Bragging Rights

 

We went to Yosemite and Madera county to shoot some commercials for the new Toyota "RAV4 adventure”. We ended up shooting in Bass Lake, Cathay’s Valley and in Yosemite. Rhonda and her team were helpful every step of the way, not only with permitting and locations, but with hotel and restaurant recommendations.  I can’t wait to get a job that will bring me back to beautiful Madera county and Yosemite National Park. 

Russell Katzman

Madera County and
Southern Yosemite Sierra

... offer a wide variety of locations for filming. Small midwestern looking towns, farms, cattle ranches, graveyards, quarries and industrial sites are located throughout the region. And, of course, there's Yosemite National Park. Wide expanses of rolling pastures and oak trees depict the foothills while the forests, lakes, waterfalls and streams all reveal the majestic beauty of the High Sierra.

The area boasts a lodging base of approximately 4200 rooms with more than 60 restaurants and an abundance of interesting site locations, with easy air access through Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Local talent and support is readily available.

A variety of filming projects, dating back to the 30's have been filmed in the area. The benchmark film featuring Bass Lake and The Pines Resort, "The Great Outdoors" was filmed here in 1988.

Filmed in Madera County:

  •   The Eiger Sanction - Universal

  •  Mountain Man - Sunn Classic Pictures

  •  The Great Outdoors - Universal

  •  Star Trek V - Paramount

  •  Giant of Thunder Mountain

  •  Radio Flyer - Columbia

  •  Last of the Mohicans - 20th Century Fox

  •  The Puppet Masters

  •  Alien Species

  •  Maverick - Warner Brothers

  •  Mouse Hunt - Dreamworks

  •  Small Soldiers - Dreamworks

  • Marry Me In Yosemite - Hallmark Movie (2022)

Commercial filming has included:

  • Sony

  •  Kawasaki

  •  Camel

  •  McDonalds

  •  Isuzu

  •  Fuji Film

  •  Suzuki

  •  Cadillac

  •  Amtrak

  •  Jeep

  •  GMC

  • Carnation

  •  Foster's Beer

  •  Volkswagen

  •  Coors

  •  Stanley Tools

  •  Budweiser

  •  Toyota

  •  Honda

  •  Chrysler

  •  Acura

  •  Ford

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Bass Lake on Film

The natural beauty of Bass Lake has attracted Hollywood's creative eye for generations. Movie and television directors have brought stars to Bass Lake, California and our Yosemite area hotel since the early 1930s. The 3,400 foot elevation of Bass Lake attracts Hollywood film crews to the scenic "high country" lake as a background year-round. Bass Lake has also been filmed for auto commercials for Cadillac, Honda, Chrysler and Isuzu and Mark Harmon did two Coors commercials at Bass Lake. We are so photogenic, that USA Today named us one of the "Top 10 places to lodge yourself in a movie." Click here to see the article.

If you've seen these movies and TV shows,
you've seen Bass Lake on film!

  •  "Carnival Boat" 
    This 1932 action-melodrama about a logging camp starring William Boyd and Ginger Rogers was filmed at The Pines Resort in 1932.
  • "Leave Her To Heaven" 
    This Academy Award winning film was shot at Bass Lake in 1945.
  • "The Great Outdoors"
    The crew spent six weeks filming at Bass Lake in 1987 and there's a scene with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd at the Pines Bar.
  • "Meatballs 4"
    This movie with Corey Feldman made great use of Bass Lake for its lakeshore scene.
 
  • "Mouse Hunt"
    The Bonnie B Ranch near Bass Lake hosted the cast and crew of "Mouse Hunt", released in 1997 with Nathan Lane. The big old house was erected near Bass Lake for exterior shooting.
  • "The Giant of Thunder Mountain"
    This film co-starred area resident Richard Kiel - known for his powerful "Jaws" character in the James Bond 007 films.
  • "Haiwatha"
    The shores of Bass Lake were the backdrop for this 1957 feature film.

One County ...