tl;dr: From the technology industry’s interior, there are 3 short films in development and 1 medium-length short in post-production. 1 thematically adjacent short is in development, as well as 1 animated short/series. 1 short based in San Francisco (pt.1 of a 3-part romance, tech-unrelated) is in development from an interior writer-director. 1 (the only) tech-interior feature film has stopped development.
1 sci-fi feature film is in production, another in development. 1 sci-fi trilogy is in development. In total, there are 7 shorts, and 3 features (sci-fi) in motion. I have moved $25k (allocated $80k) to writer-directors creating tech interior and adjacent cinema.
Since writing the first “Tech Filmmaking Scene” document in May it has become increasingly clear to me that San Francisco, and the tech industry more broadly, is an incredibly infertile environment for the arts. The cost of living is steep, the ambient social environment points in 1 direction, and the opportunity cost on leaving a technology career for a career in film is deadly. These are not flaws in the system, they are what make San Francisco the best city in the world to build a startup. But they create a slow attrition on the invisible creative class attempting a creative career, such as with film. Usually, they leave. Or get absorbed into the industry. You won’t see a tweet about it. It happens quietly.
Where is the culture in SF? Why are the arts dead? Where did the artists go? Death by 1,000 cuts. No one comes up to you and says “this isn’t a very good place to make a film, you should leave,” the city and your ambient surroundings whisper to you over months. Rent presses against you, absence of serious creative peers isolates you, and the thought of an undefined career ahead looms. You are on pg. 18 of a first draft trying to figure out where 3 characters eyelines are directed, your peers are at all-hands building generational wealth. It’s no individual’s fault. It’s a structural failure to create conditions that produce the thing.
Structural failures need structural solutions. There are no one-offs. For San Francisco and the tech industry to tell its own story, to create culture, to show the world what it’s really like to be a founder or employee or venture capitalist, and to honestly contemplate its effects on the world — a steep cost has to be paid.
Director-Hours
The arts require a lot of uncompensated f**king around. Dead time. Slack. Experiments that go nowhere. Time spent running through a director’s entire filmography rewinding 5 times every 2 minutes. Reading feature film scripts line for line by pen absorbing structure. Laying on a couch for 3 days waiting to see what a character wants to do next. Rewriting draft after draft. Edits failing, projects falling through, waiting to hear back. This is part of a process called formation. Tech culture and the city vigorously punish this f**king around socially and financially. Startups are designed to eliminate it.
It takes ~10,000-15,000 hours to form a director. A beginner, roughly ~2,000. I am maybe ~1,500 hours into the field (~700hrs watching, ~100hrs reading scripts, ~150hrs writing, the rest in experimentation or commercial work), mostly bridged in the last year and a half. When you look at the opportunity cost to accumulate those hours coming out of the industry and staying in the geography, the math doesn’t math.
Cue Adam Savage “Well there’s your problem” soundbite.
Artists are bidding against $220k software engineers for housing in the formative years of their career where they can produce very little valuable. If you want to have a future, have a family, own property (aka every worker in tech), those should reasonably go out the window. The only people who would voluntarily do this coming out of the industry are either already rich, crazy, or somewhere in the middle. It can only be people so compelled they have no other choice for a career. It is otherwise controlled financial destruction.
How does cinema get created in this environment? How can films from inside the industry, made by people who have lived in it, get made at all? You’re competing against the tech industry for the same talent, trying to convert an engineering or design or founding hour into a director hour. 50 years of tech wealth producing essentially zero homegrown cinema say it’s impossible. It isn’t. It has a price.
Fund the Directors
The solution here should be pretty obvious. San Francisco has a very special situation that requires patronage to close the gap (re: writing, shoot, post → $0). Move surplus that would have otherwise sat in an index fund as a rounding error to projects that change directors’ lives and create culture that lasts forever.
The current form I have enacted (svfilm.fund, project & cycle based) funds directors coming in with formation and original IP they are ready and capable of executing. Because (1) funding the formation would be a multi-year process requiring an administrator, (2) there are only ~5-6 people with the formation right now who can make the work, and (3) it would take a lot of funding. But I have just funded 2 directors who are in early development since it just has to start there (the most ideal state is patronage from messy middle all the way up to having the IP, 3-5 years time horizon).
