We promote Santa Barbara County as a site for on-location filming to producers and location managers, including:

• Still photography: car shoots, ads, fashion catalogs
• Industrials, infomercials & corporate videos
• Reality Television
• Music Videos
• Commercials
• Features
• Television Series & Movies of the Week’s
• Student Projects

Our beaches, islands, roads, mansions, wineries, small towns, and ranches have a lot to offer that can’t be found in Los Angeles.

Marketing Strategy

Part of the lure in our marketing strategy is to promote our local services. Hotels, transportation companies, restaurants and local businesses can all benefit. Filmmakers use all these facilities, and their tax dollars improve our way of living. In 2011, the direct impact from on-location filming was $11 million*, with a ripple down effect of $27.5 million. This means a return of more than $100 for every dollar invested.
*Think that only commercials and features are financially viable? Think again! In 2011, approximately $19 million came from stills, videos and reality television.

website

Our website serves clients “24/7” with features such as downloadable permit applications, rates and filming guidelines. We aim to streamline the filming process, making scouting and permitting faster and easier. The Film Commission’s Production Resources lists crew, locations and support services necessary for filming. The Online Photo Library, features over 35,000 digital photos of a wide variety of prime locations, county-wide.

Familiarization (Fam) Tours

Another marketing strategy is the familiarization tour. We invite location managers to tour the different areas of the County so that they can experience first-hand what we have to offer. This is an excellent opportunity to introduce your company, and to promote your services.

Clients need to scout two types of lodging – housing for a large crew, and up-scale rooms for VIP’s. They are also interested in: ample parking for equipment trucks, production office space with multiple phone lines, room service, early (5AM) meals, and very dependable wake-up calls.

Other FAM promotional opportunities include: wine and winery tours, restaurant meals, on-location catering or “tastes of” Santa Barbara, boat trips to the Channel Islands, outdoor activities, such as kayaking or horse-back riding.

loCal partnerships

Promote Santa Barbara by supporting filmmaking in our community. Let your friends, neighbors and elected officials know that you believe in this positive, clean (non-polluting) business. The competition is fierce and a film-friendly atmosphere can make a huge difference in promoting Santa Barbara County.