Ace In The Hole
San Francisco, California | Film Feature
Documentary, LGBTQ
For a decade, Bill ‘the Junkman’ Kennedy ran his father’s auto dismantling business. Then one day an artist walked through the gates and everything changed. Ace in the Hole makes a compelling case for these non-traditional communities, and for spaces where creativity can thrive.
Ace In The Hole
San Francisco, California | Film Feature
Documentary, LGBTQ
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $30,715 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
222 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
For a decade, Bill ‘the Junkman’ Kennedy ran his father’s auto dismantling business. Then one day an artist walked through the gates and everything changed. Ace in the Hole makes a compelling case for these non-traditional communities, and for spaces where creativity can thrive.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
IF ANYONE IS HAVING ISSUES MAKING A PAYMENT, YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE A DONATION VIA PAYPAL TO [email protected]
What's the story, morning glory?
Are you passionate about the survival of the artistic, creative and maker communities? Do you agree that our society gains a tremendous amount from those of us who create, curate and produce works of art and performance? Then Ace in the Hole has a lot to offer you!
The magical story of Ace Junkyard is a critical look at the evolution of a one-of-a-kind space, what it brought to the community that loved it and served it, and how its untimely end continues to unite the individuals it served, even years after it is gone.
Where have we been?
In 2014, supported by a successful Kickstarter and 600 amazing donors, Director Yasmin Mawaz-Khan spent several years in initial production of the film including:
- Acquiring gear
- Hiring a crew
- Filming all the interviews
- Creating a powerful trailer hinting at the scope of the film itself
Since then, and with the help of some more generous private and foundational donors, she has assembled a pro team of editors, interns and producers who are now deep in the paper edit phase. A few scenes have been previewed at the Fort Mason Drive-In in November 2020, and we plan further glimpses for our supporters in intimate backyard screenings this Fall, in our home city of San Francisco.
Where are we going?
We have a release date of August 1, 2022!
But to get there, we need to reach the following milestones:
- Rough Cut
- Fine Cut
- Music Scoring and Production
- Archival Footage and Music Licensing
- Final Color Grading
- Sound Design
- Sound Mix
- Marketing and Promotion
- And many other things that come up when bringing a film to life and getting it out there!
Your pledge goes directly to support working filmmakers, editors, and creative professionals, who were sidelined by COVID in 2020 and 2021. Ace in the Hole is a great example of the community taking the power to turn the camera on itself - representing the special underground scene that gave rise to so much inspiration, and powered a movement of large-scale sculpture and machine art seen all over the world.
Your pledges are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law, with receipts available on request, thanks to our nonprofit fiscal sponsor, Independent Arts & Media. You can also contact us directly if you'd like to contribute a reward for this campaign, travel miles, a "Giving Match Day" or any other method of giving.
Why is Yasi making this film?
"I am an artist still residing in San Francisco. I frequented Ace Junkyard along with my cohorts for many years. When I heard the landlady was trying to evict Bill back in 2009, I decided I needed to document and preserve the story of Ace Junkyard before it was gone. I saw the writing on the wall. Everything was changing so fast and places like Ace were disappearing rapidly. As filming progressed, I realized that this story was much bigger than Ace Junkyard, Bill or any of us artists trying to make it happen in San Francisco. It was a story about being different, not fitting into the norm, yet being accepted no matter who you are or where you come from. I’ve always felt like an outsider because of my mixed ethnic background. The art/maker community in San Francisco was the first time I felt like I belonged, it felt like family and like I’d finally found a home with the weirdos and freaks. I want to tell the story about the one place that was our safe haven, as an ode to my family, and the fairy that helped us all come together.
As a first-time feature documentarian, I see this as an opportunity to grow as a storyteller and my goal with this film is to inspire viewers to begin a dialogue about the impact and cultural cost that rapid economic progress has on our communities.
Discovery, creativity, and personal expression are critical components of a healthy society. We can not thrive as a culture if we do not find a way to understand, embrace and support those members of our society who don’t fit into the mold created by the traditional art world. Ace in the Hole makes a case for this new way of seeing, and shows us why it is so important for communities to support spaces for creativity to thrive."