Why hasn’t this happened before? If the capital is here, why hasn’t the cinema gotten funded until right now (and mid-’24)? 4 factors never overlapped in 1 person:
insider tenure (10 yrs programming, ~2 working professionally ~4 on my own products, 3½ yrs living in San Francisco, ~5 yrs doom-scrolling the timeline)
leaving (most cannot do financially or psychologically)
formation (I’ve spent ~1,000+ hours inside the medium, studying it obsessively, on screen and script. early but forming.)
capital (ability to deploy my own capital to start the institution)
I have the beginnings of the judgement to know what and who is good, and fund the first proof points myself. In 6-12 months I will need to raise a patron round. Longer term, the fund will have to make money from features, but I anticipate 2-3 years of patron rounds for shorts, then a class of feature directors will self-select for bigger projects.
The Tech Art Larp
Given formation is so expensive (1,000s of hrs of linear attention applied to material, unskippable), acquiring it seriously requires leaving (career death), and no one in the industry has time (hobby angle thin), an arbitrage opens. The tech art larp. Signaling creative interest, depth, or aptitude in the arts without having paid the formation cost. Zahavi’s handicap principle in reverse — the peacock tail without metabolic cost.
You’ve seen it on the timeline (cafe snaps, MOMA visits, Sunday sunset photos, meandering X articles on tAsTe, woodworking last cycle), or on personal websites (an AI-generated gallery, photography that’s generally fine but inert). It’s mostly harmless, and many genuinely have significant formation. But most don’t. Deep into having paid the cost, the performance has become obscenely clear to me. Most of it is unintentional positioning.
This is what formation actually looks like:
Unfakeable. Accumulated invisibly for years. Uncompensated. Verifiable only in the work (where in film, you get a shot every 1-2 years, or never). And no you can’t generate it.
For posterity: you can view the May scene document here.
Studios
Narrative
Building towards making fiction films.
Story Company website @storyandscience instagram
by: Jason Carman (100+docs w/ S³, 2 feature-length docs, feature-length trilogy + book adaptation in-development) (@jasonjoyride)
north star: creating feature-length science fiction films
commercial work: cinematic + docu-style spots for deeptech companies
clients: deeptech companies and institutions
RAINBOW PARC* website @rainbowparc instagram
by: Nikhil Ganesh, Krish Mysoor, Neil Thekdi (@nikhilganesh001, @krishmysoor, @producer_neil)
north star: fiction films based on the technology industry.
commercial work: cinematic spots for early-stage startups
notes: has dissolved since May. Nikhil is one of <5 directors in the world capable of making tech interior cinema (via his South Bay background). working on something here yet to be announced.
And that’s it! Just 1 narrative studio. The geography and industry is so infertile for creative work that just 1 studio (from the sci-fi angle) is still alive and creating cinema.
Narrative Productions
7 shorts, and 3 features in motion.
Shorts
@bephrem is executive producing 3 live-action shorts via svfilm.fund (2 in development, 1 announced)
@seve_xyz is developing his first narrative short “Room Tone” (currently in casting + location scouts)
@donaldjewkes is developing an animated short/series (recently backed by OSV)
@anupamsidhant is in post-production on a satire featurette
@brandonkachen is in development on the first part of a 3-part romance based in San Francisco
@bephrem is writing a short film based in San Francisco w/ a Taiwanese-American founder protagonist (developing since April, finishing 2nd draft as I write this)
Features
from 1 → 0 on the cultural interior (the script for “Again, Tomorrow” by Nikhil Ganesh has been sold)
@jasonjoyride is in production on a book adaptation (w/ Infinite Films) and developing the first feature in a sci-fi trilogy
@GeffenAvraham is developing a sci-fi feature (3m trailer in post-production)
Even with the above, we are still massively underproducing relative to the wealth and weight this culture holds. What happens to the pure-play narrative studios that do pop up? They disappear quietly. (unless someone subsidizes)
Commercial
Building towards strong commercial execution.
Offscript (la) website @wentoffscript instagram
by: Juliana Glodek, Alli Gooch, Cameron Dennis (@juliazniv, @alli_gooch, @docdropout)
commercial work: cinematic storytelling for startups/tech ++ original series, shows
clients: early-stage startups & media operators
notes: projects highly authored, typically 6-12 week timeline, physically based in LA
Osmo website @osmo_studio instagram
by: Will Hoppin, Basil Alfaro (@willyhopps, @basilvalfaro)
commercial work: film & cinematic storytelling for startups
clients: early-stage startups
notes: hybrid software + film studio, recently raised for software arm. 2nd film studio physically based in San Francisco serving tech (after Story Co, early ’25).
