Words You Can Use: The BAVC BLOG

a fortnight in the lifetime of Bay Area arts & media
by Jen Gilomen, Lead Developer of Strategic Initiatives @ BAVC

It was a deliciously gruesome couple of weeks for Bay Area arts and for me. It all started innocently enough, with my friend Judy’s inspired birthday party — a diorama extravaganza. In celebration, Judy made a creepy-beautiful bony hand out of rolled up paper, and thrust it into a box left empty by a less inspired guest. I sat in the corner and strung little black and white archival photos together with thread, wanting to suspend them in space as they were suspended in time, and delighting in a newfound appreciation for the minutiae of craft. I’ve been thinking of my own art as something seen through a lens for some time now, and often as something long-term, expensive, and seemingly impossible, so it was a nice change to see these little worlds in little windows that don’t require finishing funds.

For a few months now, a group of fellow female filmmakers and I have been congregating to dance collectively around the question we’ve been asking ourselves individually for a few years: is it possible to bring “major” film production “back” to the Bay Area? We know this question is about as new as film itself, but we’ve been wondering if we can ask it in a new way. As I roamed the hallowed halls of the SF arts scene these weeks, from our room-sized freezer in SFMOMA to our backyard film festival BBQs, I tried to let the scene blow fresh air into the question. (more…)

By Zoe Banks, BAVC Enrollment Advisor

I have never been a big fan of Zeitgeist. It’s a really popular bar because it features about a zillion picnic benches in a giant backyard, six or seven sketchy Port-A-Potties, and a dominant black-hoodie-wearing aesthetic. You can vertically park your bike against a fence, order a pitcher of moderately-overpriced beer and cozy up with your fifty best friends and all of their best friends too, while sitting outdoors on an un-sunny Sunday all day long. These are the reasons Zeitgeist is popular.

These are also the reasons I hate Zeitgeist. (more…)

By A.M. Schmidt, BAVC Martketing Strategist

Last night I downloaded the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows, for 2 pounds forty-five, the equivalent of about five US dollars. Of course, I could have downloaded it for a penny. Or I could have paid 100 pounds (the maximum accepted by the independent site at http://www.inrainbows.com/.). Last week, Radiohead announced that they were going to let fans decide how much they want to pay for the album. I’m normally a cheap bastard (though I prefer thrifty since I live on a non-profit salary) who secretly downloads music for free (shhh), but when I signed on at the Radiohead site, I did feel like I should pay something, even a little something. I mean, they are artists, after all, trying to make a living. And the truth is, that little something that I paid them, is probably more per album than they would have made licensing the music to iTunes through a record label. And, the truth is that most folks feel like music is worth something. In fact, the average amount paid by Radiohead buyers to date has been rumored to be right about $5. And more than a few folks paid the maximum $100 pounds (in a sort of backhanded indictment of the current state of the music industry). Not bad for a pay-what-you-want experiment.

Of course, the model isn’t new. Some folks speculate that it was inspired by a classic honor system as described in Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s bestseller Freakonomics. But sliding scale has been around in the punk and activist communities forever. As a teenager growing up in Washington, DC, I remember going to countless pay-what-you-want punk rock benefit shows and always shuffling my feet as I put down $5.
(more…)

By Dannie Delvos, BAVC Education Recruiter & Outreach

Every year thousands of students take advantage of BAVC programs and services. They learn video production, editing, web design, or game development, or they get their film ready to go to festivals. One of those students is Denise Minter. Denise was not new to the field when she first came to BAVC. She had a great career under her belt, working with PDI/DreamWorks, in the animation division. Through DreamWorks, she was able to take advantage of BAVC’s ETP program, a state-sponsored training program free of charge to qualifying companies and employees.

Denise ended up finishing two BAVC certificates and made her already remarkable resume even more impressive. Her credentials made it possible for Denise to land the fantastic position of Head of Production at Tippett Studios in Berkeley, where she currently works on projects like the Spiderwick Chronicles. (more…)