Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk ready for its closeup

SANTA CRUZ — The Boardwalk has hit the big screen lately, and will continue to do so with the release of Jordan Peele’s movie thriller ‘Us.’

Marq Lipton, the Boardwalk’s vice president of marketing and sales, said the frequency of films shot at the Boardwalk is cyclical: in the 1980s, there was an intense run of movies filmed, including the 1987 movie ‘The Lost Boys.’ He said recently there’s also been a series of films shot there, including “Us”, “Bumblebee” and “Chasing Mavericks.”

Feature films, commercials, music videos, documentaries and more have been filmed at the Boardwalk.

“Whatever could be shot has been shot,’ Lipton said.

The Boardwalk is a favorable place for filming because it is one of the sole surviving seaside amusement parks in California, he said.

“We have a sense and respect for our history. The Boardwalk is a unique place in that it is a modern amusement park and it’s nostalgic.”

Lipton calls it a ‘little time travel experience.’

Filming within the City of Santa Cruz creates a few more challenges.

The city has a moratorium for special events permits. The moratorium puts limits on new large-scale events and stops existing events from expanding.

It was put in place because there is a lack of public safety officials available to work at special events, said Susie O’Hara, the city’s assistant to the city manager.

“The moratorium is ensuring that the city can provide equitable access to the community [and visitors] and create a safe space,” said O’Hara.

The moratorium began in 2015 and is in a three-year extension. Within this extension is a 12-month pilot program, in which the city is exploring the use of alternative resources to maintain public safety. This includes private security as well as public safety officials from California Highway Patrol, UC Santa Cruz police, and the sheriffs department.

“It’s striking a balance between having that promotion for the city, while it’s putting a strain on our resources,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara said ‘Us’ requested permits to film in the beach flats area adjacent to the Boardwalk, as well as near the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. She said the city was able to meet the needs of the film crew with its own resources. “Us” also includes Santa Cruz’s name, unlike other movies that have changed the name of the city.

Filming can be challenging because it disrupts the normal flow of work, but then again, when film crews are here, they help with the economy by staying at hotels, eating at local restaurants and more, according to Lipton.

A film crew’s top expenditures are lodging for the crew and talent, payroll for the film team and local hires, renting or purchasing local equipment and location fees, according to the California Film Commission.

“When you get the location out and you’re associated with something popular, it’s helpful to the visibility of the area,” he said.

Santa Cruz is among recent film locations, thanks to a new statewide tax incentive.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program 3.0 into law in June last year, which will go into effect July 1, 2020. One aspect of the program is that it gives people who live and work on certain productions outside of Los Angeles a 5 percent credit on their wages, which encourages filming throughout the state, according to the California Film Commission. More than $76 million has been spent filming in Alameda, Humboldt, Marin, Santa Cruz and other counties.

Lipton said the Seaside Company and everyone else that worked on “Us” will see the film together when it opens.

Boardwalk on film

The following is a list of movies shot at the Boardwalk since 1971:

‘Harold & Maude’ 1971
‘Sudden Impact’ 1983
‘The Sting II’ 1983
‘The Creator’ 1985
‘The Lost Boys’ 1987
‘King of Love’ 1987
‘Necessity’ 1987
‘Fletch II’ 1988
‘Killer Klowns From Outer Space’ 1988
‘California Dreaming’ 1988
‘Naked Gun’ 1988
‘Romeo and Juliet’ 1989
‘Car 54, Where are You?’ 1991
‘New Memories’ 1991
‘At Night the Sun Shines’ 1992
‘Somebody is Waiting’ 1994
‘My Posse Don’t Do Homework’ 1994
‘Cruz’ 1994
‘Dangerous Minds’ 1995
‘Chasing Mavericks’ 2011
‘Bumblebee’ 2018
‘Us’  2019

Source: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk