San Diego, CA
Before streaming and television, movies arrived by reel in San Diego
The magic of movies may still be present, but the way audiences experienced them in early San Diego was very different.
In the opening decades of motion pictures, films didn’t originate locally — they arrived.
Before Hollywood’s studio system fully consolidated, movies were distributed as physical reels and moved through regional film exchange networks.
These exchanges supplied theaters across the West Coast, including San Diego, with a steady rotation of new titles. Prints would arrive from distribution hubs in Los Angeles, play brief local runs, and then continue onward to the next city. San Diego was part of the circuit, rather than a production center.
By the early 1900s and into the 1910s, downtown theaters and vaudeville houses quickly adapted to motion pictures as they grew in popularity.
Programs were mixed: silent shorts, live music, vaudeville acts, and newsreels sharing the same stage. Film was not yet a standalone cultural industry — it was part of a broader night of entertainment.
San Diego’s growing downtown and busy port helped sustain this system. Sailors, travelers, and military personnel created a steady audience base, and films rotated frequently enough to keep programs changing week to week.
Films also did not arrive everywhere at once. A title might open in Los Angeles first, then reach San Diego days or weeks later as part of the same distribution circuit. Early cinema was a staggered experience—shared nationally, but consumed locally at different moments in time.
Film historians, including those from the Library of Congress and the American Film Institute, note that these exchange systems were essential to standardizing early American film culture, allowing motion pictures to reach cities far beyond production centers.
(Photo and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)
Within this broader California film landscape, early directors often worked quickly and flexibly. William Bertram, for example, operated in a fast-moving production environment shaped by outdoor locations and rapid shooting schedules rather than permanent studio infrastructure.
Directors with direction
Allan Dwann, whose career stretched from the silent era into the sound age, represents a later stage of that evolution. A prolific filmmaker, he eventually settled in La Jolla, where he lived for many years until he died in 1981. His presence in coastal San Diego reflects the period when the film industry had become firmly rooted in Southern California life.
San Diego’s role in early cinema was not as a production hub, but as a receiving point — its downtown theaters and vaudeville houses acting as stops along a larger national distribution route.
In that sense, early film culture here was defined less by creation than by circulation: reels arriving, audiences gathering, and the city sitting along the path movies traveled as they moved across the country.
Read more history stories here, and do you have a story to tell? Send an email to DebbieSklar@cox.net.
Sources:
Library of Congress — motion picture history and early film distribution/exchange systems.
American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog — silent-era exhibition and industry context.
San Diego History Center — early 20th-century urban development and cultural life.
Eileen Bowser, The Transformation of Cinema, 1907–1915 (MoMA film scholarship)
Other historical references.
San Diego, CA
Where to watch Athletics vs San Diego Padres: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 24
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
The 2026 MLB season has surpassed the quarter mark, and after each team’s first 40 games, there’s plenty of reasons to tune in all summer long.
Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami has already proven doubters wrong by launching 17 home runs, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes consistently looks like the best version of himself on the mound and Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski is throwing harder than any starter in the majors.
The MLB action continues on Sunday as the Athletics visit the San Diego Padres.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in for the first pitch.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is Athletics vs San Diego Padres?
First pitch between the San Diego Padres and Athletics is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, May 24.
How to watch Athletics vs San Diego Padres on Sunday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Sunday, May 24, 2026, at 6:32 a.m.
Watch MLB all season long with Fubo
MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for May 24 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
See scores, results for all of today’s games.
San Diego, CA
Shot after San Diego mosque attack, landscaper says he’s the ‘luckiest guy on the planet’
A landscaper, who police say a pair of teen shooters fired at near the Islamic Center of San Diego following Monday’s attack that left three dead, issued a statement through his attorney Saturday, saying he considers himself to be “the luckiest guy on the planet” to survive the rampage.
“If not for my helmet, I would probably not be alive today,” 52-year-old Tafu Letuli said in a statement from his lawyer Jerry Suppa.
Police said Caleb Vazquez, 18, and Cain Lee Clark, 17, arrived at the Islamic Center of San Diego about 11:43 a.m. Monday, armed and wearing camouflage. They killed a security guard during a gunbattle, then cornered and killed two congregants before fleeing. They shot at a Letuli a few blocks away on Salerno Street, then drove a few more blocks before stopping in the middle of the road and killing themselves, according to police.
The attorney’s statement said Letuli was fired upon “five or six times” and struck once, in the center of his fiberglass helmet, which shattered, and left him bleeding from his forehead.
Letuli was treated at the scene and later treated and examined at an emergency room near his home.
“Every time I think about what happened, a strange feeling triggers a flood of emotions,” Letuli said. “I feel fortunate and sad, all at the same time. I keep asking myself, ‘why me, why me, I’m just a tree trimmer.”
The statement went on to say that Letuli’s heart goes out to the victims and their families.
Bullying, rejection, concerning behavior cited in documents linked to mosque shooting suspects
Some 5,000 people across the region gathered Thursday for a Janazah prayer service at a park next to Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley to remember Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad.
Abdullah, 51, the security guard at the Clairemont center, engaged in a gunbattle with the teens and used his radio to call for a lockdown, sounding a warning that helped those inside reach safety.
Kaziha, 78, had been a part of the center since it began and worked in the mosque’s store, while 57-year-old Awad lived across the street and prayed daily at the center. His wife taught school there. Mosque members have hailed the three as heroes and martyrs.
Authorities, including the San Diego Police Department and the FBI, are investigating the shootings as a hate crime.
Statement from Letuli and his family
The following is the full statement issued from Letuli’s attorney:
A statement from Letuli, and his family, provided through his attorney, Jerry Suppa, acknowledged that he is going to recover from being shot at five or six times, by his assailants, Cain Lee Clark, and Caleb Vasquez, the shooters at the Islamic Center this past Monday.
Letuli was struck by one of the bullets in the center of his arbors helmet and was injured by bullet fragments that shattered his fiberglass helmet. He was bleeding from his forehead, blood ran down his face, from his upper forehead just above the hairline, then to his chin. His injuries were treated at the scene, and later Letuli was treated and examined at the emergency room at a hospital near his home.
Although traumatized by the ordeal, Letuli considers himself to be “the luckiest guy on the planet,” he said. He stated that his heart goes out to the victims, and their families. At 52 years old, he truly understands and realizes how he was literally inches away from meeting a horrible end to his life.
“If not for my helmet, I would probably not be alive today,” he said.
Jerry Suppa stated that Elizabeth Nelson, the victim health specialist at the FBI headquarters in Sorrento Valley, and other mental health professionals, have really been helpful in reaching out to him. After being under fire in a combat-like situation, and living to talk about it, Letuli wants everyone to know that he gives “Thanks to God for protecting him,” Suppa said.
Tafu said “every time I think about what happened, a strange feeling triggers a flood of emotions. I feel fortunate and sad, all at the same time. I keep asking myself “why me, why me, I’m just a tree trimmer?”
Suppa said that after things settle down, Letuli will be in better shape to share his experience with others.
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