Hard Launch website @hardlaunching
by: Jacky Huang, Rylee Stanton, Lucas Quan (@Jackyhuang, @rylinaz, @lucasquan)
commercial work: launch strategy
clients: early-stage startups
notes: work w/ Osmo as production back-bone, most “tapped in” studio in the valley
Afterimage (nyc) website @afterimage
by: Josh Lee, Cyrus Duff (@lee94josh, @cyrusduff_)
commercial work: creative + film for startups
clients: early-stage startups
Alto Visuals (la/nyc) website @altovisuals instagram
by: Loucas Tsilas (nyc), Andres O’Beirne (nyc) (@LoucasTsilas, @andresobeirne)
commercial work: launch videos (did launch for Cluely, Poke)
clients: early-stage startups
Rubbrband HQ (new → June) website @rubbrbandHQ
by: Jeremy Lee, Abhinav Gopal, Darren Hsu (@jrmyjlee, @readysetgopal, @darrenhsu_)
commercial work: tbd (recent ad w/ Novig)
clients: tbd
Jacobson & Niswender website
by: Clark Jacobson, Aidan Niswender (insta:clarkjacobson, insta:ANiswender51028)
commercial work: launches
clients: early-stage startups
Really Good Videos website @reallygoodvids
by: Ben Aguilera (based in spain) (@ben_aguilera)
commercial work: feature + product launches
clients: startups
Skale website @SkaleSolutions
by: Mark Vassilevskiy (@MarkKnd)
commercial work: feature + product launches (some film pieces, usually motion spots)
clients: startups
(+ a lot of other commercial houses I am certainly missing)
The core studios to know are Offscript, Hard Launch (agency), Osmo (hybrid), Afterimage, & Alto Visuals — w/ others operating at smaller volume or less grounded in film’s fundamentals.
The most operationally active commercial studios find themselves building in-house creative tooling (Osmo → Osmo Studio, Alto Visuals → Bloom). AI will compress the execution layer of creative. Studios authoring projects at the agency or studio level remain defensible.
Financing
Funding writer-directors coming out of tech or addressing tech-adjacent topics.
Silicon Valley Film Fund svfilm.fund
by: Benyam Ephrem (@bephrem)
north star: a new genre of tech interior cinema. additionally exploring tech’s implications on humanity.
notes: launched in Mar ’26 (5mo old!). 3 films funded (1 announced, 2 in development). bootstrapped. in next 6-12mo pending 3-4 proof-points before raising patron round.
Infinite Films website @InfiniteF8lms
by: O’Shaughnessy Ventures (@osvllc)
north star: tech-optimist cinema
notes: have backed Jason Carman & Donald Jewkes, 2 of the most significant culture-interior directors since ’23. grants up to $10,000.
Individuals
As before, this section will be organized into 11 groups: directors, writers, producers, creative directors, in-house, independents, head of media @ company, X “influencers”, operators, venture capital, and those close/adjacent. Within categories, names will be organized alphabetically.
CD = creative director
* = repeating from studio section
Directors
Narrative (sf)
Anupam Sidhant (sf/india) @anupamsidhant (in post-production on a featurette)
Benyam Ephrem website @bephrem instagram (first narrative short in-development)
Brandon Chen @brandonkachen (developing pt.1 of a 3-part romance based in San Francisco)
Donald Jewkes website @donaldjewkes instagram (developing animated short)
*Nikhil Ganesh website @nikhilganesh001 instagram (completely off tech’s radar, very skilled narrative director w/ interior knowledge)
*Jason Carman (tech × film origin point, ’23) website @jasonjoyride instagram
Steven Xiao website @stevenxiao_ instagram (recently in-house A16Z New media, operating under Montlake Studios)
Narrative (adj — la, nyc)
Joshua Bonzo (nyc — creator, director) website @wordisbonz instagram (operating under The Editor Company, moved sf → nyc)
Seve Martinez (la → sf) @seve_xyz (in-development on Room Tone)
Documentary
Shaurya Sinha (sf/stanford/india) @shaurya_sinha7 instagram (just saw his film “The 22nd Century Indian,” reminds me of mid-’24 Jason Carman, tech grant apparatus should back him immediately)
Linda Zhang (aus → sf) @lindazhangau (emerging, tech grant apparatus on watch)
Commercial
Arvin Farsyad (toronto) website @arvinfarsyad instagram (w/ Simply Living Studios)
Joel Yoon (la) website @joelyoon_ instagram (operating under dogeared, very interested in commercial x tech)
notes: narrative directors that decide directing will be their career either move, get saved by a patron, get absorbed by the industry, were already rich / significant savings, or get quietly squeezed by SF’s brutal economics & isolating social sphere. only 6-7 tech-adjacent narrative directors are rooted to the geography.
