Infographic by Liam Flenniken

California Lutheran University became a production location recently, as the television series “The Land” filmed for multiple weeks across various parts of its campus.

The show will follow a sprawling, multi-generational family drama set in the world of the NFL, according to IMDb, and will star William H. Macy, Mandy Moore and Christopher Meloni. “The Land” is set to be released on Hulu, although a release date is currently unknown.  

Filming occurred across parts of two weeks, spanning from Jan. 26 to Feb. 13, at the William Rolland Art Center, William Rolland Stadium, Soiland Multipurpose Arena and the parking lots of Samuelson Chapel and George “Sparky” Anderson Field. 

The partnership process began over the summer of 2025, according to Ryan Van Ommeren, associate vice president of Operations and Planning. 

In an email interview, Van Ommeren said the university received interest from a location scout to film outdoor scenes for a new production, and that, following multiple visits, Van Ommeren was informed the production crew would like to start filming at Cal Lutheran in January 2026. 

“I was very excited to learn that they selected us, both because we are making decent revenue for the university and as it seems exciting for the CLU community,” Van Ommeren said. 

Van Ommeren said he could not disclose the amount the university made as a whole through the filming process, but said the university was “satisfied by the amount.” 

Howard Davis, associate vice president and director of Athletics, said any teams that were displaced by the filming process were compensated $500 per practice that was affected. 

“It actually didn’t affect as many teams as we originally thought, and for those two weeks they were here we mostly had away events, so it was really a perfect time,” Davis said. “Three teams netted over $1,500 for the three days [“The Land” was] filming. It displaced our normal day-to-day operations, but it is exciting to have something like this filmed here and we were able to make a trade-off.”

Davis said the money goes directly to the specific programs affected and is not shared among the rest of Athletics. Additionally, staff who had to temporarily adjust the training room into Soiland Gym were also compensated an unknown amount. 

Dave Martin, professor and chair of the Visual Arts department, has his office and teaches in the WRAC. Martin said the production impacted parking and the schedule of the center’s art gallery, but that overall he sees it as “really beneficial” for students looking to work in the film and television industry. 

Martin said the Visual Arts Department did not receive any sort of compensation from the production. 

“Something like filming and production in a space like this can be invasive, so on one hand I was excited to see this type of thing but I was also hoping it could benefit our students by making connections and an opportunity to get involved with the production company,” Martin said. 

Van Ommeren said while it is relatively common for productions to film on college campuses, schools with Cal Lutheran’s size and location are typically less likely to be chosen. 

Van Ommeren said he had “nothing but quality experiences with the film crew,” but that he feels he could have better communicated with the campus community about the impact filming would have and the disruptions it might have caused. 

“I have received a lot of positive feedback about the energy the filming brings to campus,” Van Ommeren said. “The representatives were very clear regarding what they wanted, so I believe we were briefed very well.”

The filming crew completed operations on Friday Feb. 13, and will not need to return unless they need reshoots for the debut season, Van Ommeren said.

“I am hopeful we can get them back on campus for the [show’s] next season,” Van Ommeren said.