Find Filming locations for rent in San Francisco, CA

About San Francisco

Over the years, filming in San Francisco has allowed us to see parts of San Francisco on the big screen. Hit movies like "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "The Wedding Planner" have given us a glimpse at San Francisco's many charming neighborhoods, including City Hall, Leavenworth Street, Mount Davidson, and the Excelsior district. And, of course, there's the famous Golden Gate Bridge...a modern spectacle that's been in too many movies to count!

So many movies have been set in San Francisco like "Sister Act," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "The Pursuit of Happyness," and "The Princess Diaries" that you might think there is nowhere new to shoot your next Steve McQueen car chase sequence, filmmakers manage to find new movie locations every time!

Pacific Heights, Alamo Square, Nob Hill, and Alcatraz aka "The Rock" all have iconic, yet-to-be-discovered angles perfect for your next project. Check them out, alongside less-used places like Fisherman's Wharf, The Mission District, and Vallejo.

Many influential car chases that look more like a roller coaster ride have been shot here but made to look like other locations, as SF streets are perfect for adrenaline-charged chases! With so many famous sets and unique venues, it's no wonder that San Francisco filming locations are a production company's dream, with plenty of options to construct sets or entire on-screen cities!

Production Options in San Francisco

"Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark," Steven Spielberg's massively successful 1981 action-adventure picture, and the 2021 Sci-fi flick "The Matrix Resurrections" have one thing in common; they both had scenes filmed in San Francisco. To top it off, The Golden City was the setting of the 1978 horror flick "Invasion of Body Snatchers."

Charlie Chaplin famously left his footsteps across the Bay Area, further pitching an argument for why San Francisco is a popular production setting. You'll find choices of filming locations in San Francisco, including stately homes, film studios, pre-built sets, and industrial warehouses. Above all else, you'll have help from local businesses to produce your next masterpiece.

Unique Venues

The city has noteworthy landmarks, like the San Francisco Zoo and Alamo Square Park that double as ideal filming backdrops. You can also explore the glamorously modern mansions along San Andreas Way, lofts, studios near Church Street Muni Station, parks offering marina views along Laguna Street, northern California beaches, and even luxurious yachts.

Caterers

In San Francisco, you can have drop-off catering — perfect for a quick on-set lunch — or employ a full-service caterer for a post-film celebration. Many caterers will work with you to create a custom menu and deliver meals to different San Francisco film locations throughout the shoot.

Transportation

San Francisco has wonderful transportation options, from cabs and private car rentals to bikes, buses, and trains, you’ll have no problem getting from the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange building to other recognizable landmarks.

Equipment rental

Need equipment for your San Francisco film production? You'll find everything you need — from printers and projectors to lighting equipment and more — with San Francisco’s equipment rental options.

Production Companies in San Francisco

Yours might be a futuristic production with alien life forms, like those seen in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," or a heartwarming movie about a title character residing near the "Painted Ladies." The local production companies are ready to help you realize your creative vision!

Perhaps you want to film scenes at the San Francisco Zoo, Alamo Square Park, Church Street Muni station, or Hyde Street. A local studio can help book and schedule filming at these locations. While many think of southern California as the best source for film producers, you can find top professionals in San Francisco. Here are a few well worth mentioning.

Studio B Films

Studio B Films is a nationally acclaimed video production company headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area.

They’ve produced web commercials, event videos, corporate media communications, coverage of live events, and more, and have worked with reputable clients including Adobe, Grammarly, and Facebook.

The Hive Studios

Driven to inspire positive change through film, The Hive creates branding videos, commercials, and documentaries, for anyone with a message. They'll work with you every step of the way, from the conception of your idea to its completion.

Purposeful Films

Having worked with global clients for almost 20 years, Purposeful Films has been noted as one of the leading video production and digital media companies in San Francisco.

They'll start by consulting you on the best strategies to captivate your audience and work backward until they find ideas.

Pros and Cons of Filming in San Francisco

Filming in San Francisco will give your project a more genuine representation of the all-American lifestyle. Film your establishing shots or opening sequence at a famous park near the Fort Point National Historic Site, a financial district America building, or a boat docked at the Hyde Street Pier. The city offers numerous possibilities but filming in San Francisco has pros and cons. Here are a few to consider.

Advantages

• Great weather
  The weather is nice. There aren’t many rainy days and the summers are cool. Not only does nicer weather make most things easier, but shooting several scenes around Chestnut Street, Treasure Island, Chinatown, and other outdoor venues is possible most days of the year.
  
  
• Things to see
  There’s a diverse mix of architecture around this charming city. This keeps things intriguing and interesting on the shooting location. There are also well-known locations like the Bay Bridge, Union Square, Pacific Heights, Coit Tower, Hayes Streets, and 2640 Steiner Street, better known as Mrs Doubtfire's house. Many movie watchers love to see places they know or hear of on the big screen and this is more than doable when filming in San Francisco.
  
