Susan Gerhard Will Edit Online Magazine Devoted to Daily Year-Round Coverage of Thriving San Francisco Film and Media Scene

San Francisco, CA ‹ Graham Leggat, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society, and Brian Clark, cofounder and managing member of indieWIRE, the leading online publication dedicated to American and international independent film, announced today that Susan Gerhard has come on board as the editor and bureau chief of SF360.org. The new copublished site, dedicated to daily coverage and social network support of the vibrant San Francisco film and media scene, is scheduled to launch today.

«There’s an alchemical genius at work in San Francisco,» said Leggat. «It’s a frontier, full of intelligence and energy and the desire to do new things. With Susan at the helm of SF360.org‹as in the other SF360 initiatives, with their intensely collaborative exploration of new film and media platforms, new work and new audiences‹we»re attempting to bottle that lightning.»

Susan Gerhard is a film critic, editor and journalist who was senior editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian»s Arts and Entertainment section for many years. She was a Sundance Arts Writing Fellow from 2002 to 2004. Her creative nonfiction, journalism and criticism have appeared in many publications including McSweeneys.net, Salon.com, the Village Voice and Cinema Scope. She currently works out of the San Francisco Writers Grotto.

«I am thrilled to be creating a hub for San Francisco»s film and digital media-making communities with SF360.org,» Gerhard said. «In addition to the features and news that my writers and I will be generating, I»m looking forward to engaging in a spirited discussion of filmmaking and filmgoing through our SF360.org social networks. San Francisco has a long, rich history of documentary, commercial and independent filmmaking. It»s home to the most energetic activists, the most innovative digital artists and the most intelligent film fans. I hope to bring artists and audiences together at SF360.org.»

Features planned for the first month include: extended coverage of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival; behind-the-scenes looks at the production of Bay Area independent features, including Caveh Zahedi»s I am a Sex Addict, the Henry Rosenthal-produced The Devil and Daniel Johnston, and Terry Zwigoff»s Art School Confidential; an article on SFSU»s new Doc Film Institute; daily news bits on Bay Area films and media goings-on; photos and fun from San Francisco»s film premieres and special events; and insights from the Bay Area»s various digital media frontiers.

On the community side, SF360.org will feature a powerful suite of social networking features, allowing Bay Area audiences, writers, nonprofit arts organizations and filmmakers to set up and organize groups, coordinate events, establish virtual festival and production offices, maintain personal and group blogs and network with each other on joint projects. «We are very excited to be entering into partnership with the San Francisco Film Society, whose San Francisco International Film Festival has been an intelligent and welcome home for American and international filmmakers for nearly fifty years,» said Clark. «SF360.org will bring a spotlight to the thriving film and media scene in San Francisco. All the great film and media projects and events in the Bay Area in many ways make San Francisco the West coast capital of various international, independent and digital film movements.»

SF360.org is the flagship project of the San Francisco Film Society»s new SF360 series of initiatives. Designed to strengthen and promote the San Francisco film and media scene in all its various and exciting forms, SF360 includes SF360 Festival of Festivals, SF360 San Francisco Movie Night and SF360 InSchool Cinemas. SF360.org»s mid-March launch will allow it to report on the run-up to the Film Society»s much-anticipated 49th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 20 ­ May 4). Established in 1957, SFIFF will be «First to 50» in April 2007.