Canyon Cinema

Canyon Cinema has been a driving force in the development of independent, avant-garde, and counter-culture filmmaking in the San Francisco Bay Area since publication of the first issue of THE NEWS (later, CINEMANEWS), in 1962. The primary activity of the collective is distribution of work via rental in several formats: primarily 16mm film, VHS and DVD. Filmmakers are shareholders; they submit their work to the Canyon Cinema Review Committee for evaluation. The films are then deposited with Canyon and cataloged, but remain the property of the artist. Canyon becomes the sole distribution outlet, which then returns 40% of its gross income to the filmmaker/shareholders.