There is movie-making happening across San Diego County, this weekend.
More than 60 teams are competing in the annual 24 Hour Film Festival.
The teams are all volunteers made up of directors, actors, and crew members responsible for submitting a completed short film by Sunday evening.
Friday evening, the luck of a spin determined the genre and other factors for each team at a kick off event that started the clock on production.
“(My job is to is to) manage communication, so that everybody knows what they’re doing, and what their role is,” said Mike Egbert, director of the the team he called ‘Breakfast for Dinner’. “I’m also in charge of the vibe so they put out the best work they can,” he said.
M.G. Perez
M.G. Perez
Jon Allen (left) and April Paje (right) rehearsed lines for the original screenplay titled “For Rent”, August 16, 2025.
This year’s event comes as a new San Diego County Film Initiative begins. The grassroots effort launched in July with a petition drive designed to motivate government leaders to bring major movie and television production back to San Diego.
The San Diego Film Commission closed in 2013 because it ran out of money. Since then, production companies have had to go to the City of San Diego permits department for approvals. The industry has slowed significantly. It used to produce more than $100 million dollars a year for the regional economy.
“We should be able to welcome productions shot in Atlanta or LA to San Diego. Tell producers that we have the infrastructure and talent and crew here and it’s beautiful weather,” said Jordan Jacobo, a long-time San Diego director, writer, and actor. Jacobo pointed out how local creatives often have to take on several roles in a film project. He found a donated location to use for his entry, this year, in the 48 Hour Film Festival. Converting an underground photography studio into the set for the original screenplay he titled “Quality Trauma Bonding.”
M.G. Perez
M.G. Perez
Jordan Jacobo is a local director, writer, and actor who supports the new SDC Film Initiative to attract the industry back to San Diego County, August 16, 2025.
In an effort to boost movie projects in Hollywood and other communities across the state, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a new $750 million film and TV tax credit in July. That doubles the incentive for companies to stay or come to California for their movie-making.
The SDC Film Initiative is a more direct effort to support entertainment creation in our region.
“I believe if we put in the investment and infrastructure at the county level and work with all the different cities involved, they’ll see the return on that investment,” said Greg Sowizdrzal, president of IATSE local 122 , a major proponent of the initiative.