Although the city has been dominated by television in recent years, San Francisco continues to be a destination for major feature films. In the past year alone, Ant-Man (2015), San Andreas (2015), and Terminator - Genisys (2015) all filmed in San Francisco. San Francisco's rebate program provides up to $600,000 per production in city fees and payroll, and this program continues to bring film jobs to local SF residents.

Some of the top cities for finding jobs in the film industry are Los Angeles, NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami. You could build a successful career in film industry in any one of these cities. However, out of those cities, San Francisco ranks third in terms of the total number of film industry jobs available and the average level of salaries in the field. Among those cities, about 7% of all film industry jobs are located in San Francisco.

According to Glassdoor, some of the highest-rated film industry companies in San Francisco include Dolby Laboratories, Lucasfilm, and Pixar Animation.

Jobs in the film industry are divided among studios, production companies, talent agencies, and management companies. Most entry-level jobs in this industry consist of assistant positions, such as a production assistant, personal assistant, or studio assistant roles. Although these positions often involve heavy scheduling and administrative work, they can give you the opportunity to meet powerful people in the industry, who at one time, probably also started out as assistants.

In San Francisco, the most popular film industry jobs are Editors, Art Directors, Writers, Producers, Directors, Cinematographers, and Set Designers.

The top ranked schools in San Francisco with programs and degrees in film industry are Stanford University ($44,169 per year, out-of-state), San Francisco State University ($18,372 per year, out-of-state)and Academy of Art University ($20,040 per year, out-of-state), according to rankings published by the Hollywood Reporter and Hack College in 2016.

The following are estimates of salaries and wages for film industry jobs in San Francisco, which were compiled from Salary.com, Glassdoor, and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Cinematographers and Photographers - $63,000 per year, or $30.29 per hour

Art Directors - $134,000 per year, or $64.42 per hour

Actor - $36,000 per year, or $17.31 per hour

Producer and Directors - $101,000 per year, or $48.56 per hour

Set Designers - $74,000 per year, or $35.58 per hour

Editors - $74,000 per year, or $35.58 per hour

Sound Engineers - $47,000 per year, or $22.60 per hour

Writers and Authors - $69,000 per year, or $33.17 per hour

Professionals working in the film industry in San Francisco also tend to work in the following industries, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Blog or Vlog Production, Advertising/Marketing, Design, Technology, Feature Films, Online and New Media, Scripted Television.