Risk and Challenges:
It’s not easy balancing a huge creative endeavor with real life and day jobs! Especially over years of effort - large and small obstacles can hinder progress on projects like these. This project has been helped along over time by generous in-kind and monetary donations, but the true cost of realizing a feature film - even an indie - is beyond the scope of this campaign. This project involves more than 10 professional editors, sound mixers, producers, marketing, admin and more. Many are volunteering part of their rate or fee to also support the film.
Yasi has persevered with the full knowledge of the value of this footage and story, and now has an energetic team dedicated to birthing this project. The end is in sight!
Synopsis:
For a decade, Bill ‘the Junkman’ Kennedy ran his father’s auto dismantling business like a dutiful son. Then one day an artist walked through the gates and everything changed.
With Bill at the helm, Ace Junkyard became an incubator space for creativity, innovation and culture over the next fifteen years. Artists had found a unique place to go when they needed inspiration, materials or simply an accepting ear to hear their crazy ideas. Maker and artist Liam McNamara says, “If you’re trying to do something edgy, and you wanna work with fire and you want danger to be an element in your artwork…there’s not really a place for it.” But Ace Junkyard was the place for it, and Bill the Junkman allowed those experiments to happen there. Events like the Power Tool Drag Races and the Cyclecide Bike Rodeo are some examples that got their start here. Each of these events have gone on to become internationally renowned.
The community, in turn, helped Bill realize the richness and beauty of a life he never knew. They catalyzed his metamorphosis into a fuller and happier version of himself, also known as his alter ego, Belinda – a girl who likes to have fun, has purple hair and wears dresses. Bill’s biological family would never understand this side of his identity, but he was completely accepted in all his various shapes and forms by his junkyard family.
Alas, the age of Bill ‘the patron saint’ and his artists/makers came to an end. The landlady wanted to sell the property for a profit. She didn’t have the time, patience or understanding to foster creative misfits on her land, so she evicted them. A legal battle ensued, but “the landlady always wins” as Bill says, and that is what happened. Now, 6 years later, Bill is still unemployed, a few years older, and for the most part, estranged from his family. Many artists lost a major resource for materials, community, and inspiration with the closure of the yard. However, Bill’s legacy lives on through the artists as they go forth to create new arts spaces and engage local communities.
Economic turnover and gentrification have fueled changes like this across the country. Yet ironically, innovation and exploration are at the heart of diversity and social progress of a society. Without places like Ace, how can we expect to move beyond what we know? Ace in the Hole invites viewers to think about the cost of rapid economic progress and the impact on our communities, culture and social diversity, and how we can work together as a society to address these issues.
Please Give Today to get this film over the finish line!!
Please Help Spread the Word - Cut & Paste and tell the world what moves you to support Ace In The Hole!!
Pledges are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor Independent Arts and Media to the extent allowed by law - generally all pledges are deductible, minus market value as noted in description!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Original Score Composition & Production
Costs $5,000
Supplementing the band music featured in the archival footage.
Sound Mix & Design
Costs $5,000
Integrating audio from interviews, archival footage, music and sound effects.
Color Correction & Grading
Costs $3,000
Unifying all the footage, interviews and animation into one cohesive, eye-catching color palette.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Archival & Music Licensing
Costs $7,000
Clearing all third-party materials.
Animation & Motion Design
Costs $5,000
Creatively filling in the gaps of Bill's/Belinda's story with original new animation artwork.
Editing
Costs $5,000
Organizing and cutting hours of footage to tell the story.
Share this update!
About This Team
YASMIN MAWAZ-KHAN
producer/director
A producer of national and industrial commercials, short documentaries, experimental films, music and promotional videos. She has shot and edited special news packages for the Bay Area News Group, Link TV and Pacific News Service. Her clients include Apple Computers, Hewlett-Packard, Genentech, Ford, Levi's and Gap. She has also created and installed interactive video art and sculptures in galleries and festivals across the world, whether solo or in collaboration with the Flaming Lotus Girls. She is inspired by the process of creation, collaborating with people and seeing a project from concept to completion. Her influences include her diverse background, the community she lives in and her passion for exploring new concepts and methods of representation and interactivity.
