San Francisco Mayor London Breed has appointed Manijeh Fata as theexecutive director of the San Francisco Film Commission, which works to attract and support efforts to film movies and TV series in the city.
Fata will take over the position fromSusannah Greason Robbins, who was released from the job after 11 years at the end of 2021, after choosing not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as required by a city mandate.
“I’m extremely grateful and deeply moved to have the trust of the mayor and the commission,” Fata said in a call with The Chronicle shortly after the appointment was made official on Friday, July 29. “I have such a passion for this city and film. I’m ready to go. It’s a fresh start for all of us.”
Fata,担任执行董事since the beginning of the year, has been with the commission since 2015 and directly oversaw several film and TV productions in the city, including “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “The Matrix Resurrections” and “Beautiful Boy.” She will nowbe the film industry’s official point person for scheduling local shoots.
“Filmmaking is a huge part of the fabric of our city,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “It provides thousands of jobs and internship opportunities for San Franciscans, highlights our unique neighborhoods, and brings the untold stories of our communities to the screen.”
Fata also co-authored the city’s COVID-19 protocols for film and television productions, leading to San Francisco becoming the first city in California to resume permitted filming during the pandemic.
“I love building connections and relationships,” said Fata, a Bay Area native who holds degrees from UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. “It’s about getting out there and connecting with the studios and filmmakers in L.A. and New York and saying, ‘We’re open for business.’”
Film production, which flourished in San Francisco through the 1990s, has slowed down over the past two decades as producers have been drawn to cheaper locales. The city and the state have lost production opportunities to other states and countries, particularly Canada, that offer major rebates, tax credits and lower labor costs.
The city — and state officials — have offered incentive programs to entice filmmakers back in recent years with some success, and Fata hopes to do more.
“We really have to see how to make it financially attractive to be here,” she said. “The benefit for us is retaining local jobs and boosting our local economy. The people who are working here have to get work elsewhere if the work isn’t here.”
Part of that plan includes building permanent stage spaces that will help keep film productions based in the city for longer periods.
During the filming of “Matrix Resurrections,” Warner Bros. spent $22 million on wages, catering, hotels, rentals and many other expenses for 17 days of filming, according to estimates from the mayor’s office.
In addition to promoting the city as a filming destination to international production companies, the 11-member commission also oversees grant programs that offer financial assistance to nonprofits, and other locally based independent filmmakers, with low-cost office and film space to help facilitate productions citywide, the mayor’s office said.
“In many ways, our film was a love letter to San Francisco,” said Khaliah Neal, producer for “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” in a statement. “It was always key to our creativity that we filmed there and Manijeh was instrumental and pivotal in making this a reality for ‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco.’ I’m elated to hear she’s being appointed to director and other filmmakers will continue to have the opportunity to collaborate with her.”