – and of course roosters.”