THOR YOUNG
executive producer
Thor Young is a brand strategy & fundraising consultant specializing in developing and implementing impact-driven communications, fundraising, and programming strategies. Offering full-service consulting from the boardroom to the front desk, so that you can define the big picture and actually make it happen. Thor has 15 years of fundraising experience and non-profit management experience including serving as the ED of The Crucible in Oakland, and building the first fundraising department at Burning Man when it became a non-profit organization in 2014.
“I’ve been committed to helping elevate the importance of creative individuals in our society for many years, so I’m extremely excited about helping to get the message of this project out into the world.”
LAURA WAGNER
consulting producer
Laura Wagner is an award-winning producer who recently produced the feature documentary ARTIFISHAL, which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, and ART 21 “San Francisco Bay Area,” which premiered on PBS. Her narrative films, including IT FELT LIKE LOVE, TRACKTOWN, EASY LIVING, and MY FIRST KISS AND THE PEOPLE INVOLVED, have premiered at top-tier film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW and many more, and have enjoyed success worldwide in theatrical markets, on television and on streaming platforms. She is the recipient of the Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Fellowship and Lab, SFFILM’s Kenneth Rainin Foundation Fellowship and Grant, and the IFP/Cannes Marché du Film Producer’s Network Fellowship. She is also a Film Independent fellow and grant recipient and an alumna of the Trans Atlantic Partners program, the Rotterdam Lab, and Berlinale Talents.
BIANCA BEYROUTI
producer
Bianca Beyrouti is a queer Bay Area born-and-bred indie filmmaker drawn to visual stories that shine a light on the margins of representation and understanding. With a decade’s worth of short- and feature-length credits, she is best known for her producing work on the narrative feature Bring Me an Avocado and the award-winning PBS documentary series Independent Lens. Her films have screened at such festivals as SFFilm, Frameline, OutFest, Palm Springs International, Cinequest, Napa Valley and Vail. When not onset, she is an active member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM) and a board member of the Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI).
"I'm excited to be lending my producing skills to a documentary feature that strives to preserve Bay Area underground art history for a wider audience."
CLIFF TRAIMAN
director of photography
Cliff Traiman works as a Director of Photography on Commercial, Industrial and Narrative productions. He has shot several feature length films including “The Village Barbershop”, “Broken Arrows”, “Apartment 202”, and “Kung Phooey”, as well as the nationally syndicated television show, “Ultimate Living.” His Commercial & Corporate clientele includes Comcast, 24-Hour Fitness, Honda, Hewlett Packard, Apple Computers, eBay, Google, Yahoo, Skype, Frito Lay, Oracle, Cisco, Juniper Networks,Genentech, San Francisco Giants, San Jose Earthquakes, and Franklin Templeton. Cliff has written & directed many of his own commercial spots and short films, and is credited as the primary screenwriter of the feature film, “Harrison Montgomery” (2007), starring Oscar Winner, Martin Landeau. Cliff is a partner in the world famous Little Giant Lighting & Grip Company.
MISTER WA
location sound recordist
Media cow-boy Mister WA has been video-documenting San Francisco Arts and performance for 2 decades. While giving them a new voice and connecting the community with hundreds of web-clips, Mister WA has integrated the many Bay Area creative families he frequently collaborates with. He was recently awarded 'Best Documentary Award' by SF Queer Film Fest for a segment off of his project “Children of The Cockettes” about the present-day heritage of the legendary psychedelic troupe that helped shape San Francisco subculture. Mister WA remembers fondly attending a number of sizzling happenings at the ACE junkyard and is stoked to have contributed sound to 'ACE in the Hole'.
DANA LAMAN
editor
Dana Laman has been working as an editor for the past decade. Credits include award-winning commercial projects, documentary features and experimental short films. Her work has been screened at film festivals and galleries across the country.
“I'm very excited to be joining Ace in the Hole's talented team! After recently moving back to the Bay Area, I'm rediscovering my fascination with what makes San Francisco truly unique. I'm charmed by everything about the story of Ace Junkyard. It reminds me of the value of creative community hubs that sprout up in unlikely places to keep culture alive against all odds.”
SARAH SMALIK
editor
Sarah Smalik is an editor who is also a multidisciplinary artist working at the crossroads of video, installation, sculpture and performance. She earned an MFA in New Genres from UCLA in 2017, and often uses narrative as a springboard for whatever forms the work wants to take. Her experimental approach to art and art communities resonates deeply with the storytelling of Bill and Ace Junkyard, and she is thrilled to help chronicle this unique moment in time and space with this film.
