The diversity of the film and media cultures of San Francisco are now available at the touch of a keystroke on the new SF360.org website that was launched last week. The venture is a collaboration between the San Francisco Film Society, which will present the San Francisco International Film Festival next month, and indieWIRE, the leading online source for information on the dynamic American independent film scene. Veteran film critic and media journalist Susan Gerhard has been tapped as the website's editor and bureau chief.
Gerhard served as senior editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Arts and Entertainment section for many years. She was a Sundance Arts Writing Fellow from 2002 to 2004. Her creative nonfiction, journalism and criticism have appeared in many publications including McSweeneys.net, Salon.com, the Village Voice and Cinema Scope.
"I am thrilled to be creating a hub for San Francisco'ss film and digital media-making communities with SF360.org,", Gerhard said. "Im looking forward to engaging in a spirited discussion of filmmaking and
filmgoing through our SF360.org social networks. San Francisco has a long, rich history of documentary, commercial and independent filmmaking....and I hope to bring artists and audiences together."
The venture is one of the first under the new tenure of Graham Leggat as Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society. Leggat, coming from New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center, has already re-energized the Society and the Film Festival, which will announce its full program at a Press Conference next Tuesday.
"There¹s an alchemical genius at work in San Francisco", Leggat commented. "It¹s a frontier, full of intelligence and energy and the desire to do new things. With SF360.org and other SF360 initiatives, we're attempting to bottle that lightning.".
In its first week, the newly launched website has covered such topics as the record-breaking opening of a multimedia exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art , a review of the locally produced film CITIZEN DOG, and features on Vietnamese American filmmaker Ham Tran, a new documentary on the exile of Cambodian Americans and coverage of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.
Upcoming articles will cover behind-the-scenes looks at the production of Bay Area independent features, including Caveh Zahedi's I AM A SEX ADDICT, the Henry Rosenthal-produced THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON and Terry Zwigoff's Sundance sleeper ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL, San Francisco State University's new Doc Film Institute, as well as a choice assembly of daily news bits on Bay Area films and media happenings, including photos of film premieres and special events. The Bay Area's well-known digital arts community will also be a continuing topic.
On the community side, SF360.org will feature a powerful suite of social networking features, allowing Bay Area audiences, writers, nonprofit arts organizations and filmmakers to set up and organize groups, coordinate events, establish virtual festival and production offices, maintain personal and group blogs and network with each other on joint projects.
Other SF360 initiatives to be rolled out in the coming months include SF360 Festival of Festivals, SF360 San Francisco Movie Night and SF360 InSchool Cinemas. Look for coverage of the San Francisco International Film Festival on the Festival's website www.sffs.com and the SF360.org site, as well as right here.
Sandy Mandelberger
Industry Editor
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