Bay Area teens turn massive warehouse into a Hollywood film set

Inside a cavernous Bay Area warehouse, high school students are building a movie set from the ground up, filling the space with a graveyard, storefronts and a painted blue sky.

Over 10 weeks, from June 8 through Aug. 14, more than 100 selected teenagers at 48 Hills Camp create a feature film with guidance from dozens of Hollywood professionals. Each apply to departments of their choice, including directing, composing and costume design. 

Spearheaded by “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” director Joe Talbot, the camp first took place over four weeks in the summer of 2025, culminating in a screening in August at the Great Star Theater in San Francisco’s Chinatown. 

In its second year, the program runs twice as long with a new slate of Oscar- and Emmy-nominated industry mentors. 

“Every day that we’re here feels like a little miracle,” Talbot told the Chronicle while on set July 17. 

This year’s project follows the residents of a mining town past its prime. From transforming a 50,000-square-foot warehouse into a film set to performing as the characters they created on camera, every part of the film is made by students. 

They also get the chance to work with visiting Hollywood talent, including Scoot McNairy (“Argo”), Heather Matarazzo (“The Princess Diaries”) and Havana Rose Liu (“Bottoms”). 

“The most challenging part of the project is that I have to leave, and it’s only one day. I’m having such a good time,” Liu said. “I feel that spaces like this are so important for people to actually try out the thing that they feel passionate about before the stakes are high.”

For 16-year-old Nico Lee, who works on the film’s special effects, receiving mentorship from industry professionals like Liu and “Anora” cinematographer Drew Daniels underscored the project’s scale. 

Insufficient resources and personnel hinder the Berkeley High School student from making large-scale film productions, he said. At 48 Hills Film Camp, however, he’s able to learn from experts in every department.

“Everyone just loves (filmmaking) so much, and they just want to do it so bad,” Nico said. “It’s just so exciting to be in a room where everyone is so interested in it.”

That enthusiasm is why Talbot, who won best director at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival for “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” co-founded the camp with his longtime friend Link Wolf. 

As an aspiring filmmaker while attending the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, Talbot envisioned movies on a scale similar to Lee. He created complex scores inspired by films like “Amelie,” but he could never make the accompanying visuals quite as grand. 

“One of the hardest things is to basically convince enough friends to make something really big, to have the scale and the resources to get to build and dream on a really large canvas,” Talbot said. “Part of what this here is all about is giving kids a 50,000-square-foot canvas and letting them dream as big as they possibly can.”

Like last year, a premiere is planned for the finished film, though Talbot said there’s no set date or venue yet. He emphasized that there’s no rush. For now, they’re focusing on the process.  

Laura Lomar Miguez, 17, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said she enjoys directing the film so much that she once spent 12 straight hours on set. 

“It was the most magical thing in my entire life,” Laura said. “When I got home, I couldn’t feel my legs. But honestly, I was just so happy. I never felt happier in my whole life.”