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SF Production ‘Reboots’ by Taylor Carlson
Ziv Marom of ZM Interactive shows off his incredible variety of areal photography 'copters. photo: D. Blair
ON THURSDAY, JUNE 13th, SAN
Francisco’s production community was overtaken with the idea of "rebooting." While this has mystical connotations, more practically speaking "Project Reboot" is when San Francisco’s biggest production and media companies (28 this year) come together for a day of open houses and a night of revelry.
"We have one of the most dynamic and fertile pools of talented people in the business," noted Ray Santiago, Beyond Pix's founder and CEO, who started the event last year.
"We can’t take it for granted that our industry will always exist as viably as we enjoy it now and we have to fight for its continued survival."
To do this, Santiago suggests that "We have to manufacture ways to keep in touch with each other." With social media and e-mail taking the place of face-to-face interactions, he started Reboot to create an opportunity for those in the production community to escape their electronic prisons and get together in person.
"Websites, email, Twitter, Facebook and online meetings aren’t going to do it," Santiago continued with an impish grin. A modest-heighted man around 50, he bounds around with endless energy and often a grin.
"The difference between social media and actually meeting people or visiting a facility in person is like the difference between throwing and shooting a bullet," he concludes with a laugh.
Ray Santiago, of Beyond Pix (left), and Kim Salyer, who used to host equally fabulous production community gathering at VideoArts in North Beach. photo: D. Blair
"It’s worth reminding each other that we are a definable and distinct industry that stands toe-to-toe against the big guys, such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago," he added. "At the very least, [we deserve] an annual collaboration... a giant party in celebration of our crafts."
Hence, last year, he reached out to competitors and collaborates alike to see if there was interest in such an event—there certainly was and the first Project Reboot kicked off in April of 2012. When participants kept calling to ask for the date of the next Reboot, Santiago decided it needed to become an annual event.
Using input from last year’s participants and vendors, Project Reboot 2013 saw some changes to improve the experience, like extending the open-house period to give crawlers more time to visit every venue. This year’s event also saw some changes in the crowd's makeup with the arrival of more working production professionals over what seemed like last year's excess of students. The momentum from the first Project Reboot also helped to increase the number of participating companies.
The citywide facilities crawl spanned from the SoMa (South of Market) neighborhood to the Bayview, an industrial district just south of the Mission and had participating companies opening their doors to the public to show off their abilities, facilities, tech and talent. Production houses, shooting stages, sound design studios, and camera, grip and lighting rental houses were all represented in walk-throughs that went from 2pm to 6pm. For a complete list go here and look for "details".
Beyond Pix Studios' @Bayshore soundstage was home base for the crawl, offering display booths for companies who were unable to host at their home facilities, mostly because they hailed from out of the neighborhood or out of town. That menagerie included the soothsaying Teri of Propville Directory, an online directory for San Francisco’s production professionals, who was reading a Tarot-like deck, to a 3D printing machine provided by 3DGrounds, a 3D printing studio, and the Monterey Film Commission.
Danielle Cheifetz (left), the point person for Beyond Pix on Project Reboot, working the raffle machine. photo: D. Blair
In addition to meeting up with contacts in the production industry, Project Reboots offered opportunities for newer companies to showcase their products/services and for established production houses to see the new technology in action.
"Anytime you can be a catalyst to strengthen the feeling of a community for the film and video industry, it’s such a rewarding feeling," Santiago continued. "At our @Bayshore facility, between the Production Crawl and the SOMA-Palooza event, I estimate that about five hundred people came by—that’s enormously successful by any standard."
"But success isn’t just measured in the number of facilities who participated or in the amount of people who showed up. It’s in quality of how people engaged." And from the look of the scene, it was indeed a success.
The big facilities of the past, which used to provide natural hubs for various professionals to meet in person, are gone. Much the same with the big film shoots that used to bring people together, either on a soundstage or on-location; they are no longer as frequent. With those natural gatherings largely disappated, a lot of what now takes place is on laptops or in someone’s den with a portable green screen.
But on the plus side, as the Bay Area production industry changes, with advancements in technology, room opens up for small companies to fill niche markets. Aerial cinematography is one such industry that has grown significantly in recent years due to the ability to mount high definition cameras on radio-controlled helicopters. The helicopters give filmmakers the ability to achieve angles, proximity and movements unattainable by crane or full-sized helicopters. ZM Interactive specializes in this technology, and its owner Ziv Marom was at the @Bayshore soundstage to give demonstrations.
Santiago (second from right) working with colleagues on the roasted pig that figured as the cuisine's centerpiece. photo: courtesy Beyond Pix
The @Bayshore soundstage was also home to the SOMA-Palooza after party. And if anybody knows how to party (errr, after-party, I guess) it’s the production crowd, who are notorious for blowing down after the "IT'S A WRAP" call has been sounded. With free brews provided by the likes of Gordon Biersch, Pacific Brew Laboratory and Pabst Blue Ribbon, attendees had the chance to loosen up and get their networking on.
DJ Timoteo Gigante served up some fresh spins, and as the night wore on the party grew, the drinks were downed and anticipation for the raffle drawing had the crowd on edge. Only one person could quiet the crowd, and that was local celeb Wendy Tokuda KRON News 4. Even then, with all of Wendy’s charm and charisma, they could not be stilled. But the raffle tickets were pulled, the numbers called loudly, and the iPad Mini winner was loathed by everyone, with the exception of those too tipsy-to-tell.
Overall, the event was a “huge success,” as Donald Trump would say. Over three hundred participants indulged in the tours, food and drinks. Proceeds from the event went to support the Conscious Youth Media Crew, a non-profit aimed at building dialogue and social change through the use of media—how appropriate for a production event. The CYMC also used the event to practice filming at the @Bayshore studio and at various open houses.
"The San Francisco Bay Area has always had a robust film and video industry, thanks to the feature film and advertising shoots of the past, its resilient independent film community, cable TV show producers and corporate productions. However, those strong bases are dwindling and it appears that the stalwart of the industry has largely shifted to corporate. Any further deterioration and soon, we won’t even have the right to call it an industry," Santiago explained when pressed to summarize the local scene.
Local celeb Wendy Tokuda, of the KRON4 news team, completes the raffle with the Conscious Youth Media Crew filming. photo: courtesy Beyond Pix
"From all indications, the economy is coming back in other parts of the country and although the Bay Area has enjoyed strong economic conditions in the past few years, corporations were either reluctant to commit to productions or at the very least, spent only a fraction of what they did in the past," he said, with his ever-optimistic grin. " Hopefully, the improving economy will be like a tide that raises all boats."
If you missed the event this year, don’t worry, "annual" means it will happen every year. With Project Reboot gaining recognition in San Francisco as a must-attend production event, planning for the next production crawl and after-party has already commenced. The changing makeup of the production community makes it even more important for the production community to come together and reconnect and it looks like Project Reboot 2014 will be even bigger and better.