Anything's possible here. You might even expect to find a vintage car full of pin-striped gangsters squealing down a brick-paved street.
You'll find the looks of the Midwest or the Northeast here. But don't expect any frostbelt blizzards, because we have over 300 days of sunshine a year.
So, chill out, and head out, for the seventh largest city in the United States-- San Antonio.
There's no doubt that The Majestic Theatre lives up to its name. It's as expansive as a blockbuster release,
as awesome as a cast of thousands.
But what's truly amazing is that San Antonio has yet another gem - The Empire Theatre - that dates back to Vaudeville days. And, it's literally just around the corner. The Empire's a little more intimate in scale, but certainly not shy when it comes to flaunting its gold leaf.
So shoot in San Antonio if you want to capture all the tinsel of Tinseltown, without a speck of tarnish.
San Antonio's King William Historic District is an entire neighborhood of mansions and cottages that have survived many things, including the wrecking ball. The result is a pure period fantasy - for this is where the turn of the century somehow ground to a halt.
Just for a little contrast, however, our cooperative city government moves at high speed, closing city streets and cutting red tape into slivers, while our experienced local crews move briskly to a 20th Century pace. Ah, the remarkable joys of time travel!
Surely you've noticed?
Fire escapes have never been limited to escaping fires.
They are roads that hang in suspense-between the earth and the heavens - not quite touching either. They can be places that breed strong passions of both love and violence.
And what about alleys?
They are streets, thoroughfares, boulevards -- without the honor of names, respectability, legitimacy. They are mood makers, mood breakers and soul shakers. They can lead you into the dark, into the light, and especially into gray areas. They are the haunts of victims, saints and rats, Including both the four-legged species and the two-legged type.
Ahh. Don't you just adore architectural pomp and circumstance? The marble. The gilt. The grand entrances,
and even more triumphant exits.
This could be where the peace treaty was signed, so hopefully. (And later broken, quite ruthlessly.) Or, the place where you-know-who danced with a man who danced with a girl who danced with the Prince of Wales. (Four Degrees of Separation.) Or perhaps where the ambassador dissed the whole diplomatic corps. (In a very diplomatic manner, of course.)
The place positively reeks of Noblesse Oblige;
Of chillingly polite conversations,
with unspoken layers of meaning.
You imagine champagne flowing,
trumpets in unison.
Oh, dear. You say you're not shooting a period pic?
What a pity.
The Old West meets West World at our Botanical Center. Where a pine-fringed cabin sits alone on a rise, while just a stroll away gleam the Space-Age Glass Pyramids of the Conservatory.
This could be Indian Country, or the backwoods of Appalachia. It's wherever you want it to be, and all within a "crow-fly" of downtown. Better yet, under an F22 sky that's sunny and clear virtually year 'round, it's just like it was back in those good old days.
San Antonio has always been the kind of place with a real attitude, a home-away-from-home on the range. One of the city's hotter, hipper spots is St. Paul Square - where filmmakers can stage this century's version of a shoot-'em-up. Right up the street, sits a period train station. A few blocks away, you'll find a hotel bar where Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders.
So, if you prefer to make the trends - instead of following them - check out San Antonio. We happen to be the ninth largest city in the United States, and we've been wild since the West was.
San Antonio has several campuses - some are classic, some contemporary, with everything from inner city urban looks, to Eastern Ivy League, to the wide open spaces of a college in a rural town.
And, we'll help you find the perfect one - because one of our film liaison services is free scouting. Proof that San Antonio is, indeed, a class act.
Copyright (c) 2009 by San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau. All rights reserved. Phone: (800) 447-3372