Is the 1920’s San Diego film scene a precursor for what’s coming?
Any film history buff will tell you the early turn of the century film scene in America was a transformative one. Much like today’s technology explosion, the idea and possibilities of film transfixed the nation and saw the rise of an industry.
But it all didn’t start in America. The first known — and surviving — film was one out of Leeds, England by a bloke by the name of Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, whose three second 1888 short Roundhay Garden Scene features family members and friends walking about and acting silly in a backyard.
That doesn’t mean things weren’t happening over here on the other side of the pond. As early as 1889, William K.L. Dickson, working with engineer William Heise and renowned inventor Thomas A. Edison, began “monkeying around” with his own movie camera, producing three shorts, Monkeyshines, No 1, Monkeyshines, No 2, and Monkeyshines, No 3. Dickson eventually pioneered the 35MM format, and produced the first movie with sound, sensibly titled Dickson Experimental Sound Film.
Did I say explosion? By 1903 the first widely recognized American film was released, The Great Train Robbery, directed by Edwin S. Porter. Porter worked for the Edison Manufacturing Company, founded by the aforementioned inventor Thomas A. Edison, who was a major player in the early American film scene. Their movie studio Black Maria, located in New Jersey, is known as the first movie studio worldwide. But perhaps more importantly for today’s internet viewers, the real significant point here is the first cat video came out of this studio in 1894, The Boxing Cats, being the first to document our need to disgrace and humiliate felines in every imaginable way we can think of.
Speaking of firsts, the first known motion picture shot in San Diego was in 1898, by the Edison Manufacturing Company, capturing a double-decker trolley cruising down Broadway. Thanks to local San Diego history buff and Instagram user Mike Stark, we can see that footage on his Instagram page.
But the Edison Manufacturing Company did not have a presence in San Diego. In fact, they were not in Hollywood either. Hollywood’s grip on becoming the hub of filmmaking didn’t coalesce until the late 1920’s, around 1927, when Edison’s early sound inventions were surpassed by two competing technologies, sound-on-disc and sound-on-film. Eventually, sound-on-film won out, but between 1900 and 1927, film production companies and film studios were scattered all about America.
And San Diego was no different. Between the years 1911 and 1928, there were seven active and — relatively major — film studios in the San Diego region. Most prominent of those was the American Film Manufacturing Company, aka Flying A Studios. Under the leadership of director Allan Dwan, the studio produced a whopping 150 films between 1911 and 1912.
And they were not the only ones. Lubin Films, Pollard Pictures, Essany Co, Ammex Studios, S-L Studios, and the La Jolla Cinema League all had a presence in filmmaking during this motion picture making period.
Not only were film studios located in San Diego county, but outside studios came to town to film the picturesque vista of our landscape. Notably, scenes in The Count of Monte Cristo (1908) were shot in La Jolla, and soon to be Hollywood meagaforce Mary Pickford’s Rosita (1923) was shot in Balboa Park. Pickford went on to be one of the founding members of United Artists.
And over the years, San Diego has continued to be Hollywood’s backlot, with countless films credited to being filmed in our area. To just read about a few, you can read San Diego History Center’s brief article about it.
But since the 1920’s only Stu Segall Productions has laid claim to being a major film studio in our region. In its heyday, Stu Segall Productions produced popular hits like Silk Stalkings and Renegade for television.
But, there’s a bit of a renascence in San Diego’s filmmaking culture. Counting Stu Segall’s still operating studio, there are at least four well-established, operating film studios already in San Diego, with two more in the works. Along with Stu Segall Productions, there is KPBS, The Film Hub, and John Paul Catholic University. These four are by no means all of the studios in the region, it does not count many small studios all about the county.
And coming soon will be an expansion of the already existing John Paul Catholic University’s sound studio, currently under construction in Escondido and due to be completed this summer. And the recently announced Chula Vista Entertainment Complex has generated a lot of buzz and revitalized the community with its eventual 89,000 square foot Hollywood grade studios built on a 8.64 acre lot in Chula Vista.
There’s no better time to be filmmaking in San Diego. And there’s no better way to get started by having your film earn the recognition and attention it deserves by submitting it to the San Diego Streaming Film Festival, where winners stream on Roku and films are judged by industry leaders and insiders. Submit your film today, using the code SDSFF42025, only through April 30, 2025.
Also see this article on LinkedIn.
San Diego Streaming Film Festival
Winners Stream on Roku & Films are Judged by Industry Leaders and Insiders
Only one of its kind in San Diego, the San Diego Streaming Film Festival’s mission is to bridge the gap between talented San Diego filmmakers and the film industry.