Sudden appearance of sprawling San Francisco homeless encampment turns out to be a movie set

By Andrea Nakano

San Franciscans have seen encampments pop up all over the city, but a large, sprawling line of tents were set up overnight on Battery Street. Many going to work Friday morning in the Financial District were a little puzzled by the new development.

As it turns out, it was Hollywood taking over the streets of San Francisco.

“It looked like Tenderloin,” passerby Bei Liu said. “I thought they moved all the encampments from the Tenderloin to the Financial District.”

Many had to stop and take a second look to see what was going on.

“It looked real,” Liu said. “I didn’t know it was for a movie, but it looked pretty real to me.”

“I was a little confused walking to work when I saw it,” said resident Reese S. “Didn’t see any cameras or anything. I was just walking past it and had no idea what’s going on.”

The encampments are part of a set for a new Netflix AI thriller that’s being shot in San Francisco. It’s directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and starring Rachel McAdams and Jeff Daniels. Once people found out that this was part of a movie, it started making sense.

“I am noticing the difference,” Liu said. “There’s definitely not the smell, but everything else looks pretty real.”

More Hollywood productions are coming to the city, and Manijeh Fata, executive director of the San Francisco Film Commission,  says it’s thanks to local leaders. Earlier this year, the city’s Board of Supervisors voted on an incentive to draw production companies to the city: a $1 million cash rebate.

“That has helped create a lot of excitement and buzz for bringing more productions back to San Francisco,” Fata said. “So productions that are set here, can actually film here.”

Companies can also tap into the California’s tax and credit program. Fata says there are 120 incentives globally to attract productions, and San Francisco had to find a way to be more competitive.

“We are literally the most cinematic city in the world,” Fata said. “It’s so iconic here. People want to shoot movies here. It’s great for our city, great for our local crews, our local businesses and our hotels. So we want to see that happening here.”

According to the Motion Picture Association, productions filming on location in a city generates about $625,000 a day. But that doesn’t include the indirect impact of seeing San Francisco on the big screen.

“That draws people to want to come,” Mata said. “So, they see that on screen and go, ‘Oh, I want to spend a weekend in San Francisco. I want to spend a vacation and bring my family.’ So, that drives up tourism. So, that’s really big.”

While it did cause some traffic congestion, San Franciscans we spoke with said the minor inconvenience is worth it to bring people in to enjoy the city.

“That’s great honestly,” Reese said. “It gets more people excited about the city. They get to see more of the city in movies. Hopefully, it boosts tourism around here. Get more money coming into the city.”