From the birth of the film industry, Kern has been a big part of movie magic. Whether the script calls for the Old West or the distant future, for locations around the world, or for a site out of this world, Hollywood looks to us. You may also recognize the backgrounds from your favorite television shows (Enterprise, E.R., Chicago Hope, Providence) and music videos (Creed, Vanessa Williams, Michael and Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys) on your tour through Kern.

Many of the great movie cowboys earned their spurs in the Kern River Valley, where displays at the Kernville Museum chronicle the exploits of John Wayne, Tex Ritter, Gene Autry and Randolph Scott among others. Humphrey Bogart searched for the Treasure of the Sierra Madre on Split Mountain, and Cary Grant dodged the homicidal biplane from North By Northwest near Wasco. Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Jack Nicholson, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan and Bruce Willis have all filmed major features in Kern County.