Words You Can Use: The BAVC BLOG

By Mindy Aronoff, Director of Training & Resources

Does meeting director Morgan Spurlock in person help one like the movie more? Hell yes. Well, let’s put it this way: about 13 minutes into the screening at SXSW in Austin where Mr. Spurlock was in attendance, a spring thunderstorm knocked all the power out. When the lights came back on, the projectionist was having a hell of a time re-booting the digital projector, so Mr. Spurlock–oh, let’s call him Morgan, shall we?–shouted out, “drinks for everyone on me!” Sure enough, 10 uniformed ushers began passing out cold cans of Tecate to the entire theatre (thank you, Texas liquor laws).

If you saw SUPERSIZE ME, you know Spurlock has the same kind of fun Michael Moore does (but he’s a lot cuter). In this doc, which premiered at Sundance in January, he shleps us through Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jerusalem and other colorful Middle Eastern sites, shoving the mic in people’s faces and querying them about bin Laden’s whereabouts like he’s asking if the food is good at Moti’s Falafel Stand.

Is the movie a joke? Not really, although I did laugh a lot. True to character, Spurlock comes across as the guy next door, an everyman who tells it like we would if we had the cajones. We see him, pre-trip, going through a rigorous faux-FBI training program aimed at teaching rookies when to duck and how to avoid being blown up into shwarma bits. It really is silly at times—outside of a Tora Bora cave he sings out “yoo hoo! Osama bin LAH-den…!” Ridiculous. But isn’t that kinda what you would want to do? (more…)

By Alicia Schmidt, Marketing Strategist

Okay, so looking back, the folks at the National Association of Broadcasters(NAB) probably should have thought twice about asking a very famous, politically left, actor named Tim Robbins to give the keynote address at their 2008 show. Apparently, Tim decided against a planned “dialogue” on new media and instead launched into a humorous, expletive-laced tirade about the state of both the country and our media.

Sadly, I couldn’t find any video of dear Tim, but you can listen to his rant here.

Or you can check out other accounts of the day at Broadcasting and Cable.

by Carol Varney, BAVC Director of Development

Today’s blog post is brought to you by the serendipity that is the airport shuttle van. It was on such a van leaving the Sundance Film Festival for the Salt Lake City airport that I, by chance, met Lyle Hysen, founder of Bank Robber Music - an indie music licensing company. Lyle was at Sundance because he was one of the music supervisors for the film Choke, which screened at Sundance and was subsequently bought by Fox Searchlight (one of those “rare” success stories from Sundance this year. Or so they say).

On a recent trip to New York, I had the opportunity to sit down with Lyle at his office on Wall Street (according to the security guard at the front desk, the piece of art on the wall in the lobby cost $3 million, and she didn’t think it was worth it) to ask him about Bank Robber Music, how it started, and his thoughts on indie music in big and small budget features, television shows, and documentaries.

Before we started talking, Lyle warned me that our conversation would be full of swear words and that the conversation might sound a little disjointed, but I thought it all turned out ok. You can decide for yourself . . .

How did you decide to start Bank Robber Music?

Lyle: I was at Matador Records for 10 years running their publishing company and doing their licensing work, and when my wife and I had our first child, Charlotte, I realized that I wanted more flexible hours and to have screaming children as assistants. So I eventually left Matador to start my own company. I consider founding the company to be a post-birth hormonal decision. My very supportive wife encouraged the idea, and now I get to work with all kinds of bands and labels that I like.

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by Dannie Delvos, BAVC Education Recruiter

If you have visited BAVC’s facility lately, you might have noticed some changes in the hallways: new lighting, new paint, and, most importantly, new photographs. BAVC’s new gallery ROHSTOFF [raw material] has opened its doors and was kicked off with a big bang — a shoot-out between the leading photo-editing applications Lightroom and Aperture. However, the tools had to take a back seat when it came to the stars of the night: the artists Brent Bowers, Liz Hickok, Michael Mages, and Michele Sieglitz.

So, what is ROHSTOFF [raw material] and why does BAVC have a gallery, you might ask?

