BAVC Media

BAVC has been an advocate for media makers for over 40 years, supplying the tools, resources, and su

BAVC is a community hub and resource for media makers in the Bay Area and across the country, serving over 7,500 freelancers, filmmakers, job-seekers, activists, and artists every year. BAVC provides access to media making technology, storytelling workshops, a diverse and engaged community of makers and producers, services and resources. BAVC advocates for those whose stories aren't being told, an

d provides the resources for anyone to create and share, and amplify their stories and those of their communities. BAVC's diverse, innovative programs lead the field in media training for youth and educators, technology and multimedia focused workforce development, visually-driven new media storytelling and audio-visual preservation. BAVC has been a trusted community educator, collaborator, incubator, community builder and resource for the media arts world since 1976. BAVC began when a group of media makers and activists met in January of 1976 to devise practical ways to encourage independent video-making in the Bay Area. With a small grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to conduct a needs assessment and feasibility study of the region’s media-making community, that small group spent the summer collecting information about what the region’s environment looked like for independent videomakers. Among that study’s conclusions was a recommendation for “a regional video resource center with multi-faceted programs that concentrate on improving all aspects of video production and exhibition…” That video resource center came into existence when BAVC was incorporated on December 10, 1976. As new technologies have been introduced over the past four decades, BAVC has responded with dynamic programs and new training strategies, while remaining committed to our mission of serving independent media makers.

09/25/2025

🎉 Join us in celebrating the successes of some of our past BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship projects!

⏳ Working on your first documentary feature film? The deadline for submissions to our 2026 MediaMaker Fellowship is September 29, 2025 (11:59pm PT). Learn more & apply now at our link in bio

🎬 Past BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship projects:

• SONGS FROM THE HOLE by Contessa Gayles (2021 Fellow) - Premiered at SXSW 2024, where it won the Visions Audience Award. Now streaming worldwide on Netflix
• THE AGE OF WATER by Isabel Alcántara (2017 Fellow) premiered at the 2025 Morelia Film Festival. Broadcast nationally on PBS POV, now streaming on PBS Passport.
• FOR VENIDA, FOR KALIEF by Sisa Bueno (2020 Fellow) premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, featured in Democracy Now!, The Guardian & Jezebel
• REMAINING NATIVE by Paige Bethmann (2023 Fellow) premiered at SXSW 2025, where it won both the Documentary Feature Special Jury Award & Audience Award
• SEEDS by Brittany Shyne (2019 Fellow) premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize
• THE IN BETWEEN by Robie Flores (2020 Fellow) premiered at SXSW 2024, national broadcast premiere on PBS Independent Lens in 2025. Streaming now on PBS Passport
• LIGHT OF THE SETTING SUN, Vicky Du (2019 Fellow) screened at Full Frame, CAAM Fest & IDFA, among other festivals
• FREE CHOL SOO LEE, Eugene Yi (2017 Fellow) Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Historical Documentary, also nominated for Best Documentary and Outstanding Promotional Announcement: Documentary

09/24/2025

📺 You can watch a recording of our VERSED Bay Area Film Funder panel on YouTube!

❗️ Upcoming deadlines: This is an invaluable resource for anyone submitting a project to the BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship (Sep 29), Frameline Completion Fund (Sep 26), or SFFILM Filmhouse Residency (Oct 6), all of which are closing soon!

Featuring panelists from local funders and filmmaker support organizations, offering insights and tips for how to best represent in applications for fellowships, grants, residencies, and other artist development programs.

Panelists:
• Allegra Madsen,
• Masashi Niwano,
• Isabella Miller,
• Jonathan White,
• Dawn D Valadez,

🔗 Watch now at our link in bio

This workshop is part of BAVC Media’s VERSED summer workshop series, presented in partnership with the , to support filmmakers working on applications for grants, sponsorship, or artist support opportunities.

💰 Register now for the final two workshops in the series, Budgeting Part 1 & 2, happening today (Wed, September 24) and tomorrow (Thu, September 25) respectively. Link in bio for tickets!

09/19/2025

🙌 We’re here with another Resource Roundup! We have grants, festivals, residencies, a workshop, and a pitch competition! Please share to spread the word and support our independent mediamaking community ❤️

09/18/2025

💰 Join us on Thursday, September 25 for VERSED: Dig Into Your Budget!

If you’re planning to apply to the 2026 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship, this is a great way to get hands-on support with your film budget before applications close on September 29.

Bring your laptop (we’ll have a couple of loaners if you don’t own a computer) to work on your budget in small groups with other filmmakers and support from practiced producers! Led by Dawn D Valadez, with support from Julia Robertson (Filmmaker) and Isabella Miller (Berkeley Film Foundation).

•Thursday, September 25
•6-7:30 pm PT
•In person at Oakstop Telegraph (Gaines Gallery Suite)
•Discount for BAVC Media members

This workshop is a part of BAVC Media’s VERSED summer workshop series, presented in partnership with the

09/11/2025

🤑 New VERSED workshop: Breaking Down Your Budget (Budgeting Part 1)

Join us for a line-by-line breakdown of a documentary feature budget tailored for grant applications led by Annie Small, Oscar-winning producer of documentary short film COLETTE.

🗓️ Wednesday, September 24 · 5:30-7pm PDT
📍 Online / Virtual
🎟️ Link in bio to RSVP

This session will be followed by Budgeting Part 2: Dig Into Your Budget, an in-person hands-on workshop on Thursday, September 25 in Oakland.

✨ Part of BAVC Media’s VERSED summer series presented in partnership with , to support filmmakers working on applications for grants, sponsorship or artist support opportunities.

