The misconceptions about filming a movie in San Francisco

"PARK CITY, UTAH - San Francisco may be one of the most cinematic cities in the world, but it isn't necessarily the easiest place to film a movie. Or is it? This year's Sundance Film Festival saw two breakout hits that filmed in the city: "Josephine," which was filmed fully in SF, and "The Invite," which spent two days in the city on location. Along with the recent filming of "Artificial" and 2024's "Man on the Inside," there's a growing mound of evidence that despite popular belief, San Francisco can be a welcome place for filmmakers."

"To reiterate that point, on Sunday afternoon, a braintrust of San Francisco film professionals met up in Park City, Utah, to discuss the strengths of the community and the industry misconceptions around filming in the City by the Bay. Moderated by Film SF Executive Director Manijeh Fata, the five-member panel began with an introduction by each member showcasing their organization, ranging from the Roxie Theater to BAVC Media (formerly the Bay Area Media Coalition). First to speak was Beth de Araújo, a writer-director whose feature film "Josephine" has made waves as one of the buzziest films at the festival. Due to financing, it took years to make it locally."

""The conversation from the get-go was always, 'Can we shoot this in Toronto? Can we shoot this in Georgia? We can do it this year, but you've gotta go to Budapest,'" de Araújo said. "And [San Francisco] was the one hard and fast line that I really stood by, because the whole design of ['Josephine'] was engineered around my memory and visual language." It was only with the help of tax credits on city-related costs from San Francisco (filming in parks, road closures, security) and additional credits from the state of California that financiers came on board. Fata said there are a lot of misconceptions regarding tax credits."

San Francisco combines cinematic locations with practical challenges for filmmakers, yet recent productions have begun to film there more frequently. Sundance features like Josephine and The Invite demonstrate growing local production activity alongside projects such as Artificial and Man on the Inside. A group of San Francisco film professionals convened in Park City to outline community strengths and industry misconceptions about shooting in the city. Panelists represented organizations from the Roxie Theater to BAVC Media. Filmmaker Beth de Araújo insisted on shooting Josephine in San Francisco, and financing was secured through city and state tax credits covering specific production costs.

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