20th Century Studios' upcoming film Whalefall, an adaptation of Daniel Kraus's novel starring Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, was deliberately shot in California rather than a cheaper alternative such as Louisiana, producers have said. Executive producer Doug Merrifield told Deadline that although Louisiana would have been marginally cheaper on paper, the studio was persuaded to keep production in California because of the strength of the local creative talent, with savings on post-production and visual effects offsetting the lack of above-the-line incentives. The decision reflects a broader industry debate about runaway production, as many Hollywood-developed films increasingly shoot elsewhere to cut costs.

Filming took place across locations including Monterey, San Pedro and Radford Studios over 62 days, involving a cast of 11, a crew of 180 and 409 background performers, and received close to $11 million in tax credits against $50 million in qualified expenditure. The production required significant specialist work, including a 12-foot-tall, 18-foot-long whale head built by StudioArt & Technology in California, while other whale stomach models were constructed by Wētā Workshop in New Zealand. Producer Allen Mendelbaum noted that shooting locally allowed crew to remain close to their families, and said the film's California-based crew was of exceptionally high standard.