Writers
Austin Peirson (writer, editor) website @AustinPeirson (haven’t talked to Austin in a bit, has early intangibles of a strong writer and strong editing skills, potentially moving to LA from Canada)
Brandon Hresko @brandon_hresko (promising writer)
Isha Kasliwal @ishadesign (promising writer)
James Lin website @jlinbio (research/deeptech interested, not sure if he’s writing anything, but my read says writer at this point in time)
Joie Wu linkedin (genuinely promising writer, have been going back-and-forth on drafts, not on other socials)
Shani Zhang (artist) website @sha_zng instagram (vivid cinematic sense, example, think she’d be a great screenwriter, currently draws part-time, hope to see a script from her someday!)
notes: there aren’t really any professional screenwriters because there is no market for it here (yet).
Producers
Adam Miller (Sachin & Adam) @_AdamMiller_ (building Kindling)
Adil Mania (Silicon Mania) website @adilmania instagram (cooking extremely hard w/ @siliconmania)
Arielle Swedback (nyc — creator editorial @ Substack) @aswedback
Ben Slevin (A16Z) website @bnslevin instagram (highest craft VC-sanctioned media or really in the commercial sphere in general, recently dropped 3 films under American Dynamism)
Courtney Bankhead (Cheeky Pint @ Stripe) website
Gabriel Ramans (Silicon Mania) @gabrielramans
Hunter Weiss (nyc) @Hunter_Weiss instagram (WE!SS studios, serving global brands + startups)
*Juliana Glodek (head of studio) @juliazniv instagram
Kenny Tjay website @kennytjay instagram (video and podcast producer)
Randa Sakallah (Substack) website @mostlyvibing (has really good story sense)
Rob Giani website @robcgiani instagram (cinematic deeptech lean, great eye)
Sachin Shah (Sachin & Adam) @Sachin_Shah_
notes: freelance producers aren’t really a thing. they either go in-house, start building a product, or start an agency.
Creative Directors
Alec Bahta (nyc, Whop) @quietluke instagram
*Alli Gooch (la) website @alli_gooch instagram
Geelherme Vieira (Cursor, nyc) @geelhe
Jeremiah Warren (la) website @jeremiahjw (looking for role as CD in tech, based in LA)
Nefise Akcakir website @nef_isa instagram (very talented, POACHED by Osmo)
Reggie James (General Catalyst) @HipCityReg instagram
Richard Zheng (A16Z) website @richardzphotoz instagram
Robert Torres (la/sf, Flik AI) website @Roberttorres__
Yacouba Gnacko (Alif) @YGnacko instagram
In-House
Aaron Bisla (Dedalus) website @44ron44 instagram
Aiden Blumenstein (Founders Inc) website @super8n (strong cinematic sense)
Arman Ajoomal (Core Memory) website @armaanajoomal instagram
Greg Feingold (Special Projects @ Anthropic) @GregFeingold
Hugo Ahlberg (Opal Camera) website @HugoAhlberg instagram
Jeston Lu (Notion, currently traveling) website @jestonlu instagram
Justine Mach (Browserbase, Growth) website @justinemach_ instagram
Sean Thielen-Esparza (Special Projects @ Anthropic) website @seanxthielen
Sunday Ajak (The Residency) @sundayajak instagram (head of marketing)
Independents
Aakash Kumar (bengaluru, web3) @jpegaurekpeg
Abhz (australia) @Aabbhhz
Alex DeNuzzo @xdenuzzo
Brandon Lu (nyc, creative producer) website @brandonjlu instagram
Chloe LeValley website @ChloeLevalley (working on podcasts)
Daniel Kwon (nyc, prev. Wabi) @dantioxidants instagram (was active when at Wabi, consulting now, gone quiet)
Edmund Tian @edmundtian instagram (has disappeared for a few months)
Eliott Mogenet (Expresso Studio) @eliott__mogenet
Emanuel Francis (videography/photography) website @efrancisworks
Eze Opara website @ezeopara_ instagram
Gavin (la/sf) @gavinonfilm instagram