STEVE PI
assistant editor
Steve Piasecki (StevePi) is a San Francisco based artist working in video projection installations, photography, and physical computing. His work has been seen in San Francisco venues such as Dada Bar, The Lone Star, and Gray Area. He has live-mixed visuals as a VJ for various DJs and musicians in the yurt at Gays Hate Techno. His work was shown at Light.Wav in Sacramento in the before times. His most recent video project, 09-09-2020: The Day of the Red Sky, is a surround video / audio piece about the Pacific Northwest forest fires and was developed for Recombinant Media Lab's Cine Chamber, a 10 video screen, 8 audio channel immersive system. He is a member of the Gray Area Artist Incubator. https://linktr.ee/stevepi
"I'm excited to work on Ace in the Hole to help preserve the story of an amazing place that played an outsized role in the San Francisco art scene."
COCOA RIGAL
animation and motion graphics artist
Cocoa Rigal aka Jenny Muscatelli is an artist, auteur, animator and costume designer for film, theater and avant-garde visual performance art. She went to school for fine arts at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, and her most recent animation work includes episodes for the animated series, Extreme. She has also worked as a creative director and curator for several live visual performance art shows, including SummerTramp and Thunder Ground LGBTQ+ art show.
“I knew telling the story of Ace Junkyard would be a magical journey, and the more I got involved the more it’s become a little obsession of mine. I love art and have used junk in my art since I was a little girl, which is why this documentary means so much to me. The world needs more places like Ace to help artists flourish and give them a community to be a part of. I would hope that with this documentary we bring to light how capitalistic expansion and gentrification truly affects the underground art scene.”
MADI KAPLAN
post-production assistant
Hey there! My name is Madi Kaplan, and I am the post-production assistant for Ace in the Hole! I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in Spring of 2020, where I studied Film & Media Studies and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. I’ve worked as an intern for documentary features and series in the past, and am jazzed that my first role out of school has been with the Ace Team.
“As a San Francisco native, working on this film has taught so much about the city I grew up in— particularly the impact economic turnover has had on Bay Area artists. I am honored to help tell the story of Ace Junkyard and its community, and hope to continue to tell impactful stories in the future.”
ALITA EDGAR
development consultant
Alita Edgar is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in strategic communications, design & collaborative events, seen most recently at the Sharjah Biennial 2019. She is a co-founder of nonsense nyc, the Music Box Village and Shadow Parks Department.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
IF ANYONE IS HAVING ISSUES MAKING A PAYMENT, YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE A DONATION VIA PAYPAL TO [email protected]
What's the story, morning glory?
Are you passionate about the survival of the artistic, creative and maker communities? Do you agree that our society gains a tremendous amount from those of us who create, curate and produce works of art and performance? Then Ace in the Hole has a lot to offer you!
The magical story of Ace Junkyard is a critical look at the evolution of a one-of-a-kind space, what it brought to the community that loved it and served it, and how its untimely end continues to unite the individuals it served, even years after it is gone.
Where have we been?
In 2014, supported by a successful Kickstarter and 600 amazing donors, Director Yasmin Mawaz-Khan spent several years in initial production of the film including:
- Acquiring gear
- Hiring a crew
- Filming all the interviews
- Creating a powerful trailer hinting at the scope of the film itself
Since then, and with the help of some more generous private and foundational donors, she has assembled a pro team of editors, interns and producers who are now deep in the paper edit phase. A few scenes have been previewed at the Fort Mason Drive-In in November 2020, and we plan further glimpses for our supporters in intimate backyard screenings this Fall, in our home city of San Francisco.
Where are we going?
We have a release date of August 1, 2022!
But to get there, we need to reach the following milestones:
- Rough Cut
- Fine Cut
- Music Scoring and Production
- Archival Footage and Music Licensing
- Final Color Grading
- Sound Design
- Sound Mix
- Marketing and Promotion
- And many other things that come up when bringing a film to life and getting it out there!
Your pledge goes directly to support working filmmakers, editors, and creative professionals, who were sidelined by COVID in 2020 and 2021. Ace in the Hole is a great example of the community taking the power to turn the camera on itself - representing the special underground scene that gave rise to so much inspiration, and powered a movement of large-scale sculpture and machine art seen all over the world.
