BAVC Media Announces Jason Hanasik and Leah Nichols as 2018-19 Residents
San Francisco, CA — Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC Media) is pleased to announce that Jason Hanasik and Leah Nichols are the 2018-2019 Residents for BAVC Media’s relaunched Residency program, made possible through support from the San Francisco Film Commission.
Building on the success of BAVC Media’s Artist-in-Residence program, the present iteration of the Residence program provides Bay Area independent media makers with the space and resources necessary for developing creative work. During the nine month program, each Resident is given a shared co-working space at BAVC Media’s Mission District offices, the opportunity to take BAVC Media courses of their choosing, fiscal sponsorship, and a free BAVC Media membership. The program also affords Residents the chance to plug into BAVC Media’s community of fellow moving image-makers and industry veterans through peer feedback sessions and public work-in-progress screenings.
Jason Hanasik is a filmmaker, artist, curator, and journalist. His artwork, films, and scholarship have appeared in The Guardian, at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, in The Los Angeles Times, in the academic journal Critical Military Studies, at various international film festivals and in solo and group visual art exhibitions worldwide. Hanasik has a Masters in Journalism from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, a Master of Fine Arts from California College of the Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Summa Cum Laude from The State University of New York at Purchase.
For the BAVC Media residency, Hanasik will develop an experimental film starring veterans from each branch of the United States’ Armed Forces. In the film, we’ll see a combination of veterans collaged together as one multi-armed/gesticulating body walking through an ever-shifting American landscape. Interviews with each of the participating veterans about the challenges of reintegrating into civilian society after service will be collaged into a voice-over soundtrack.
Leah Nichols is an award-winning filmmaker and designer based in San Francisco, whose short film 73 Questions which won the 2018 Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) Creative Activism Award. Her work seeks to celebrate connections across differences and expand media representations of underrepresented communities. Leah’s multidisciplinary approach utilizes a variety of tools including graphic design, illustration, motion graphics, animation, and documentary film.
Nichols will be working on Seneca Pets, a short film that showcases a handful of San Francisco residents, and their beloved pets, who reside at the Seneca Hotel. The Seneca Hotel represents one of the many Single-Room Occupancy buildings (SROs) that provides housing to a total of 30,000+ low-income individuals in one of the least affordable housing markets in the country. Because SRO living conditions often result in stressful and traumatic experiences, the resident dogs, cats, and fish often serve as comfort companions becoming staple community members in their own right.
“Thanks to the continued generosity of the San Francisco Film Commision, the relaunched Residency program is but another way that BAVC Media can offer independent media makers the support and opportunities necessary for their creative and professional growth,” said Matt Sussman, Public Programs and Fellowships Manager. “We are excited to see what Jason and Leah develop during their time at BAVC Media.”
For more information about Jason Hanasik please visit: jasonhanasik.com/. For more information about Leah Nichols please visit: mrawmraw.squarespace.com. For more information on BAVC Media’s Residency program please visit: bavc.org/residency.
About BAVC Media
Founded in 1976, Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC Media)’s mission is to inspire social change by empowering media makers to develop and share diverse stories through art, education and technology.
