Long before the Twilight Saga, The Lost Boys, a cult classic, was filmed in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz in Spanish means "holy cross," which is interesting given vampires are vulnerable to crucifixes.
Santa Barbara was the locale of California's first major movie studio, Flying "A" Studios. It arrived in 1910 and produced hundreds of silent films in the early 1900s.
Charlie Chaplin opened the Montecito Inn in Santa Barbara in 1928, and it's still in operation today.
On average, 150 productions are filmed daily on Los Angeles streets. Jerry's New York apartment in Seinfeld is actually in L.A., at 757 New Hampshire Ave. The opening scene from M*A*S*H* was filmed in the Santa Monica Mountains, not South Korea.
Scenes from The Godfather II and Bonanza were shot at Lake Tahoe, as well as The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, and City of Angels with Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage.
Filoli mansion and gardens, located 30 miles south of San Francisco in Woodside, is the site of numerous movies, including The Wedding Planner and The Joy Luck Club. Among other movies filmed in San Mateo County are Memoirs of a Geisha and House of Sand and Fog.