Your pledges are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law, with receipts available on request, thanks to our nonprofit fiscal sponsor, Independent Arts & Media. You can also contact us directly if you'd like to contribute a reward for this campaign, travel miles, a "Giving Match Day" or any other method of giving.
Why is Yasi making this film?
"I am an artist still residing in San Francisco. I frequented Ace Junkyard along with my cohorts for many years. When I heard the landlady was trying to evict Bill back in 2009, I decided I needed to document and preserve the story of Ace Junkyard before it was gone. I saw the writing on the wall. Everything was changing so fast and places like Ace were disappearing rapidly. As filming progressed, I realized that this story was much bigger than Ace Junkyard, Bill or any of us artists trying to make it happen in San Francisco. It was a story about being different, not fitting into the norm, yet being accepted no matter who you are or where you come from. I’ve always felt like an outsider because of my mixed ethnic background. The art/maker community in San Francisco was the first time I felt like I belonged, it felt like family and like I’d finally found a home with the weirdos and freaks. I want to tell the story about the one place that was our safe haven, as an ode to my family, and the fairy that helped us all come together.
As a first-time feature documentarian, I see this as an opportunity to grow as a storyteller and my goal with this film is to inspire viewers to begin a dialogue about the impact and cultural cost that rapid economic progress has on our communities.
Discovery, creativity, and personal expression are critical components of a healthy society. We can not thrive as a culture if we do not find a way to understand, embrace and support those members of our society who don’t fit into the mold created by the traditional art world. Ace in the Hole makes a case for this new way of seeing, and shows us why it is so important for communities to support spaces for creativity to thrive."
Risk and Challenges:
It’s not easy balancing a huge creative endeavor with real life and day jobs! Especially over years of effort - large and small obstacles can hinder progress on projects like these. This project has been helped along over time by generous in-kind and monetary donations, but the true cost of realizing a feature film - even an indie - is beyond the scope of this campaign. This project involves more than 10 professional editors, sound mixers, producers, marketing, admin and more. Many are volunteering part of their rate or fee to also support the film.
Yasi has persevered with the full knowledge of the value of this footage and story, and now has an energetic team dedicated to birthing this project. The end is in sight!
Synopsis:
For a decade, Bill ‘the Junkman’ Kennedy ran his father’s auto dismantling business like a dutiful son. Then one day an artist walked through the gates and everything changed.
With Bill at the helm, Ace Junkyard became an incubator space for creativity, innovation and culture over the next fifteen years. Artists had found a unique place to go when they needed inspiration, materials or simply an accepting ear to hear their crazy ideas. Maker and artist Liam McNamara says, “If you’re trying to do something edgy, and you wanna work with fire and you want danger to be an element in your artwork…there’s not really a place for it.” But Ace Junkyard was the place for it, and Bill the Junkman allowed those experiments to happen there. Events like the Power Tool Drag Races and the Cyclecide Bike Rodeo are some examples that got their start here. Each of these events have gone on to become internationally renowned.
The community, in turn, helped Bill realize the richness and beauty of a life he never knew. They catalyzed his metamorphosis into a fuller and happier version of himself, also known as his alter ego, Belinda – a girl who likes to have fun, has purple hair and wears dresses. Bill’s biological family would never understand this side of his identity, but he was completely accepted in all his various shapes and forms by his junkyard family.
Alas, the age of Bill ‘the patron saint’ and his artists/makers came to an end. The landlady wanted to sell the property for a profit. She didn’t have the time, patience or understanding to foster creative misfits on her land, so she evicted them. A legal battle ensued, but “the landlady always wins” as Bill says, and that is what happened. Now, 6 years later, Bill is still unemployed, a few years older, and for the most part, estranged from his family. Many artists lost a major resource for materials, community, and inspiration with the closure of the yard. However, Bill’s legacy lives on through the artists as they go forth to create new arts spaces and engage local communities.
Economic turnover and gentrification have fueled changes like this across the country. Yet ironically, innovation and exploration are at the heart of diversity and social progress of a society. Without places like Ace, how can we expect to move beyond what we know? Ace in the Hole invites viewers to think about the cost of rapid economic progress and the impact on our communities, culture and social diversity, and how we can work together as a society to address these issues.