Rohstoff is German for “raw material” – the stuff big things are made of. BAVC’s exhibition series features emerging and established artists, whose work is mostly experimental, often innovative, sometimes controversial, and always thought-provoking. (more…)

by Chris Lincoln, BAVC Director of Technology, Media Arts & Innovation

trans•for•ma•tion
— a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance

— a metamorphosis during the life cycle [of an animal]

— a process by which one figure, expression, or function is converted into another that is equivalent in some important respect but is differently expressed or represented

tran•si•tion
— the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another
— undergo or cause to undergo a process or period of transition [verb]

So which is it, transformation or transition? Both terms were used liberally at BAVC in 2007 though the former seemingly more than the latter. Certainly elements of both operated at BAVC in 2007 as we moved away from our analog post-production roots to expanding our resources in the web 2.0 and digital domain. But what began in 2006, a transition with the catch phrase—Art + Education + Technology, became a wholesale transformation of technology at BAVC in 2007.

A standalone department was created to include the Media Arts staff and information technology personnel from multiple areas. The new department, Technology, Innovation, and Media Arts (TIMA), combines BAVC’s evolving digital media services and staff with the IT staff responsible for the day-to-day support of our instructional, administrative, and network systems. Most importantly, TIMA is chartered to create BAVC’s future technical architecture and to deliver a technology framework that facilitates growth and innovation supporting BAVC’s core creative mission. (more…)

by Jen G, Lead Developer, BAVC Strategic Initiatives

If you get to go to Sundance for only a few days, it is imperative to focus on what you’ve seen, not what you’ve missed. I went for four whirlwind days, and spent time at the Queer Lounge, New Frontiers on Main, the Queer Brunch, the Adobe party, the CineVegas party, Film Arts’ condo, the fireplace in the Slamdance lobby, and of course, holed up in the BAVC condo trying to warm my -1°F toes. I skipped Paris Hilton and the US Weekly version of Sundance, but saw a few of my kind of celebrities: Killer Films’ Christine Vachon, speaking on an unadvertised panel about social issue in film at the Queer Lounge, Patti Smith, representing a film about, well, Patti Smith, and Jamie Babbitt, chatting happily on the shuttle on the way to her first screening of the festival. And of course, I focused on seeing as many films as possible. Here are a few documentary gems that glimmered against the bleak white snow in Park City.

Art Star and the Sudanese Twins [New Zealand, 2007, 109 mins]
Directed by Pietra Brettkelley
Edited by Irena Dol, who received the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award at the festival

Brettkelley’s complex, though not entirely critical portrayal of international “art star” Vanessa Beecroft is one of the most thought-provoking documentaries you’ll see this year. Beecroft is known for her controversial participatory photography, in which she arranges human subjects to her liking. Every artist who deals with human subjects struggles with representation, but few do so with such controversy. A scene in the film depicts, for example, Beecroft staging several dozen naked female models as suit-clad art (or naked lady) appreciators sip wine and look at them. Is this feminist, or anti-feminist? If you do ‘the thing’ with minimal commentary, do you become ‘the thing’ itself – objectifying, mysogenist, racist? Beecroft claims to be asking these questions, but the moral question becomes the thrust of the film and of Beecroft’s dilemma. (more…)

by Carol Varney, BAVC Director of Development

On Monday night I joined more than 1,000 fellow San Franciscans (and probably a few people from outside the city, too) to volunteer as an extra to recreate two seminal marches in San Francisco’s history, both of which took place during the lifetime of Harvey Milk. Being an extra was not of real interest to me, but I did want to be part of supporting a project that would bring the legacy of Harvey Milk to a national and international audience.

When I was 17 years and living in rural Maine, a friend rented and we watched, on a fuzzy black and white television in a farm house, the documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk.” At the time I had never been to San Francisco, I only knew three gay people (who were out, at least) and yet the film changed my life. Watching this documentary about one of the world’s first openly gay elected officials helped me to understand the difference one person can make in the world, and how important it is to take a stand for what you believe in, particularly in the face of injustice.

So now, many (many) years later, when I got a message from a friend who is a location assistant for the new Gus Van Sant film based on Milk’s life, asking for volunteers to be extras in a recreation of a gay rights march, I knew I had to do it. It’s not often that you get to re-enact such an important historical moment, (not to mention be shouted at through a bullhorn by Emile Hirsch and Sean Penn – he plays Harvey Milk).