09/10/2025

🌸 We caught up with Brenda Ávila-Hanna () about her film LIBERTAD (2019 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship) ahead of its world premiere at the 25th next week)

The documentary focuses on Alejandra’s story as an indigenous transgender woman on a lifelong quest for a safe place to call home is told through a combination slice-of-life moments shot over the course of 7 years with animated sequences based on Alejandra’s original artwork. The result is a film that doubly serves as an intimate portrait and a beacon of hope and solidarity.

🔗 Read the interview on our blog (link in bio)

📽️ Watch LIBERTAD at Regal Union Square, New York on September 17 at 6:45 pm

09/09/2025

📼 After three years of surveying the field we’re excited to publish “Mapping the Magnetic Media Landscape” a BAVC Media led nationwide research study designed to learn more about the state of magnetic preservation efforts happening across the country in our archives, libraries, community organizations, and historical organizations. Co-authored by Moriah Ulinskas, Kailen Sallander (Research & Development Manager, BAVC Media), and Kelli Shay Hix.

🧠 The purpose of this research was to develop an expansive, data-driven understanding of the field of analog audiovisual media digitization and conservation in the United States. The resulting data will be used to identify and respond to our greatest challenges in the changing field of audiovisual preservation.

🔗 Read our announcement + the full report at our link in bio

💙 Special thanks to all 131 participating organizations, 23 interviewees, 5 vendors & 3 site visit hosts

🌎 Findings from the study will be presented at upcoming conferences, including The International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA), Honolulu, HI, in September; The Australasian Sound Recordings Association (ASRA), Sydney, Australia in October; and The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), Baltimore, M,D in December.

The Mapping the Magnetic Media Landscape project was developed with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

09/08/2025

📝 On the BAVC blog: Latinx Filmmaking in the Bay Area at BAMMS 2025

On Sunday, August 17, we hosted the Latinx Filmmaking in the Bay Area event at the 9th Street Independent Film Center here in San Francisco as part of the 2025

Presented by & , the day started with a morning mixer over cafe and conchas provided by our sponsors, local Latinx-owned businesses & .

Breakfast was followed by a conversation with a panel of local Latinx filmmakers Emily Cohen Ibañez (), Colette Ghunim (.sanctuary), & .cueva_, moderated by CiNEOLA founder .e.diaz (BAVC Media’s director of marketing & audience strategy).

🔗📺 Read our blog (link in bio) for a summary of the event + to watch a recording of the panel on YouTube

📷 Photography by
📹 Filmed & edited by Javan Jiles ()

09/06/2025

💛 The award-winning REMAINING NATIVE (2023 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship) is heading to the Camden International Film Festival! Join BAVC Media and the film’s team next week for their Maine premiere and a special community fun run.

Info below ↓

📽️ Screening
• September 11 at 3:45pm, Strand Theatre (Rockland)
A part of the Best of Fest Category, the film will be followed by a Q&A with Haudenosaunee director, ; producer, ; and community representatives from Wabanaki Reach.

👟 Community 5K fun run supported by BAVC Media
• September 14 at 9am, Beech Hill Preserve
Meet us on top of the Beech Hill Preserve for a community 5K fun run/ walk. The event includes free coffee, pastries, live silk screening and performance by the Burnurwurbskek Singers. Attendees will also get a chance to win some BAVC Media merch!

🔗 Link in bio for screening tickets + fun run route, accessibility, shuttle & registration!

Film synopsis:

REMAINING NATIVE is a coming-of-age feature documentary told through the perspective of Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner from the Yerington Paiute Reservation in Northwest Nevada. The film follows Ku as he navigates his way to college athletics while the memory of his great-grandfather’s 50-mile escape from Indian Boarding School begins to connect past, present, and future.

09/05/2025

🌁 Meet the panelists!

• Allegra Madsen,
• Isabella Miller,
• Masashi Niwano,
• Jonathan White,
• Dawn D Valadez,

Our virtual VERSED Bay Area Film Funder panel is coming up on Monday (September 8) at 5:30pm PT. Registration is FREE.

You’ll have the opportunity to hear from Bay Area funders and filmmaker support organisations about what they have to offer. They will also be answering your questions so please send over anything you want to ask to us at [email protected]

🔗 Free registration at our link in bio

This workshop is part of BAVC Media’s VERSED summer workshop series, presented in partnership with the Berkeley Film Foundation, to support filmmakers working on applications for grants, sponsorship, or artist support opportunities.

09/04/2025

❗️The deadline is approaching to apply for our Bridges Editing: Pre-Apprenticeship

Deadline: September 14 at 11:59 PM PT

BAVC Media is offering a paid editing training program for Bay Area opportunity youth (18-24). Participants will receive a $6,000 stipend for completing the program.

📢 If you know someone who would be a good fit for this opportunity, please share this post with your network & help us spread the word!

🔗 Link in bio for more info & to apply now

09/03/2025

👀 Did you know our Producer-level members can request a review of their BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship or any other grant applications?

🔍 We’re looking for documentary filmmakers from across the country who are committed to creative, ethical, and collaborative nonfiction practices for the 2026 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship. Learn more about the fellowship and the criteria to apply at our link in bio

⏳ Deadline to apply is Monday, September 29, 2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. Early applications are strongly encouraged.

❗️Each BAVC Media Producer member can only request one Grant Review per membership renewal. Spots are extremely limited and first-come-first-serve, so we cannot guarantee your application can be reviewed before the deadline.

Address

145 9th Street, #101
San Francisco, CA
94103

Telephone

+14158613282

Website

http://www.bavc.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when BAVC Media posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to BAVC Media:

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company in San Francisco?