Ida Josefiina website @josefiinaida (operating under Jo • Co // @jocostories)
Jaden Kwan @findingjaden (operating under Tastefully, inactive recently)
Jordan Mitchell @byjmitch (operating under New Renaissance)
Ken (tokyo) @Kensuke_ee_JP (operating under @tenkstudios)
Manveer (prev. Prime Intellect) website @manveerxyz (has left PI)
Marta (creator) website @martaastl
Mashiat Mutmainnah (tech → film as of July) @marvelgirl_eth instagram
Nicholas Dorsey (cinematographer) website instagram
Nikhil Kulkarni (Notion) website @nikhilville
Oliver Wang @emeriumstudios instagram (active under Emerium Studios)
Nick Gerwitz (cinematographer, editor, producer) @nicholasgerwitz instagram (very talented at cinematography)
Rommel (nyc, Showrunner) website @itsrommel instagram
Shubham Tuteja (delhi, CD) @ShubhamTotu instagram
Siddharth Ram (Pramaana Labs) @siddharth_ram
“Side Quest Ryan” @sidequestryan instagram
Thomas Burton website @tomredhairmedia (operating under Red Hair Media, inactive for a while)
Vikrant Patankar website @vikpat instagram
Will Phillips website @willsclips_ instagram yt (behind the scenes documentaries at various startups, capturing the AI boom real-time for broader world)
Head of Media/Product/Comms/Growth/Strategy/Brand/DevX @ Company
Adel Wu (Reducto, HoG) website @adelwu_ instagram (animation, illustration — trying, really trying, to connect tech & creative worlds w/ events)
Andy Wood (Spellbook, HoM, canada) website @heyimandy
Brian Kinnes (Whop, HoM) website @briankinnes instagram
Camilla Guo (Sunday, HoP) @brainstub (demos w/ a very distinct style)
Dar Sleeper (1X, HoP) website @radbackwards (still producing the sharpest branded film work in tech)
Denton Baird (Zipline, Head of Comms) website @DentonBaird (zipline is doing very solid work on comms)
Fynn Comerford (Until Labs, Head of Strategy) website @FynnComerford instagram
Hannah Ahn (Superpower, HoM — OG startup branding person ’23/’24) @hannah_ahn instagram
Jake (Clay, Head of Studio) @origins_jake
James Reina (New Media @ A16Z, Growth, nyc) @thejamesreina (prev. Mr Beast)
Julia Fedorin (Composio, HoM) @juliafedorin instagram (very content forward)
Katie Chiou (Archetype, HoB, nyc) website @katiewav
Kendall Pennington (1X, HoC) @kenny___rose
Liam Hinzman (Exa, HoP + R&D) website @LiamHz instagram (illustration, 3D)
Louie O’Connor (Ethereum) @lou3ee instagram
Melisa Seah (Media @ Reve) website @MelisaSeah (extremely versatile across mediums, a few collabs w/ Afterimage)
Sarah Fan (Lemma, GTM) @Sarah___Fan instagram
Steven Pham (Y Combinator, HoM) @svkpham
Tiago Sada (Tools for Humanity//World, HoP) website @tiagosada instagram
X-fluencers
Anu Atluru website @anuatluru instagram (cultural commentator/critic)
Cole Lee (“covacut,” creator) website @covacut instagram (dropping new tech × art intellectual frameworks regularly)
Elena Burger (A16Z) @VirtualElena
Jayden Clark (MOTS pod) @creatine_cycle instagram (longform pods documenting sf underground, very good at the saxophone)
Jenny Gao (“50,000 Art Hoes”, australia) @taotechic instagram (gone quiet)
Maja Wilbrink (Narrative Strategist) website @majamediaco (poet in technologist’s clothing, extremely perceptive, extremely strong narrative & story sense)
Paula Dozsa @paularambles
Scott Belsky (partner @ A24) website @scottbelsky
Operators
Brent Liang (MTS) @liangsays instagram
Patrick McGuire (CEO @ Soon) @patrickmcguire
Eoghan McCabe (Intercom, Chairman @ Soon) @eoghan
notes: Soon’s viewership has declined significantly on X and thin on YouTube (w/ a few hits). after a strong start looks to be nearing death unless something changes. branding & identity problem.
