Hotel, Tourism & Restaurant Video Production in San Diego
Hotel and resort promos, destination videos, chef and menu features, grand openings, timelapses and event coverage for San Diego hotels, restaurants, attractions and tourism organizations.
- Since 1981Four decades filming America’s Finest City
- Hilton to Hard RockHotel, resort & cruise clients
- Comic-ConCovering San Diego’s biggest show since the 1990s
- Original musicCustom soundtracks by Patty Mooney
Video for San Diego’s Visitor Economy
Tourism is one of San Diego’s biggest industries, and guests now choose where to stay, eat and play by watching video first. Crystal Pyramid Productions® has filmed for hotels, resorts, cruise lines, restaurants and tourism boards since 1981, for clients including Hilton, Hyatt, Loews Coronado Hotel & Resort, Tarsadia Hotels and the San Diego Hard Rock Hotel, Holland America Cruise Line, and six national tourism boards from Switzerland to Tahiti. And every summer since the 1990s, we’ve been on the floor at San Diego Comic-Con, the city’s biggest visitor event.
Hospitality video has to sell a feeling: the view from the room, the sizzle in the kitchen, the energy of the event. Led by director of photography Mark Schulze and producer and editor Patty Mooney, our small, experienced crew works around your guests and service hours, so the dining room stays open and the lobby stays calm. Patty also composes original music, so your video can have a soundtrack written just for you.
Hospitality Video Production Services
From the kitchen pass to the rooftop pool.
Hotel & Resort Promos
Rooms, amenities, views and service, filmed to look their best for your website, booking sites, social media and sales team.
Restaurant, Chef & Menu Videos
Signature dishes, chef stories and cooking segments that make viewers hungry, shot with careful lighting in your kitchen or our studio.
Destination & Tourism Videos
Videos for tourism boards, attractions and visitor bureaus that capture a place and its people, including drone and aerial footage.
Grand Openings & Milestones
Groundbreakings, topping-off ceremonies, ribbon cuttings and construction timelapses that document a property from first beam to first guest.
Events, Weddings & Conferences
Coverage of galas, holiday celebrations, meetings and conventions held at your property, plus live streaming.
Staff Training & Recruiting
Service standards, safety and onboarding videos that train staff consistently across shifts, and recruiting videos that show your team at its best.
Hospitality, Travel & Food Clients
Hotels, cruise lines, tourism boards, airlines, restaurants and food and beverage brands have trusted us with their stories.
- Hilton
- Hyatt ↗
- Loews Coronado Hotel & Resort
- San Diego Hard Rock Hotel ↗
- Tarsadia Hotels ↗
- The Westgate Hotel ↗
- Whistler Resort (Canada)
- Holland America Cruise Line
- Belmont Park
- San Diego Comic-Con ↗
- Air India
- British Tourist Authority
- Greek National Tourist Organization
- South Australian Tourism Office
- Swiss National Tourism Board
- Tahiti Tourism Board
- Tourism Vancouver
- Westfield Horton Plaza ↗
- Nessy Burgers
- Whiskey House
- Budweiser ↗
- Miller Brewing Company
- Travel Channel
- TV Food Network
- See all 230+ clients →
Cooking Shows & Chef Features
For the Hyatt in San Diego, we produced a cooking show starring Executive Chef Shruti Sripolpa as she created a scallop dish. Mark directed and filmed it, live-switching four cameras, and Patty edited the final show.
Food is one of the hardest subjects to film well. It needs the right light, close-up detail and a crew that moves at the kitchen’s pace. Whether you run a hotel restaurant, a neighborhood favorite or a growing chain, we can turn your chef, your menu and your story into videos that fill tables.
Building the San Diego Hard Rock Hotel
We shot and produced a series of videos for Tarsadia Hotels throughout the construction of the San Diego Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter. Our construction timelapse became the heart of the Construction Update video sent to potential buyers of the hotel’s units.
We covered the panel presentation that unveiled the project, the buyer events, and the topping-off ceremony, where Mayor Jerry Sanders, in true rock and roll style, smashed a guitar on the roof instead of breaking a bottle of champagne.
On Board with the Captain
When Holland America’s Oosterdam called at San Diego, we went aboard to interview the ship’s Captain. We turned the ship’s library into a set with lighting, a reflector, a boom and wireless microphones, then worked quickly so the ship could get on with its day.
Cruise ships, hotels and resorts are working spaces full of guests. We bring a compact, experienced crew that sets up fast, sounds great and leaves no trace.