Please Give Today to get this film over the finish line!!
Please Help Spread the Word - Cut & Paste and tell the world what moves you to support Ace In The Hole!!
Pledges are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor Independent Arts and Media to the extent allowed by law - generally all pledges are deductible, minus market value as noted in description!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Original Score Composition & Production
Costs $5,000
Supplementing the band music featured in the archival footage.
Sound Mix & Design
Costs $5,000
Integrating audio from interviews, archival footage, music and sound effects.
Color Correction & Grading
Costs $3,000
Unifying all the footage, interviews and animation into one cohesive, eye-catching color palette.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Archival & Music Licensing
Costs $7,000
Clearing all third-party materials.
Animation & Motion Design
Costs $5,000
Creatively filling in the gaps of Bill's/Belinda's story with original new animation artwork.
Editing
Costs $5,000
Organizing and cutting hours of footage to tell the story.
Share this update!
About This Team
YASMIN MAWAZ-KHAN
producer/director
A producer of national and industrial commercials, short documentaries, experimental films, music and promotional videos. She has shot and edited special news packages for the Bay Area News Group, Link TV and Pacific News Service. Her clients include Apple Computers, Hewlett-Packard, Genentech, Ford, Levi's and Gap. She has also created and installed interactive video art and sculptures in galleries and festivals across the world, whether solo or in collaboration with the Flaming Lotus Girls. She is inspired by the process of creation, collaborating with people and seeing a project from concept to completion. Her influences include her diverse background, the community she lives in and her passion for exploring new concepts and methods of representation and interactivity.
THOR YOUNG
executive producer
Thor Young is a brand strategy & fundraising consultant specializing in developing and implementing impact-driven communications, fundraising, and programming strategies. Offering full-service consulting from the boardroom to the front desk, so that you can define the big picture and actually make it happen. Thor has 15 years of fundraising experience and non-profit management experience including serving as the ED of The Crucible in Oakland, and building the first fundraising department at Burning Man when it became a non-profit organization in 2014.
“I’ve been committed to helping elevate the importance of creative individuals in our society for many years, so I’m extremely excited about helping to get the message of this project out into the world.”
LAURA WAGNER
consulting producer
Laura Wagner is an award-winning producer who recently produced the feature documentary ARTIFISHAL, which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, and ART 21 “San Francisco Bay Area,” which premiered on PBS. Her narrative films, including IT FELT LIKE LOVE, TRACKTOWN, EASY LIVING, and MY FIRST KISS AND THE PEOPLE INVOLVED, have premiered at top-tier film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW and many more, and have enjoyed success worldwide in theatrical markets, on television and on streaming platforms. She is the recipient of the Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Fellowship and Lab, SFFILM’s Kenneth Rainin Foundation Fellowship and Grant, and the IFP/Cannes Marché du Film Producer’s Network Fellowship. She is also a Film Independent fellow and grant recipient and an alumna of the Trans Atlantic Partners program, the Rotterdam Lab, and Berlinale Talents.
BIANCA BEYROUTI
producer
Bianca Beyrouti is a queer Bay Area born-and-bred indie filmmaker drawn to visual stories that shine a light on the margins of representation and understanding. With a decade’s worth of short- and feature-length credits, she is best known for her producing work on the narrative feature Bring Me an Avocado and the award-winning PBS documentary series Independent Lens. Her films have screened at such festivals as SFFilm, Frameline, OutFest, Palm Springs International, Cinequest, Napa Valley and Vail. When not onset, she is an active member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM) and a board member of the Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI).
"I'm excited to be lending my producing skills to a documentary feature that strives to preserve Bay Area underground art history for a wider audience."
CLIFF TRAIMAN
director of photography
Cliff Traiman works as a Director of Photography on Commercial, Industrial and Narrative productions. He has shot several feature length films including “The Village Barbershop”, “Broken Arrows”, “Apartment 202”, and “Kung Phooey”, as well as the nationally syndicated television show, “Ultimate Living.” His Commercial & Corporate clientele includes Comcast, 24-Hour Fitness, Honda, Hewlett Packard, Apple Computers, eBay, Google, Yahoo, Skype, Frito Lay, Oracle, Cisco, Juniper Networks,Genentech, San Francisco Giants, San Jose Earthquakes, and Franklin Templeton. Cliff has written & directed many of his own commercial spots and short films, and is credited as the primary screenwriter of the feature film, “Harrison Montgomery” (2007), starring Oscar Winner, Martin Landeau. Cliff is a partner in the world famous Little Giant Lighting & Grip Company.
