The Brief
Andrew Garfield, Jason Schwartzman, and other celebrities were spotted in different parts of San Francisco on Wednesday.
Residents watched from a distance as film crews staged the sets.
SF Film Commission shares with KTVU how film production supports the city’s creative economy.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Andrew Garfield and Jason Schwartzman were among multiple celebrities seen filming around the city of San Francisco, shooting what TMZ confirms is a movie based on the life of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
City streets turned into movie sets
The celebrities were spotted at Dolores Park, the Fillmore district, and in Russian Hill on Wednesday, likely filming what TMZ said is the highly anticipated movie “Artificial.”
One neighbor shared photos and videos of Jason Schwartzman and Italian director Luca Guadagnino filming at Dolores Park Wednesday afternoon.
TikToker @CyberSpaceKelly caught Andrew Garfield in the Fillmore.
Garfield was also seen on Lombard Street right outside Altman’s home.
Garfield is set to play Altman, according to TMZ, alongside his real-life girlfriend and costar Monaca Barbaro playing Mira Murati, the former interim CEO of OpenAI.
Sam White, who lives off Lombard Street, said he got a flyer notifying him that filming would occur in his neighborhood this week.
“I was like, ‘oh, I definitely have to go and check this out,’” he said. “The staff and security people did a good job of keeping people at a distance, but even from a block away, I was able to watch for like an hour and see this scene shot multiple times, different angles.”
White said he looks forward to watching the movie when it releases in 2026 to see his street come alive on the big screen.
“Watching the way Andrew Garfield really embodied Sam Altman’s mannerisms just from what I was able to see from so far away was really impressive,” said White.
Film SF says Newsom’s tax credit is helping bring money to the city.
Manijeh Fata, the director of the city’s Film Commission, Film SF, said last year, more than 200 movies and TV shows were shot in San Francisco, ranging from independent to major film productions.
“San Francisco’s not camera shy,” said Fata. “The fact that we can hire locals, show off our incredible locations, and bring money to our businesses is really essential to San Francisco and our creative economy.”
Fata said the commission expects more filming after Governor Newsom’s recent expansion of the state’s film and tv tax credit, incentivizing filmmakers to shoot in California.
“It’s going to raise the competition and bring more business back to this state,” Fata added.
That’s on top of the city’s rebate program providing film crews with a $600,000 refund on expenses to film in San Francisco.
“San Francisco is one of the most beautiful and interesting cities in the world so it’s very cool to have film production happening in our city and I would love to see more of that,” said White.
The production company said the film crew moved on, and is no longer filming in the city.
Fata could not disclose what other major motion pictures were headed to San Francisco, but that there could be more in the works in the new fiscal year as permits are issued throughout the year.