Venture Capital
Brett Berson (FirstRound) @brettberson (film@nyu)
Brianne Kimmel (Worklife VC) @briannekimmel (collective launched May ’26)
Claire Zau (Partner @ Lightspeed) @clairejyz instagram (leading in-house content efforts)
Dave Yen (Orange Collective) @davecyen
Drew Moxon (Head of Platform @ 50y) @moxon (prev. interactive media @ usc)
Erik Torenberg (New Media @ A16Z) @eriktorenberg
Erin Gleason Lane (CCO @ Founders Fund) @eag
Josh Machiz (CMO @ Lightspeed) @Machiz instagram
Julian Weisser (ODF) @julianweisser
Lester Chen (la/sf) @Chen (very strong sense for story, commissioning work for speedrun, might be most based person on this list)
Adjacent
Albert Fernandez @afernandezprods (currently writing a film I believe)
Charlie Leversha (Michigan) @clever_sh (working on a feature, tech-unrelated)
Chris Samra (Waterloo) website @crsamra (very interested in music videos)
Karina Bao (photo/film, A16Z) @repkarinabao (now in-house)
Max Prokopp (prev. producer) @maxprokopp instagram (in south bay)
Nicklaus Tran @nickktrannn
Zohra Jabeen (bengaluru) @terizohrajabeen
Community
And a last note on community. One of the biggest challenges (beyond anything financial) is finding others who want narrative storytelling to be their career in the geography. You get this sense of belonging for free if you are building a startup or an engineer. The timeline confirms what you’re doing every day. If you are a filmmaker you have to actively seek it out (and as you see above, you will only find a handful of real peers).
*SF Film Club (Luma): A small salon series for filmmakers creating at the intersection of tech & film. Cinephiles + full-time filmmakers.
SF Creatives Night (first event): Osmo x Hard Launch ran a creatives night, first creative x tech event where filmmakers could exist other than SF Film Club. Someone made fun of the demos, but it was a great event I hope they do more.
TIAT: By Ash Herr (@imempowa), creating a home for creative technologists. Gallery at 151 Powell St.
—
Localhost: By Kei Hayashi, Suhas Sumukh, & Hardeep Gambhir (@KechoHayashi, @suhasasumukh, @hardeep_gambhir). A startup accelerator + media effort w/ 4 hubs around the world (Bangalore, Tokyo, Paris, SF launching soon).
Design Film Club: Did a few monthly screenings but halted during Spring exit mayhem. Cross over w/ Design Eng Club. (loose collective, have seen @mathurahravi, @ftnabeelah, @tinathetechie, @floguo involved).
New Systems: By Vin Verma (@internetvin), a 3rd space in Toronto (83 Walnut Avenue) for technologists & artists w/ a mix of tech & media events. Also create films.
Machine Cinema: By Minh Do (@minhsmind), exploring AI filmmaking’s intersection with traditional cinematic storytelling. Meetings primarily in LA (Luma).
Nautilus: By Zelda Poem (@zeldapoem), pioneering the patronage model in ’24 for artists in SF in a 3-month accelerator format. Not film but adjacent.
Notes: The industry is still starving for purely creative rooms. SF Film Club and SF Creatives Night are that for filmmakers, both very early. Localhost creative space is pending (curious if they’ll nail design).
Osmo & Story Co are the only 2 physical tech-adjacent film studios in SF proper. The former going the software route, the latter the narrative route.
Notes (What’s Changed?)
So what changed since May? A narrative studio has (had) shut down, many independents went their own way after the Summer ’25 - Spring ’26 launch wave (before valuations got scary and the tech industry realized what it was really for), various people left for LA or NYC, various people absorbed, and the tech apparatus continues to churn out content marketing.
Talent drain witnessed in real-time. An industry so rich with stories and endlessly complex people, pricing out artists (unintentionally), and no cultural objectives to tell story on film. The structural forces are absolutely clear.
Takeaways:
0 interior feature films: There are no feature films on tech, shot in San Francisco or South Bay, in development or production (made by people actually from or with significant lived experience of the industry).
0 professional writers: Still no professional writers embedded in the culture, only writer-directors. This capacity has to be built from the ground up, someone has to make the market. I am currently making it.
4 narrative directors making culture-interior live-action films: Only 4. Specifics yet to be announced.
(thin labor in producing, CD everywhere else → same insights as in May)
Tech is structurally incapable of producing cinema on itself. Telling the truth about what life is like inside the industry. Those that attempt it have gotten shut out or die slowly. Those that know the story are in golden handcuffs.
How do we change this? Fund the directors.