Committee recommends allowing leased stage space to qualify for San Francisco film rebate

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee voted to forward to the full Board of Supervisors a proposed amendment to San Francisco’s film rebate program that would allow rental costs for leased stage or cover space to be treated as a qualified production cost under the existing $600,000 per‑production cap.

Susanna Robbins, executive director of the Film Commission, told the committee the city has seen rising interest in basing productions here but lacks sufficient city‑owned stage space for cover sets. Robbins said the commission has “had to turn away a Universal Pictures film” that would have shot 25 days in San Francisco and estimated that loss at about $4,000,000 in local spending. She also cited program metrics, saying the rebate program generated more than $40 million in local spending over six years and nearly $12.5 million in local salaries during that period.

Robbins asked the committee to recommend that the Board amend the rebate legislation to permit the Director of Real Estate, after consulting with the Film Commission, to lease suitable property and sublease it to productions when city property is unavailable, and to allow those rental costs to be rebated just as city‑owned property costs are today.

Multiple production and labor representatives supported the change during public comment. Dan Kemp, a union location manager, described the ripple effect of large productions on city departments and local businesses; Catherine Howell and Laurie Shockley of SAG‑AFTRA emphasized the program’s role in sustaining acting careers and benefits; and Ed Lynch of the Teamsters and Joanne Desmond of the stagehands highlighted wages and pension contributions tied to long‑running series work. Kemp said the rebate is essential to securing sustained production employment in the city.

Robbins also described efforts to find long‑term, city‑owned options and said the Film Commission will form a committee to study potential properties, including sites at Hunters Point and other industrial corridors. She said some candidate sites require infrastructure investments (sewage, power, soundproofing) and noted an emerging Friends of the Film Commission nonprofit to help generate funds.

After testimony and questions from Supervisor David Campos about alternative measures to address space shortages, the committee voted to forward the ordinance with a recommendation to the full Board.

The Board of Supervisors will next consider the ordinance; the committee’s action is a recommendation and does not itself change the municipal code.