MISTER WA
location sound recordist
Media cow-boy Mister WA has been video-documenting San Francisco Arts and performance for 2 decades. While giving them a new voice and connecting the community with hundreds of web-clips, Mister WA has integrated the many Bay Area creative families he frequently collaborates with. He was recently awarded 'Best Documentary Award' by SF Queer Film Fest for a segment off of his project “Children of The Cockettes” about the present-day heritage of the legendary psychedelic troupe that helped shape San Francisco subculture. Mister WA remembers fondly attending a number of sizzling happenings at the ACE junkyard and is stoked to have contributed sound to 'ACE in the Hole'.
DANA LAMAN
editor
Dana Laman has been working as an editor for the past decade. Credits include award-winning commercial projects, documentary features and experimental short films. Her work has been screened at film festivals and galleries across the country.
“I'm very excited to be joining Ace in the Hole's talented team! After recently moving back to the Bay Area, I'm rediscovering my fascination with what makes San Francisco truly unique. I'm charmed by everything about the story of Ace Junkyard. It reminds me of the value of creative community hubs that sprout up in unlikely places to keep culture alive against all odds.”
SARAH SMALIK
editor
Sarah Smalik is an editor who is also a multidisciplinary artist working at the crossroads of video, installation, sculpture and performance. She earned an MFA in New Genres from UCLA in 2017, and often uses narrative as a springboard for whatever forms the work wants to take. Her experimental approach to art and art communities resonates deeply with the storytelling of Bill and Ace Junkyard, and she is thrilled to help chronicle this unique moment in time and space with this film.
STEVE PI
assistant editor
Steve Piasecki (StevePi) is a San Francisco based artist working in video projection installations, photography, and physical computing. His work has been seen in San Francisco venues such as Dada Bar, The Lone Star, and Gray Area. He has live-mixed visuals as a VJ for various DJs and musicians in the yurt at Gays Hate Techno. His work was shown at Light.Wav in Sacramento in the before times. His most recent video project, 09-09-2020: The Day of the Red Sky, is a surround video / audio piece about the Pacific Northwest forest fires and was developed for Recombinant Media Lab's Cine Chamber, a 10 video screen, 8 audio channel immersive system. He is a member of the Gray Area Artist Incubator. https://linktr.ee/stevepi
"I'm excited to work on Ace in the Hole to help preserve the story of an amazing place that played an outsized role in the San Francisco art scene."
COCOA RIGAL
animation and motion graphics artist
Cocoa Rigal aka Jenny Muscatelli is an artist, auteur, animator and costume designer for film, theater and avant-garde visual performance art. She went to school for fine arts at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, and her most recent animation work includes episodes for the animated series, Extreme. She has also worked as a creative director and curator for several live visual performance art shows, including SummerTramp and Thunder Ground LGBTQ+ art show.
“I knew telling the story of Ace Junkyard would be a magical journey, and the more I got involved the more it’s become a little obsession of mine. I love art and have used junk in my art since I was a little girl, which is why this documentary means so much to me. The world needs more places like Ace to help artists flourish and give them a community to be a part of. I would hope that with this documentary we bring to light how capitalistic expansion and gentrification truly affects the underground art scene.”
MADI KAPLAN
post-production assistant
Hey there! My name is Madi Kaplan, and I am the post-production assistant for Ace in the Hole! I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in Spring of 2020, where I studied Film & Media Studies and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. I’ve worked as an intern for documentary features and series in the past, and am jazzed that my first role out of school has been with the Ace Team.
“As a San Francisco native, working on this film has taught so much about the city I grew up in— particularly the impact economic turnover has had on Bay Area artists. I am honored to help tell the story of Ace Junkyard and its community, and hope to continue to tell impactful stories in the future.”
ALITA EDGAR
development consultant
Alita Edgar is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in strategic communications, design & collaborative events, seen most recently at the Sharjah Biennial 2019. She is a co-founder of nonsense nyc, the Music Box Village and Shadow Parks Department.