{"id":411191,"date":"2026-07-24T20:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/411191\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T20:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:44:14","slug":"comic-con-panelists-explain-allure-of-city-for-filming-at-san-diego-on-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/411191\/","title":{"rendered":"Comic-Con panelists explain allure of city for filming at ‘San Diego on Screen’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"five<\/a>The cast of \u201cSuper Troopers 3\u201d promotes the upcoming intallment at an activation in the Gaslamp Quarter during Comic-Con,. (Photo by Adrian Childress\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Every summer, San Diego Comic-Con puts San Diego under Hollywood\u2019s spotlight as film studios and entertainment companies descend on the pop culture event.<\/p>\n

But they don\u2019t exactly ignore San Diego the rest of the year when it comes to filming. Many well-known projects, even classics, have been shot here and more may be on the way, according to a group of filmmakers and observers at a \u201cSan Diego on Screen<\/a>\u201d panel discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome Like it Hot,\u201d \u201cCitizen Kane,\u201d \u201cTop Gun\u201d and \u201cAnchorman\u201d are some of the most well-known films shot on location in San Diego. The last Academy Award winner for Best Picture, \u201cOne Battle After Another,\u201d filmed for several weeks in San Diego. \u00a0<\/p>\n

San Diego\u2019s weather and diverse geography are two of the big attractions for producers. And that pays dividends for the region.<\/p>\n

Filming brings in dollars, not to mention tourism driven by travelers and locals who want to see where the films were shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge market for that,\u201d said Jake Rowlett, a geography professor at SDSU who does research on film locations and tourism.<\/p>\n

The earliest film shot in San Diego is believed to be footage of a streetcar on Broadway in downtown San Diego during the 1880s or 1890s. Early footage of Balboa Park also has been cited.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Marilyn Monroe outside the Hotel del Coronado to film \u201cSome Like It Hot.\u201d (Photo courtesy Hotel del Coronado) <\/p>\n

Speakers talked about several films that are less well known.<\/p>\n

Those include \u201cThe Stuntman,\u201d a 1980 film shot at the Hotel Del Coronado, also host to the far more famous \u201cSome Like it Hot,\u201d starring Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Television\u2019s \u201900s teen detective drama \u201cVeronica Mars\u201d was shot in Normal Heights, Balboa Park and the UC San Diego campus. The sci-fi film \u201cDemolition Man\u201d had a short scene in front of the San Diego Convention Center.<\/p>\n

And San Diego\u2019s homegrown cult classic<\/a> \u201cAttack of the Killer Tomatoes\u201d was filmed throughout the region in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it is San Diego (captured) on film. Sometimes it\u2019s San Diego standing in for somewhere else,\u201d said Beth Accomando, KPBS arts and culture journalist.<\/p>\n

More locally-shot projects are coming, including a Chris Pratt film. And another sequel to \u201cAttack of the Killer Tomatoes\u201d is being released Aug. 7.<\/p>\n

The city alone 439 such film permits last year. The projects had an estimated economic impact of $10.6 million. In 2024, location shoots in the city of San Diego pumped an estimated $17.4 million into the local economy.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t stop the city, though, from initially proposing cutting<\/a> its lone liaison to the film industry during this year\u2019s fraught budget talks. Ultimately, though, the job was preserved.<\/p>\n

Greg Sowizdrzal, president of\u00a0the Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 122, is working to create other options to draw in productions. He wants to establish a regional film initiative so San Diego\u00a0can continue to attract filmmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat were really trying to do is build a coalition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The cast of \u201cSuper Troopers 3\u201d promotes the upcoming intallment at an activation in the Gaslamp Quarter during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,27970,11928,76,75],"class_list":["post-411191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-comic-con","tag-san-diego-convention-center","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}