It is always beneficial to work on a travel film. They are treated as any filming except there is a direct benefit to San Diego. In other words, there is something beyond hotel room nights, local hires and services used. Travel films present a free promotional film that is marketed by other cities, states and countries and we can sit back and enjoy the tourism it attracts. Bumper 2 Bumper filmed a travel film in San Diego and the focus was Balboa Park, our local museums and our wonderful Gaslamp Quarter. And that’s not all. The crew had dinner after filming at Bourbon Street and they were seen bar hopping. Additionally, the San Diego Convention Center and Visitors Bureau hired a local production company to shoot icon locations in San Diego for promotional opportunities. The Embarcadero, the Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town were of special interest to their project. We had several catalog shoots filming downtown. They don’t create as much impact, with usually one camera and four to five crew people. Engineering Fitness International, formally known as Total Gym, shot its new product catalog downtown. The Food Network spent 15 days filming a cooking show called “Mexican Made Easy” in Point Loma. Fifteen local crew people were hired and they even hired a local chef. Sixty-eight rooms were booked for the rest of the crew. Sometimes the Film Commission will “pitch” these shows to come and film here. We create a sample budget with the incentives we can offer such as no permit fee, free public properties and 24/7 service. Having these kind of reality shows are good for San Diego and they are fun to actually see on the Food Network. HGTV is a regular also, so we are always on the lookout for a project that promotes our local icon locations and at the same time, at no cost to San Diego! — Cathy Anderson is the president and CEO of the San Diego Film Commission, and film commissioner of San Diego. Anderson has earned a national reputation for developing programs to foster the growth of the production industry in the region, and for making America’s Finest City “Hollywood South” for more than 23 years.