“Every time people visit San Francisco, they’re blown away by our city’s beauty and energy,” said Lurie in a statement. “Film takes that feeling and carries it far beyond our city limits. And when productions choose San Francisco, they do more than showcase our city’s outstanding beauty. They invest directly in our workers, our neighborhoods and our creative economy.”
This is the first time the film incentive program, known as Scene in San Francisco, has been updated since 2006, when it was first introduced. Previously, it only reimbursed up to $600,000 in city fees. Over the past 20 years, the program has generated $26 million in wages for local workers and $69 million in spending at San Francisco businesses.
San Francisco recently made several headlines in the film world. In 2025, Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, a forthcoming drama about OpenAI founder Sam Altman, shut down several city blocks for filming in the Mission District. And Josephine, a dramatic thriller about an eight-year-old girl who witnesses a sexual assault in Golden Gate Park, won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.