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An Interview with BAVC Media’s Development Director: Jenny Slattery!
We are thrilled to announce Jenny Slattery as BAVC Media's Development Director! Jenny Slattery is the Director of Development at BAVC Media, where she leads the Development Team to sustain and grow BAVC’s community of funders. She is also the Co-Founder of Early Bird Films, which was created to advance promising films in the early stages of development. Previously, Jenny was the Associate Director of Foundations and Artist Development at SFFILM. She has also worked independently as an artist development and fundraising consultant, providing guidance and support to independent filmmakers and to media and education organizations that include SFFILM, [...]
Saying Farewell to MediaMaker Co-Director, Niema Jordan!
Join us as we sit down with MediaMaker Co-Director, Niema Jordan, one last time to reminisce on her time at BAVC Media, congratulate her on her myriad of accomplishments in 2021 alone, wish her well on her exciting future endeavors, say thank you, and bid her farewell (for now)! BAVC Media: What was a highlight from your time as Co-Director of the Media Maker Fellowship? Niema: Ah, what a difficult question. There were so many. I think overall, being able to connect with filmmakers from all over has been a joy. The current fellows and alumni have been an absolute [...]
45 Years Of BAVC Media: Community Portraits
In celebration of 45 years of trailblazing media makers, and all of those yet to come, we’re excited to share a series of portraits highlighting our community. We hope you enjoy them! Please help us support more more media makers by donating to BAVC Media today. Make A Donation COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: COLETTE GHUNIM Photograph submitted by Colette Ghunim Colette Ghunim's passion lies at the cross section of social impact and visual storytelling. Her first documentary, The People’s Girls, received worldwide attention for its bold spotlight on Egypt’s issue of sexual harassment. Colette strives to be a changemaker for [...]
November is the official month for Homelessness Awareness.
During the pandemic, increasing income inequality and cumulative housing instability have been dramatically exacerbated. These disparities are more pronounced in the Bay Area, a place of opportunity, but also of tremendous inequality and deprivation. So, this November, BAVC Media has partnered with Argo, a streaming platform and filmmaker community, and Hamilton Families, a non-profit organization that fights against homelessness in the Bay Area. Established in 1985, Hamilton Families is San Francisco’s leading service provider for families experiencing homelessness. Together with Hamilton Families, Argo has co-curated, Finding Home, a playlist that features three powerful documentaries that combat the biases of homelessness, as told by the persons [...]
Event Recording – After The Credits Roll: Media Activism & Creating Impact
Watch After The Credits Roll: Media Activism & Creating Impact On May 13th, 2021, BAVC Media invited our community to join us in conversation with the team behind Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, who not only crafted a vibrant and nuanced film, but have been effectively using the movie as a tool for catalyzing conversation around disability rights and creating meaningful social impact. Joining us in conversation and co-presenting this free virtual event was People’s Video Theater who were on the ground at Camp Jened in 1971 working with the campers to record their experiences on video and screen them for each other. These tapes would [...]
From The BAVC Media Archives: Remembering Loni Ding
This piece was originally written by Moriah Ulinskas (former Preservation Program Director, and former Director of Next Gen Programs at BAVC Media) in February 2010. This morning I received news that Loni Ding passed away on February 20 after a long year following a stroke last Spring. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Loni since before the stroke, and hearing that she had passed triggered a string of memories that left me crying at my desk for the first hour of the day. I’ve spent the morning emailing back and forth with my friend Alison Wong, who, along with myself, was [...]
DPS-575 Workshop: Understanding the device, how to use it, and creating audio terminal blocks
Are you interested in building a transfer station that can perform preservation-level digital transfers? If so, you may know that properly digitizing analog video tape requires a lot of specializes equipment. The Minimum Viable Transfer Station document maintained by Ashley Blewer (@ablwr) does a fantastic job of describing the types of equipment that you’ll need to do preservation-grade transfers. One of the more popular pieces of technology used in preservation transfers is the Leitch DPS-575. This piece of gear has tons of features that make it super super useful for preservation, and can often be found on eBay for under [...]
Public Access Is Powerful
In times of crisis, staying connected and informed becomes imperative. A recent report from American University showed that public access centers have become indispensable communication hubs during the pandemic. Our own San Francisco community media center is run right here out of BAVC Media. SF Commons is the city’s public access TV station, providing free or low-cost training, equipment, studio access, and a slot on cable TV, to any city resident. In a sea of corporate-owned media, SF Commons is truly free, by and for its communities. Training is at no cost, distribution is accessible and the station supports BAVC [...]
Now Available On YouTube: Exploring the VSW Archive – Early Video Art & Community Media in Western NY
On August 5th, 2020, BAVC Media streamed a video event with Visual Studies Workshop (VSW), and we're happy to announce that the recording is now live on YouTube! Over the last two years BAVC Media has been working with VSW in Rochester, NY to preserve their archive of early video recordings. The VSW Film and Video Collection holds more than 4,000 video tapes, many of which were made between 1970-1990 by artists, activists and collectives throughout New York State. This fascinating collection includes over 1,500 ½” open reel recordings from community access programs such as Portable Channel, SYNAPSE, [...]
Meet Leah Simon: Preservation Intern
Meet Leah Simon: BAVC Media Preservation Intern Working with BAVC Media as a preservation intern was a real treat. Coming to video preservation and digitization as a graduate student studying Folklore and archival theory, I had never worked with tape collections before BAVC Media. Not only was I able to apprentice with knowledgeable mentors like Morgan Morel, trained at the University of Michigan's Information Studies Program, or Anne Smatla who graduated from the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation, but through their mentorship, I was given the training to work with a wide range of tape material that I [...]
