In an effort to continue supporting Bay Area Filmmakers, the struggling Film Arts Foundation has joined forces with the San Francisco Film Society. The beefed up Film Society will offer a slate of new and continued services to the combined SFFS/FAF membership, and has tapped key FAF staff to run them.

The Film Arts board will continue to provide consulting services, advocacy and support to SFFS through the transition and beyond. One member of the FAF board will join the SFFS board, to provide an institutional and historical link, as well as programmatic continuity and best practices advice. FAF expects to fully wind down operations in 2009.

FAF was founded by independent filmmakers in 1976, and provided key services such as professional training, equipment, information, consultations and exhibition opportunities to support artists across the Bay Area. They also published the excellent film publication Release Print.

A statement on the FAF website states, "After thirty-two years of working hand-in-glove with independent filmmakers, Film Arts Foundation has reached a point at which it is no longer able to provide a number of filmmaker services that have been crucially important to all of us. The FAF Board and Staff have been working hard to determine how best to sustain these filmmaker services that have been such an important part of Film Arts’ mission, and we strongly believe that the San Francisco Film Society is the organization best equipped to carry on the FAF legacy."

New SFFS programs and initiatives include the following:

• Herbert Filmmaking Grants: These grants will present awards totaling $25,000 to films by Bay Area filmmakers. Calls for entry will be published in November.
• SFFS FilmHouse Residencies: Residencies will offer 2,800 square-feet of production-office space at Pier 27 on the Embarcadero – free of charge – to Bay Area filmmakers. Residencies are for one- to six-month terms; application will be published in September. This initiative is in partnership with the San Francisco Film Commission.
• Film Arts Forum: A new large-scale monthly evening screening/conference/networking event that brings together and showcases Bay Area filmmakers and filmmaking. Members receive discounted admission; event is slated to begin in November.
• Formation of the SFFS Filmmakers Advisory Board: An active group of established Bay Area film professionals whose role is to aid in further developing SFFS Filmmaker Services. A complete list of Filmmakers Advisory Board members will be announced in September.

For more on how the two organizations will be combining services:
SFFS press release:
Film Arts Foundation News Update