A March Update from the San Diego Film Commission 

Television Series: Terriers, our new Twentieth Century Fox television series, is presently filming its 3rd episode.  Each episode takes about 7 days to film.  They make about 3-4 moves a day which is difficult and unusual for a series due to the amount of vehicles and crew.  The series is booking many hotel room nights in multiple hotels around the city.  The series is playing as Ocean Beach and is filming at locations throughout the county. In the last week, crew and talent have been seen in La Jolla restaurants and shopping at UTC.  Terriers  has employed many San Diegans as crew and talent.  There is an average of over 200 local vendors who benefit from working with this show.  These vendors include businesses such as coffee shops, restaurants, Ralphs, Trader Joe’s and gasoline stations just to name a few.  The San Diego Film Commission attracts, regulates and provides oversight to productions balancing the needs of the project as well as the impacted communities and local government. One of the most challenging issues for the Film Commission is making certain that this economic engine is protected from unfair charges stemming from people trying to make a profit merely because they are located near a filming activity.  It is important to remember that this is a business and the overall benefits to the community provide great economic impact for San Diego.

Commercials:  Toyota recently shot footage in San Diego for an advertising campaign targeting the Hispanic market.  The production team filmed a 2011 Sienna minivan in a La Jolla neighborhood as well as along downtown streets and the Coronado Bridge.  While in San Diego the production team hired several local crew and talent and booked 294 hotel room nights.  Other automakers have been scouting San Diego as well including Ford and GM Trucks.  Even when scouting, local people are sometimes hired and hotel rooms are booked.  Even if they don’t shoot their project here, they remember San Diego and may come back to work at a future date.
 
Reality Shows:  In February the Travel Channel spent time in our city filming segments of their popular television show Man VS Food. They visited the Broken Yolk Cafe, Lucha Libre Taco Shop and Phil’s BBQ.  Projects like these provide valuable exposure for local businesses and continue to promote San Diego as a prime travel, dining and leisure destination at no cost to San Diego.  Property Virgins is back again from HGTV shooting in San Diego for several weeks.  They love the ease of filming in San Diego.  They help people who have never owned a home learn how to find what they can afford, make an offer and enjoy being a homeowner.  HGTV once again traveled to San Diego in February to film episodes of Bang for Your Buck.  In each episode the television host critiques home remodel and decorating projects that homeowners have done.  San Diego is mentioned as the homeowner’s location which helps to keep our city positioned as a prime place to live, work as well as travel. 
 
Television Series: The Ellen DeGeneres Show recently sent a camera crew to San Diego to film B-roll of local icon locations to be aired on future episodes of the Emmy winning daytime talk show.  What a great way to get free exposure for San Diego.
 
Documentary:  BRAVO UK traveled to San Diego in February to film part of their reality documentary Alex Reid: The Fight of His Life.  The mobile production team followed the European ultimate fighter champion as he trained with local martial arts experts.  Locations featured in the project included Balboa Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and views of San Diego Bay from the pier at Cesar Chavez Park.  Additional locations were shot in India and Spain and will be seen in the UK.
 
Print Advertising: Athlon Sports from Nashville was in San Diego for a couple of days shooting the Swisher Sweeties calendar.  Markus Wendler, a German photographer, was in San Diego for a 2-day shoot for International Truck.  Local photographer Mark Dastrup had a small editorial shoot for Scripps Health.  Local photographer Juan Leonffu did a small fashion shoot at the foot of Broadway for body Boutique Activewear.  Metal Monkey Productions from Toronto, Canada, and Shannon Greer Photography , out of Brooklyn, NY, each returned for another round of separate week-long shooting for Mark’s catalog.  Proof Films from New York City was in San Diego for a 2-day shoot for Oakley.   Redcats USA, a cataloger out of Indianapolis, was here to shoot fashion for the plus-size catalog Woman Within.  Rodale Inc. hired local photographer Embry Rucker for an upcoming issue of Runner’s World Magazine.  Vandershuit Studio was busy again shooting for Solutions catalog.  Ibex Outdoor Clothing, out of Woodstock, Vermont has a small crew in San Diego shooting a catalog shoot.
 
Cathy Anderson, Film Commissioner & CEO 
Supported by the San Diego Tourism Marketing District, the City of San Diego, the San Diego Unified Port District & the County of San Diego