Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) | New Routes | Using local media made by immigrants to improve the health of immigrants

Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC)

Bay Area Video Coalition, or BAVC (pronounced "bay-vac") is a nonprofit media arts center based in San Francisco, CA. BAVC was launched in 1976 as a way to make emerging video technology accessible to independent mediamakers. Today, BAVC is a production facility, an affordable training center, and a leader in the media arts field. We train current and future media makers, support independent producers through innovative programs, and serve as a fiscal sponsor for cutting edge multiplatform media projects and documentary films.

While the technological landscape is ever-changing, BAVC’s mission to bring increased cultural and economic participation to underserved communities through media, and our belief that telling stories has transformative potential for both media maker and audience, remains. Over the last 30 years, we have developed an entrepreneurial and adaptive web of programs and services that bring together a multi-generational mix of artists, experienced media professionals, educators, low-income youth and adults, and industry partners in that pursuit.

As BAVC celebrates its 30th Anniversary, we recognize that our industry is at more than just a crossroads. Dramatic shifts in media production, dissemination, and financing models have radically shifted the needs of our core constituents.

In view of these trends, BAVC is planning an evolution in its approach to cultivating highquality and socially relevant creative content. As an organization that focused for 30 years on access to high-quality tools, we understand that the access challenges of the future are to participation through We also understand that content distributors are hungry for high-quality artistic content in a variety of distribution platforms and that the independent production community needs help adjusting to this new reality. Broadcast, museum, and festival quality work will continue to require access to prohibitively expensive finishing services and technical expertise in utilizing myriad new formats and delivery platforms.

View BAVC's 2007 Annual Report >

New Routes Project: Abriendo las Cajas (Opening Boxes)

Other Project Partners: La Clínica de la Raza
ZeroDivide