Opening Day at Belmont Park
For the opening of the Revolution thrill ride at Belmont Park in Mission Beach, we filmed the excitement up close, from riders strapping in to the ride spinning them upside down against the sky.
Attractions sell thrills, and video is the best way to show them. We capture the action and the faces of real riders, safely and from every angle, for your website, social media and ads.
Decades at San Diego Comic‑Con
As a boy, Mark rode his bike downtown to the U.S. Grant Hotel, where Comic-Con began as a room of folding tables. About 25 years later, he was working the show as a camera operator and director of photography. Today it draws more than 130,000 attendees and fills the Convention Center and the hotels around it, including the Hilton Bayfront, the Grand Hyatt and the Hard Rock.
Since the 1990s, we’ve turned hotel rooms into interview studios, filmed panels and press rooms, and shot segments for clients including Extra, E! Entertainment, ABC, DreamWorks and BBC South America. When studios and brands take over hotels and restaurants for activations and after-parties, we know how to work the show. Read our Comic-Con tales and how it grew into San Diego’s biggest convention.
Holiday Celebrations & Signature Events
We filmed the Christmas tree lighting at The Westgate Hotel in downtown San Diego, with high tea in the grand lobby and dancers from the Nutcracker Suite. A well-filmed event becomes lasting marketing for a property.
Holiday celebrations, galas, weddings and conferences bring your venue to life. We cover them discreetly with broadcast cameras and clean audio, then deliver highlight videos you can use for years to sell your spaces.
From the Pier to the Bar
A few more moments from our hospitality and tourism shoots around San Diego.
Hosting a grand opening, gala or holiday event? Ask about live streaming and same-week highlight edits.
Built Around Your Guests
Your guests come first, so we plan every shoot around them.
Plan
A free pre-production consultation, then a shot list and schedule built around occupancy, service hours and your best light, from sunrise on the terrace to sunset at the bar. We arrange guest releases and quiet times in advance.
Shoot
A compact, owner-operated crew with broadcast cameras, lighting, sound and drone, working discreetly in your rooms, kitchen and public spaces, or in our in-house studio for food and product shots.
Deliver
Editing, graphics and original music, then delivery in every format you need: website hero loops, social cut-downs, booking-site videos, lobby screens and translated versions for international visitors.
What Clients Say
The team at Crystal Pyramid Productions have been amazing to work with. Being an out-of-towner, Mark made sure we had everything that we needed for the shoot to go by without a hitch. He even recommended a few places that we should check out while we were in town. I look forward to coming back to San Diego next year to work with these wonderful folks!
It’s always a pleasure working with Crystal Pyramid Productions. It’s reassuring to know that I’m in good hands no matter what might come up. At the last minute I found out our event planner had not ordered a number of items for our shoot. I asked them where I might find the stuff in San Diego. They took care of everything themselves! Also, our schedule changed two days before the shoot – no problem! They made all the necessary adjustments and the shoot went off without a hitch. I love how Mark always refers to a shoot as: we’re having fun, playing! What a great attitude!
Hospitality Video Questions
Can you film without disturbing our guests?
Yes. We work with a small crew and compact gear, schedule around check-in, service and events, and plan shots of public spaces for quieter hours. Anyone who appears on camera signs a release.
Can you film food so it looks as good as it tastes?
Yes. We light dishes carefully, shoot close-up detail and action in the kitchen, and work at your chef’s pace. We can film in your restaurant or in our own studio.
Can you cover our Comic-Con activation or party?
Yes. We’ve worked San Diego Comic-Con since the 1990s, filming panels, press rooms, interviews and studio events at the Convention Center and nearby hotels. Book early, because crews fill up fast in July.
Do you shoot drone and aerial footage?
Yes. Aerial footage is one of the best ways to show off a coastline, a rooftop or a resort’s grounds. We plan flights around local rules and your guests’ privacy.
Can we have original music instead of stock tracks?
Yes. Producer Patty Mooney composes original soundtracks for our clients’ videos, so your music is written for your brand rather than borrowed from a library.
How much does a hotel or restaurant video cost?
It depends on the length, number of shoot days, locations and graphics. Pre-production consultations are free, so call (619) 644-3000 or contact us and we’ll recommend the most resourceful way to get it done.
Let’s Show Guests Why They Should Come
Tell us about your property, your audience and your timeline, and we’ll recommend the most resourceful way to get it done. Pre-production consultations are free.