OAKLAND — Wilson Wu is standing on what is known in his business as “the loop.” He’s at the corner of 12th and Clay streets in downtown Oakland, camera in hand, explaining why this rather ordinary intersection has been in countless car commercials.

It doesn’t look like much, and that’s his point. There’s a lack of business signs, plenty of weekend parking for shoots, and it could be any big city in America.

That is why hundreds of car commercials have been shot there. And that is one reason why Wu has gained a reputation as the hardest-working man in film location scouting.

“I make no bones about what I do. People say, ‘Wow, you’re in the movie business.’ I’m in the advertisement business,” Wu said. “I live off commercials.”

You probably wouldn’t recognize the Oakland resident by face or name, but you know of his work. He’s a behind-the-scenes grunt guy, pitching locations to directors and producers, securing permits and helping make commercials come to life.

“I’m the tail that wags the dog,” he says.

As co-partner of “The Big Bad World of Locations,” his bread-and-butter is car commercials. But he’s also worked on advertisements featuring Golden State Warriors players and with director F. Gary Gray of “Straight Outta Compton” and “Italian Job” fame, as well as with big technology companies. A recent job had him chasing down locations for a Lyft commercial featuring Jerry Rice during Super Bowl week.

As a film scout and location manager, Wu’s job is one of the first in the production process. It’s up to him to interpret a script and find the ideal spot.

After more than 20 years in the business locally, his catalog of places is thick, and he’s deft at manipulating landscapes. He’s used Lakeside Park at Lake Merritt to double as Central Park. The Oakland park, Wu said, is one of the only places where that can be accomplished because of the proximity of the grass and trees to downtown.

“He’s always finding new stuff. He has a lot of places at his disposal. He knows the lay of the land,” said Steven Condiotti, director of photography and a partner at Emeryville-based DTC Lighting and Grip.

Born in Los Angeles, Wu said his love affair with the East Bay began when he was a student studying economics at UC Berkeley in the 1980s. After college, he entered the film business as a production assistant before going out on his own as a location man. He could have moved back to L.A. but chose to stay here.

While others were busy filming in San Francisco, Wu stuck to Oakland, and now it’s paying off. As with restaurants, night life and rent, the amount of filming in this East Bay city is rising.

From 2005 to 2015, the number of filming days in Oakland jumped from 128 to 246, according to Jim MacIlvaine, the city’s special events coordinator with the Oakland Film Office. Permits bring in about $30,000 a year to the city, MacIlvaine said, and there’s an unknown amount of other revenue from hotel stays, dining and transportation.

A few examples of filming in Oakland include the movie “Fruitvale Station,” popular TV series “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” and a McDonald’s commercial shot on the path along Lake Merritt.

Oakland, according to MacIlvaine, has emerged as a place where a crew can capture the charm of the Old Oakland neighborhood then head up to the redwoods in the hills — all in a day and without the headache of red tape in other cities. And he credits Wu for some of it.

“Wilson really is one of, if not the number one, proponent for filming in Oakland,” MacIlvaine said. “I have nothing but the utmost respect for the amount of work he brings into Oakland.”

Wu is not shy about taking shots at the city across the bay, saying its icons and international fame come with hassles and red tape.

In Oakland, “we don’t have to deal with the ‘I know so and so,’ ” Wu said during a recent tour of his adopted hometown.

As he said this, an Oakland beat cop drove past. “Don’t believe a word that guy says,” the officer joked from his patrol car window, as Wu explained he’s known the officer for years.

David DeBolt covers Oakland. Contact him at 510-208-6453. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt.

[[[Normal]]][[[Normal]]]{"Infobox Head"/}Who is wilson wu?

{"Infobox Text"/}Age: 53

Resides: West Oakland

Career: Location manager for films/commercials

Quote: "I'm the tail that wags the dog."