Many of the extras were treated to a screening of the documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk” before the marching began. Introducing the film was BAVC friend, San Francisco documentarian, and the documentary’s director, Rob Epstein. He spoke of those who helped him to make the film and his desire to help get the Van Sant feature made. He also introduced Cleve Jones, founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and others who are helping the new film to remain as true to historical fact as possible.

After the documentary screened, we were treated to dinner donated by local Castro merchants (you know I have to thank the corporate donors!), and then we hit the streets to chant and carry signs that implored people to “Stop Hate” and “Save Our Human Rights.” We were then told to go “back to one” (where we started) multiple times. After marching for many hours in the glare of the newly refurbished Castro Theater sign, I limped home with cold feet and a renewed sense that one person can, indeed, make a difference.

I am not ashamed to say that seeing “The Times of Harvey Milk” that night at the Castro theater in San Francisco made me cry. Seeing the City I call home portrayed at such a watershed time in our political history was even more emotional now that I know its history, geography and people more personally than I did when all I could do was view the world from Maine, through the eyes of filmmakers who told the stories of the people who make this City such an amazing place. Being part of this recreated history made me feel more connected to the City’s past, and as I ran into other friends who were on the street as extras, I also felt once more profound gratitude for the media makers who take social issues and explain them in a way that resonates across gender, geography, and political lines. Like all of BAVC’s supporters, members, awardees and friends who do the incredible work of telling the stories that keep us connected to our history and to each other.

by Wendy Levy, Director of Creative Programming

As Director of Creative Programming, the focus of my attention is bringing the most promising stories and media makers, new media projects and video archives into the world of BAVC; and creating partnerships and programs that impact the field of public media and independent filmmaking. 2007 was a big year at BAVC, full of opportunities for artists and institutions to explore innovative approaches to new work, and creative solutions to challenges in postproduction and preservation. These programs included: Producers Institute for New Media Technologies, Mediamaker & Mediamaker Advance Awards, and the Womens HD Artist-in-Residence. (more…)

by Alicia Schmidt, BAVC Marketing Strategist

I’m a white girl who grew up in capital “S” suburban Maryland where a hot, high-school Friday night included sipping wine coolers in the parking lot of the Friendly’s Ice Cream store and tipping cows at the Naval Academy dairy (no lie). When I left high school, I went straight to Washington, DC, and straight into an indie punk scene that pretty much saved my life. I even hooked up with a few anarchist punks who crossed over into hip-hop and graffiti writing. They let me “tag” along when they bombed walls in Eastern Market (near the Capital building) and it pretty much started my obsession with graffiti and street art.

Needless to say I was psyched last December when an old friend from DC invited me over to a holiday “throwie” party at their house in the Western Addition. When I walked in to a table full of little multi-colored LED lights, lithium batteries, and super strong magnets, however, I have to admit that I was a little worried that maybe he was going a little Weather Underground.

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by Carl Weichert, BAVC Training and Curriculum Strategist

We here at BAVC have been feeling rather nostalgic of late, having recently turned thirty, turned twenty-nine, uhm, been told we don’t look a day over 26. So we decided to fix ourselves a hot toddy, wrap ourselves in our snuggliest housecoat, and make our way into the cold, dark recesses of the BAVC archive, where we store a copy of every video that’s made its way through our well-preserved youthful halls.

Once there, however, we found it to be a great temperature for archival tapes, but a bit too cold and dark for our tastes, so we skedaddled right back out of there - and sent our intrepid intern, Clay, in our place. And Oh! the memories he’s brought back! Those were the days, my friend, we say to Clay the Intern, wiping a tear from the corner of our eye as we watch three-quarter-inch tapes together; we thought they’d never end. True dat, he replies, true dat.

Here’s just one of those precious memories of days gone by, a clip from a 1991 doc named Burning Man, made by none other than Larry Harvey, one of the founders of Burning Man. This clip contains footage of one of the earlier burns at Baker Beach here in San Francisco, as well as the first burn to take place on the Playa.

That reminds us, did we ever tell you about our first Burn…..?