  
• Great discounts
  Given the abundance of production companies and ancillary services in the San Francisco area, many businesses offer discounts to crews and production companies to compete. You can get discounts on film production services, flights, rooms from local hotels, and even city tours.

Disadvantages

• Hidden Fees
  There’s often a daily fee each day for production and parking. Application fees are often required when requesting police support when filming at a high-traffic spot. You'll also need crowd control for a shoot at magnet pullers like the Press Club, Chinatown, or Painted Ladies.
  
  
• Strict Rules
  Given San Francisco's commitment to reducing its environmental impact, there are now specific requirements for "green filming," to keep San Francisco's actual historic locations sustainable. Therefore, filmmakers might have to navigate strict regulations to film at the Painted Ladies, the row of Victorian houses famed for featuring in the opening sequence of "Full House."
  
  
• Bad Traffic
  While San Francisco has plenty of transportation services and options, traffic can get a little dense, especially during rush hour. Alas, consider the time it might take for you to get around.

Famous Film Locations in San Francisco

Apes gather at the Muir Woods National Monument, threatening the existence of the local San Francisco community. That is the premise of "Planet of the Apes" in a nutshell, and the 2011 reboot, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," sees Caesar band with his fellow primates to form an uprising.

San Francisco is the setting of "Pym Technologies" in the 2015 Marvel film "Ant-Man," with some scenes produced around the city. The production of the 2013 Woody Allen movie "Blue Jasmine" happened across several recognizable areas, including Ocean Beach.

The acclaimed films showcase the numerous historical film settings, backdrops, and landmarks in San Franciso. The city welcomes actors and production teams all the time and you may be lucky enough to spot Melanie Griffith, Anne Hathaway, Michael Keaton, Michael Douglas, or even Tom Hardy while you are filming your movie on Chestnut Street or Alamo Square Park!

Al Capone, Sean Connery, and Robin Williams have filmed pictures in the city, and Francis Ford Coppola frequently chose San Francisco as a backdrop for his projects.

You may recognize some San Francisco locations in films and TV shows like "Pacific Rim," "Basic Instinct," "Joy Luck Club," "Dirty Harry, "Full House," and "Fuller House," featuring the endearing Tanner family.

Look out for the San Francisco War Memorial, Fort Point, Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, and Steiner St! Also while at it, contact First Person to help you fuse the power of your story and the city's numerous attractions into a compelling cinematic trip!

The Golden Gate Bridge

Let’s start with an iconic landmark known globally: The Golden Gate Bridge, the bright-orange behemoth.

The Golden Gate Bridge has been around for more than 80 years and has been seen in countless movies including "Star Trek," "Dirty Harry," Alfred Hitchcock’s "Vertigo," John Huston’s crime classic "The Maltese Falcon," and of course, the opening credits of "Full House" and "Fuller House."

San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco's seat of government is a Beaux-Art monument re-opened in 1915. It's an open space area and the local Civic Center, with a dome taller than the United States Capitol's.

You might have seen The San Francisco City Hall appear as a backdrop in Dirty Harry" or "The Wedding Planner."

Chinatown

Outside of Asia, San Francisco houses the largest Chinatown. It's also North America's oldest Chinatown, rich in history, culture, and attractions.

It has also hosted a fair share of production teams, including "Dirty Harry in The Dead Pool," "The Age of Adaline," and "Big Trouble in Little China."

Alcatraz

The notorious Alcatraz Island penitentiary is one of the city's most well-known landmarks. With a lighthouse, fortified rock wall, and an ocean moat, this site has contained some of the world's worst criminals and is a near-perfect setting for a crime film.

It comes as no surprise that it has been featured in movies like "Escape from Alcatraz," Sean Connery's "The Rock," and "Birdman of Alcatraz."

Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park is a top spot to shoot movie and TV show scenes in The Golden City, with museums, lush gardens, over 1,000 acres of space, and a convenient, urban location.

The outdoor setting and its iconic gate have offered a backdrop to several films, including "Basic Instinct," "Contagion," and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home."

Palace of Fine Arts

The Marina District rests on the land that famously hosted the Panama–-Pacific International Exposition in 1915. It paved the way for the San Francisco neighborhood we know, where you'll find the Palace of Fine Arts.

Standing as the only building from that time, it has a historic appeal backed by striking aesthetics, making it one of the favorite Bay Area filming locations.

The complex houses an open Rotunda, soaring 162 feet high, with a lagoon as one of its focal points. It also has an exhibition center which hosts various trade fairs, weddings, and other social occasions.

If you can recall, it has appeared in "So I Married an Axe Murderer," "Vertigo", "The Rock," and "Bicentennial Man."