Breaking Bad - Vince Gilligan Answers Viewer Questions (Part 2)

Since nothing ever seems to be wasted on your exceptional show, is there significance in the fact that Tio is watching "Bridge On the River Kwai" when Gustavo visits? -- Sandra
[Laughs] That's a good question. One potential answer may be that Bridge on the River Kwai is owned by the Sony Corporation and therefore we were able to use a clip of it for free. I also love Bridge on the River Kwai and any chance we get to show a few clips of a movie that good, I'll take it. Although the danger in showing a clip of a movie that good is that it reminds the viewer that they are not watching Bridge on the River Kwai. Then again I don't know if Tio can operate the remote control, so maybe it's catch as catch can. Hard to say.

How do you choose locations for the show? Do you drive around looking for places? Have you ever written a scene because you found a cool location? -- Lisa Shock.
We have a location manager named Christian Diaz de Bedoya whose job it is to find the locations in and around Albuquerque. It's definitely a full-time job and he and his staff work very hard to find these locations. At the beginning of the season they also go out and photograph places that they think are visually interesting. Typically we'll have a meeting at the beginning in which they show us these photographs, and discuss them. Very often we'll get inspired by these possibilities location-wise and we will indeed write to certain places that they find for us.

Source: Full Q&A @ AMC