Media Interview Consent Form
A free media interview consent form for TV, press, documentary, street, and broadcast interviews. Covers recording, publication, broadcast, and distribution rights. Download PDF and Word.
✏️ Fill Out Online
RECORDING CONSENT: I, [ subject ], consent to being filmed and audio recorded by [ producer / organisation ] in connection with [ programme ].
BROADCAST RIGHTS: I grant the right to broadcast, publish, and distribute this interview for the purposes stated above.
EDITING: I understand the interview may be edited, condensed, or combined with other material for broadcast purposes.
SUBJECT SIGNATURE: ___________________________ Date: __________
PRODUCER SIGNATURE: ___________________________ Date: __________
What Is a Media Interview Consent Form and When Is It Required?
A media interview consent form — also called a media release form — is a legal document that grants a media organisation the right to record, broadcast, publish, and distribute an individual's appearance, voice, and statements in connection with a specific programme or production. Unlike a standard interview consent form, a media form covers the full chain of distribution: television broadcast, online streaming, theatrical release, social media syndication, and archived reruns.
Media consent forms are used across all professional media production formats. Television news programmes require them before broadcast. Documentary filmmakers need them to secure clearance for interview subjects that appear in the final cut. Online video creators and digital media publishers need them before embedding or publishing identifiable footage. For street interviews where consent is obtained immediately after filming in public, a simple one-page consent form is typically sufficient.
Media consent differs in scope from narrower consent forms used in other fields. A journalism interview consent form focuses on source attribution, on/off-record status, and quote use in print or digital articles. A podcast interview consent form covers audio syndication and clip rights. The media form presented here covers all of these plus the additional rights required for broadcast television, theatrical distribution, and film festivals.
For productions involving audio or video recording, the consent form must be signed before recording begins to be legally valid in two-party consent jurisdictions. Productions that include interviews with students or minors require a parent or guardian signature — see our student interview consent form for the appropriate template. For guidance on drafting consent forms from scratch, see our step-by-step guide on how to write an interview consent form, or browse our interview consent form samples and examples.
What to Include in a Media Interview Consent Form
- Media organisation, production company, or outlet nameIdentify the legal entity responsible for the production — the broadcaster, production company, or individual filmmaker.
- Journalist, producer, or director nameThe name of the person conducting the interview and their role in the production.
- Purpose of the interview — news, documentary, research, or entertainmentState the programme title, production format, and intended distribution channel so the subject knows exactly how their interview will be used.
- Recording consent — audio, video, and photographySpecify whether the subject will be audio recorded, video recorded, photographed, or all three. Required before recording in two-party consent jurisdictions.
- Broadcast and publication rights — all channelsList every distribution channel: television, online streaming, cinema, social media, podcast, and print. Failure to list a channel means you technically lack permission to distribute there. For audio-only use, also consider a podcast interview consent form.
- Geographic scope and duration of rightsSpecify whether rights are worldwide or territory-restricted, and whether they are granted in perpetuity or for a limited period. "Worldwide, in perpetuity" is standard for most broadcast and online productions.
- Editing consentConfirm that the production may edit, condense, or combine the interview with other material. For journalistic interviews, this may also include quote review rights.
- Attribution and identification in the mediaState whether the subject's name, job title, and/or likeness may be used to identify them in the programme, promotional materials, or press releases.
- Compensation or appearance feeDocument whether the subject is being paid an appearance fee, or whether they are appearing voluntarily without compensation.
- Signature lines for subject and producerBoth parties must sign and date the form. For street interviews, follow up with an email-based consent form before publishing if a signature cannot be obtained on-site.
Media Law Resources
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — US media law resources including recording consent, release forms, and journalist rights guides.
- Ofcom Broadcasting Code (UK) — the regulatory framework covering consent and contributor treatment in UK broadcast media.
- State-by-State Recording Law Guide — which US states require one-party vs two-party consent for recording, updated annually.
Media Interview Consent Form — Sample Text
Copy this sample or browse more interview consent form examples. Download the editable PDF or Word version below.
MEDIA INTERVIEW CONSENT FORM Media Organization: [Organization Name] Production Title / Program: [Title] Producer / Director: [Name] Contact: [email] | [phone] Subject Full Name: [Subject Name] Interview Date & Location: [Date] | [Location] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ RECORDING CONSENT I consent to being: [ ] Filmed / videotaped [ ] Audio recorded [ ] Photographed PUBLICATION & BROADCAST RIGHTS I grant [Organization Name] the non-exclusive right to use recordings of my interview in connection with [Program/Project Title] for: [ ] Television broadcast [ ] Online streaming platforms [ ] Cinema / theatrical [ ] Social media and digital [ ] Print publication [ ] Podcast / audio GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE: [ ] Worldwide [ ] [Specify region] DURATION: [ ] In perpetuity [ ] [Specify years] EDITING I understand the interview may be edited, condensed, or combined with other material. I consent to such editing for broadcast and publication. IDENTIFICATION My name and/or likeness may be used to identify me in: [ ] The program itself [ ] Promotional materials [ ] Press releases COMPENSATION [ ] No compensation is provided for this appearance [ ] Compensation agreed: ___________________ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Subject Signature: ______________________________ Date: ____________ Producer Signature: ______________________________ Date: ____________