Michael Huang’s phone beeped around 7 a.m. on April 2. From his Ring camera app, he watched as two masked intruders removed the locks to his Belltown film production studio and walked out with a Mac computer and three monitors — about $12,000 worth of equipment.
“They knew exactly where to go,” he said Friday.
Huang’s creative agency is one of at least eight local film production companies and camera rental businesses that have been burglarized since March, according to multiple business owners, Seattle police and the city’s office of economic development.
Some of these companies film commercials and promos for local businesses and nonprofits; others provide equipment rentals to students and film producers across Greater Seattle. The total value is unclear, but Huang — who’s been keeping track of the burglaries in a spreadsheet — estimates the stolen equipment is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We are aware of several recent burglaries at film production businesses,” wrote Beto Yarce, director of the office of economic development, in a letter to local film productions published Thursday. Yarce’s office, Seattle police and Mayor Katie Wilson’s office “are tracking this issue,” according to the letter.
That night, Playfish Media’s North Seattle offices were broken into, said owner Jillian Suleski. The thieves made out with approximately $40,000 in cameras, lenses and accessories, she said.
“It’s really ironic,” she said: After seeing news stories and local Facebook groups abuzz about the break-ins, Suleski messaged her landlord expressing concern. She planned to install security cameras.
“We had just ordered air-tracking devices for all of our equipment,” she said Friday. “And I was planning on coming in today and installing those things for the weekend.”
Suleski filed a report with the Seattle Police Department, which is investigating multiple break-ins but is still working to determine whether the crimes are connected, Seattle police spokesperson Detective Patrick Michaud said Friday. No arrests have been made.
“Anyone with information is encouraged to call the nonemergency line and speak with an officer,” Michaud said.
According to an incident report related to an alleged break-in at an Interbay building shared by three production studios from early April, a Seattle police officer noted that “based on CCTV footage, these are likely the same suspects from related incidents.”
“All of these incidents involve either a (gray) or white Honda CRV, driven by a similar appearing person. The entry and theft is carried out by two passengers,” according to the report. Nothing appears to have been taken during that break-in.
Huang and other business owners think the cases could be related to 2025 break-ins. Chris Hunter of Tenacious Ventures told KING 5 this week that his business lost nearly $400,000 of equipment in a burglary late last year. Huang told The Seattle Times his business was broken into last summer in a manner very similar to the April 2 burglary.
It’s been a personal and professional gut punch, Huang said.
“I have to think about the morale of my team when they (come) in one Monday, and they (see) all their desktops awry, right? As a small-business owner, it’s tough.”
He worries his insurance may be impacted.
“These are realities that I have to face now,” he said.
In an “advisory” emailed to Huang on Thursday by his insurer, “Seattle Police have linked multiple incidents to a broader cluster of recent professional studio burglaries. … The activity appears to be brazen and increasingly coordinated, underscoring the importance of heightened vigilance.”
Playfish Media’s Suleski also brought up insurance; many of the studios use the same insurer, she said. With several of them now submitting claims, they may risk higher premiums or getting dropped.
“And who knows?” Suleski wondered aloud. “I mean, maybe even insurance companies will drop Seattle as a market and not want to insure businesses here.”
Huang is a volunteer on the city’s advisory Film Commission, where he advocates on behalf of the industry. He said it was difficult to see his colleagues — an entire subset of the film industry — hit so hard.
“We’re trying to sustain this specific part of our sector, we’re saying commercial productions are the way forward in keeping this (film) industry here,” he said.
“If you get all of the rental houses burglarized, if you have all the production companies at a loss … what does that mean for this larger mission to make sure we have film here?”
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