By Michael Howard

March 15, 2026

San Diego has long been a region with cinematic film potential – scenic coastlines, historic neighborhoods, and a deep pool of creative talent. Yet despite its natural advantages, the area’s film industry has struggled for years without a central infrastructure to support productions.

Now a coalition of filmmakers, unions, businesses, and arts organizations is trying to change that.

At the center of the effort is Greg Sowizdrzal, president of The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE Local 122) and a newly appointed vice president of the San Diego Film Commission Foundation. Sowizdrzal has been helping organize a broad campaign urging the county to restore a formal film commission, establish a dedicated film office, and implement a production rebate program to attract new work to the region.

“It’s really about putting infrastructure in place so San Diego can compete,” Sowizdrzal said in a recent interview with Vanguard Culture. “When you think about the film industry in San Diego, the way that I describe it to people is that essentially our door’s open, but there’s nobody sitting at the front desk and the lights aren’t on.”

The initiative being promoted by the coalition focuses on three core elements designed to rebuild San Diego’s production ecosystem.

First is the creation of a film commission, which would function primarily as an advisory body to the county’s Board of Supervisors.

“It would be more about advising the supervisors,” Sowizdrzal explained. “Taking feedback from the community, taking feedback from the film office directly, and letting the supervisors know what’s working and what’s not.”

Second is the establishment of a full-time film office — a centralized hub that filmmakers could use for permitting, coordination with cities, and logistical support.

“We need some sort of day-to-day full office that can work with cities on permitting, streamline that process, go out and market for us,” he said. “All the things that need to happen to really speed up the process of doing film here.”

The third component is a local rebate program, which would incentivize productions to hire local crew members and spend money with San Diego businesses.

“What the rebate does is give money to productions that actually use local talent, local hires, local crews, local businesses,” Sowizdrzal said. “That injects more economics in the City of San Diego and puts more San Diegans to work.”

Together, he said, the three pieces would operate in tandem “to really prop up San Diego as a real film-ready city.”

The push to rebuild the region’s film infrastructure comes after decades of fluctuating support for the industry.

San Diego once hosted an active film commission and saw steady television production, including series such as Veronica Mars, Silk Stalkings, Renegade and Simon and Simon. Earlier in the city’s history, film activity stretched back to the earliest days of motion pictures.

“There’s actually a pretty rich history of film and television work in San Diego,” Sowizdrzal said, noting that even Thomas Edison shot early footage in the city.

But over time, funding shifts and bureaucratic reshuffling caused the region’s film infrastructure to collapse.

“They started using funding from the City to keep it up,” Sowizdrzal said of the former commission. “Then they moved it from one area within the city government to another… and eventually the government just kind of either couldn’t fund it or lost interest, or both.”

The result was a slow disappearance of institutional support.

“We haven’t really had a real film commission since all of that stuff happened,” he said.

For Sowizdrzal and other industry advocates, the urgency behind the initiative is driven by global changes in the production landscape.

Across the world, governments are aggressively competing for film and television projects through tax credits and rebate programs. Productions that once filmed in California increasingly travel to other states or countries.

“We’re losing a lot of productions to different countries,” he said. “California is losing a lot of productions to other states. A lot of people are trying to recapture that business.”

Other regions have already moved quickly. San Francisco recently passed a new $13 million rebate program, and countries such as Mexico are revitalizing their production incentives.

Meanwhile, California recently expanded its statewide film tax credit program — including additional benefits for projects filming outside Los Angeles.

“If we don’t take advantage of that,” Sowizdrzal warned, “we’re just going to continue to get bypassed.”

Although attracting major productions is part of the plan, Sowizdrzal emphasized that the initiative is designed to benefit the entire filmmaking community — especially local and independent creators.

“We would love some big Hollywood production down here — that’s fun to see,” he said. “But that’s not the only purpose for doing this. It’s not about just the money.”

In fact, the proposed rebate program could be unusually inclusive.

Unlike California’s state tax credit — which requires productions to spend at least $1 million — the local program may have no minimum budget requirement.

“The way that I’m pitching it, a student could technically apply for it,” he said.

The goal is to support the full spectrum of production activity in the region.

“We want to bring the whole industry back, including independent filmmakers,” Sowizdrzal said.

Rather than being driven by a single organization, the initiative is structured as a broad coalition.

It began within Sowizdrzal’s union and the San Diego Entertainment Union Coalition but has since expanded to include film organizations, chambers of commerce, tourism groups, and educational institutions.

“We’ve been going around getting businesses and groups to endorse the program,” he said. “Film festivals, schools, cities, the tourism authority — anybody that’s going to have any stake in this.”

That collaborative approach is intentional.

“This thing has legs and it’s moved on beyond me,” Sowizdrzal said. “It’s a movement now.”

By organizing as a coalition rather than around a single leader, he believes the effort will be more resilient.

“If something happens to me, this keeps going,” he said. “It’s coming from the public as one voice.”

The proposal is now moving toward a critical milestone.

A board letter is expected to come before the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on March 24. If approved, county administrators would draft the language and structure for the film commission, film office, and rebate program before bringing the final proposal back for another vote later in the spring.

Supporters are encouraging residents and members of the creative community to sign letters of support, share information about the initiative online, and attend the meeting.

“Sign the petition, share our social media, tell people about this,” Sowizdrzal said.

For him, the effort ultimately comes down to recognizing a resource that San Diego already possesses.

“I feel that San Diego is the most underrated group of film-ready people,” he said. “And as we build this coalition, we’re going to prove that we have what it takes to be a powerhouse in this industry.”