Filming - Like a day at the Beach

by Steve Richardson

eed a chunk of Southern California to look exactly like Cape Cod? Easy. Call the San Diego Film Commission. They’ll happily find a team of geologists and environmental scientists, Then truck in 50 tons of sand, plants, and outdoor fencing to do the job.
(Veronica Mars, second season)

-Need to close down a favorite surfing section of the Pacific
shoreline, the prized and protected turf of a band of surf rats? No
problem. Call the SD Film Commission. They’ll negotiate with the
surfers. Not only to desist from any trouble-making, but also to help out on the shoot. All in exchange for free movie tickets, part of the catering fare, and nominal PA pay. (Lords of Dogtown)

-How about blowing up a car in the middle of a weekday? In the middle of crowded, downtown San Diego? Don’t sweat it. Call the SDFC. They’ll get the federal judges to volunteer their parking lot for the occasion. (Steven Soderbergh, Traffic)

-What about decorating an historic and beloved seaside pier with 70s graffiti and erecting a full-size ferris wheel within view of ardent environmentalists and long-time residents who treasure the [pristine] landmark? No sweat. Call You-Know-Who. They’ll work out all the problems with the residents, guarantee environmental cleanup and historical restoration, and then actually make it happen in record time. (Lords of Dogtown, again)

The San Diego Film Commission, masters of making it easy, owes its beginnings to trouble. And Pete Wilson. And “Harry-O.”

In 1976, San Diego landed a television series, destined for pick up by the network and thus many more seasons, many more jobs, many more dollars flowing into San Diego film workers, merchants, support institutions. And then, before the first episode could shoot, the smash television series and cash cow was gone. Back to LA.

Freelancers were out of jobs, merchants were left without sales, caterers were back to doing weddings only. And Pete Wilson, then mayor of San Diego was…miffed.

The problem? The series needed to shut down a main street, Broadway, for just half a day. The fire department, the police department, the streets department, the building inspectors, the Chamber of Commerce – all the people involved in the shutdown -- could not coordinate closing the street, re-directing traffic, providing security, etc.

There was an obvious need for a central agency to coordinate all of this and ensure a solid financial flow and opportunity – for
employment, sales, and promotion of the city.

Under the leadership of Wilson, and with the not-so-subtle and
oh-so-enraged urging of the freelancers who had lost their jobs, The San Diego Film Commission came into being, the first film commission
ever created.

The commission was unique, a revolutionary idea, now much imitated. In its beginnings, the commission offered a variety of discount policies from businesses, fee-free permits for government and public property, and importantly, a discount for use of policemen, 44 feature films, 29 television series, and countless commercials later, the commission remains a can-do and vital addition to the city economy. However, the commission barely resembles its initial identity. Much has changed about its organization. Perhaps the only thing that is similar to the original commission is its unending success.

“We had to change with the times,” CEO Cathy Anderson declares. “At first, we operated out of the Chamber of Commerce and received funding from the City, County and Port of San Diego. In 1997, the Film Commission left the Chamber to become a California non-profit corporation.

“We’re still closely tied to local government, and still operate out
of the Chamber’s offices, but our own demands are such that we can’t most efficiently operate under many of the restrictions of city government. So the SDFC is an independent organization now. We are solely dedicated to attracting, permitting and coordinating location filming in San Diego on behalf of the City, County and Port of San Diego. We also act as a liaison between the production companies, local government and the community.

“I have a staff of eight. Only eight. But we operate as if we were
eighty. Everyone is extremely dedicated, and as CEO, I try to make it a positive environment for everyone. If we can be flexible and allow someone to go home early for little league, a sick child, or a
burn-out vacation day, that encourages everyone to work that much harder when they are actually on site, on the job.

“T here is no training for this job. Each production presents a unique set of problems, and we have to be flexib le enough to change and adapt to each situation. Basically, there are three things that every production needs, and we do our best to offer them:

1) budget concerns, 2) cooperation at every level, and 3) location to match the script.

Just shooting in San Diego solves a lot in terms of budget. Our goods and services are a great deal cheaper than in a city like New York or Los Angeles, cities where everything - from hotel rooms, to food, to generator fuel -- is sold at a premium. Although San Diego has some of the tops in crew and production facilities, some UPMs and producers feel more comfortable working with personnel they've used before. This often means Los Angeles- based crew members, and since we're so close, that's another plus. No long expensive airlines flights. And if someone needs to get home for an emergency, we're a quick couple of hours away.

"Location can be easy, or can be a real challenge. For Lords of Dogtown, we had that So Cal look. Sure, a ferris wheel needed to be erected, an entire pier needed to be decorated with graffiti-ed set pieces to resemble the 70's, but we helped facilitate that fairly easily.

"Veronica Mars, and the need to be on Cape Cod look, presented a bit greater problem. Trucking in tons of sand and re-arranging an entire stretch of beach - plants, landscape, background - that was more work. And as usual, we needed to leave the location in better shape than when the crew arrived. We learned a lot on that one. Chiefly, to plan ahead and use the right people - engineers, environmentalists, geologists - to work before, during, and after.

"In the end, we've become what we were created to do, we're problem solvers. But instead of just securing permits, we've gone way beyond. "

Although always closely tied to local government and operating out of city and Chamber of Commerce office, The SDFC has recently broken off into an independent organization. The commission still works closely with government entities, but its own demands were such that it could no longer operate under many of the restrictions of city government.

Thus, the Film Commission is a one-of-a-kind non profit corporation funded by the City, County and Port of San Diego to attract filmmaking activities, facilitate the permission process and act as a liaison between the community, the production company and local government -- providing services, solutions and answers to location filming in San Diego.

Celebrating its 30 th anniversary, the SDFC is the one-stop shop for the production industry, providing Nordstrom-level customer service via a streamlined permit process and professional staff 24/7 everyday of the year.

San Diego is currently experiencing a record-breaking year with more than 381 projects generating well over $100 million in economic impact for the region. Much of this is due to SDFC's innovative policies -- no permit fees, no location fees for public property, no cost street closures, no charges for Film Commission services and discounted police.

The SDFC produces and offers a free Resource Guide with more than 3,000 listings of qualified San Dieg o crew and businesses servicing the industry. For productions, the commission has also organized access to a location library with more than 30,000 photos of diverse locations throughout the region, and up-to-date resumes for professional local crew -- at no charge.

"There is no place like San Diego," Anderson reminds anyone who is looking to shoot there. "Diverse locations ranging from rugged mountains, thriving downtown metropolis, small towns playing as middle. America, 70 miles of gorgeous coastline and beaches, military locations, vast desert terrain everything from palm trees to pine trees and anything in between. And let's not forget ideal weather 365 days a year representing 10 climate zones. San Diego's incentives - it's about the bottom line.

"We like to say making a film, TV series, commercial, or print shoot is hard work, but filming it in San Diego is a day at the beach."