SHEERLY AVNI is a Bay Area-based Arts and Entertainment writer. Her essays and articles have appeared in San Francisco Magazine and Variety, and on Salon.com.
From San Francisco magazine, June 2006: ..".until recently few
writers had bothered to catalog the filmic history of the most
picturesque city in the world...it's a blast to riffle through this
gorgeous volume, with its large color stills from films we all
love. Even better, Avni provides lots of tasty insider anecdotes."
From 7x7 magazine, June 2006: "Cinema By the Bay offers an in-depth
look at the bay area film business, profiling the studios behind
such classics as The Godfather (American Zoetrope), One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest (The Saul Zaentz Company) and the big daddy--Star
Wars (Lucasfilm Ltd)." From SF360.org (IFC/IndieWire), June 15,
2006: "With Cinema By the Bay, Sheerly Avni has created not so much
a coffee-table book, as a depth-charge desktop tome: You may want
to get wired enough to finish it in one long sitting. This first
title from George Lucas Books is a rich, visual history of San
Francisco Bay Area filmmaking that doesn't just roll from A to Z
(from American to Zoetrope), but digs up the Northern California
roots of motion pictures themselves (from Muybridge to Von
Stroheim, courtesy of an elegant essay by former San Francisco film
critic Michael Sragow. Alongside the cornerstones of the historical
NoCal industry--Zaentz and Zoetrope, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and PDI--are
page after page of directors (Carroll Ballard, Joan Chen, Clint
Eastwood, Rob Nilsson, Henry Selick, Terry Zwigoff) who've helped
San Francisco maintain its status as a creative outpost." From Sci
Fi Magazine, the official magazine of the Sci Fi Channel, August
2006: "Cinema By the Bay," the first release from the publishing
arm of the still-growing George Lucas entertainment empire, is an
affectionate look at the community of major filmmakers who base
themselves in San Francisco and environs rather than in that
glitzier production hub further down the coast....fun to page
through, but the book is significantly more novel in those sections
covering moviemakers and films that haven't had more than their
share of coffee-table books. Clint Eastwood...Philip
Kaufman...Michael Ritchie...Extreme collectors may want to snap up
the signed and numbered limited edition, which includes the
signatures of George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Saul Zaentz."
From East Bay express, May, 2006: "Tom Selleck was originally
pegged to play Indiana Jones, as Sheerly Avni reveals in Cinema by
the Bay (JAK, $39.95), the most beautiful coffee-table book about
the most beautiful films made in the most beautiful spot on Earth.
Lustrous photographs augment inside scoops on a dozen directors'
careers..." From the UK's Empire Magazine, June 2006 rated Five of
Five Stars: ..". Avni's book does a terrific job in capturing the
heady sense of creative buzz that envelopes Frisco's filmmaking
fraternity and exploring the Bay Area's diverse output. While this
is the first book from the George Lucas Books imprint, the scope
goes way beyond Star Wars. We are treated to an in-depth analysis
of the key studios ... and directors .... Each study is laced with
nifty potted histories, detailed studies of every film, a useful
timeline and tons of trivia; who kenew that PDI animated a segment
of a Simpsons Halloween episode for free? En route, the book
highlights some forgotten talents and unknown artists. The tone is
enthusiastic without sacrificing insight and intelligence and is
also not afraid to get gritty .... Essential reading for anyone who
loves great cinema."
From "San Francisco" magazine, June 2006:
.,."until recently few writers had bothered to catalog the filmic
history of the most picturesque city in the world...it's a blast to
riffle through this gorgeous volume, with its large color stills
from films we all love. Even better, Avni provides lots of tasty
insider anecdotes."
From "7x7" magazine, June 2006:
"Cinema By the Bay offers an in-depth look at the bay area film
business, profiling the studios behind such classics as "The
Godfather "(American Zoetrope), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
"(The Saul Zaentz Company) and the big daddy--"Star Wars"
(Lucasfilm Ltd)."
From SF360.org (IFC/IndieWire), June 15, 2006:
"With Cinema By the Bay, Sheerly Avni has created not so much a
coffee-table book, as a depth-charge desktop tome: You may want to
get wired enough to finish it in one long sitting. This first title
from George Lucas Books is a rich, visual history of San Francisco
Bay Area filmmaking that doesn't just roll from A to Z (from
American to Zoetrope), but digs up the Northern California roots of
motion pictures themselves (from Muybridge to Von Stroheim,
courtesy of an elegant essay by former San Francisco film critic
Michael Sragow. Alongside the cornerstones of the historical NoCal
industry--Zaentz and Zoetrope, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and PDI--are page
after page of directors (Carroll Ballard, Joan Chen, Clint
Eastwood, Rob Nilsson, Henry Selick, Terry Zwigoff) who've helped
San Francisco maintain its status as a creative outpost."
From "Sci Fi Magazine," the official magazine of the Sci Fi
Channel, August 2006:
"Cinema By the Bay," the first release from the publishing arm of
the still-growing George Lucasentertainment empire, is an
affectionate look at the community of major filmmakers who base
themselves in San Francisco and environs rather than in that
glitzier production hub further down the coast....fun to page
through, but the book is significantly more novel in those sections
covering moviemakers and films that haven't had more than their
share of coffee-table books. Clint Eastwood...Philip
Kaufman...Michael Ritchie...Extreme collectors may want to snap up
the signed and numbered limited edition, which includes the
signatures of George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Saul
Zaentz."
From East Bay express, May, 2006:
"Tom Selleck was originally pegged to play Indiana Jones, as
Sheerly Avni reveals in Cinema by the Bay (JAK, $39.95), the most
beautiful coffee-table book about the most beautiful films made in
the most beautiful spot on Earth. Lustrous photographs augment
inside scoops on a dozen directors' careers..."
From the UK's Empire Magazine, June 2006 rated Five of Five
Stars:
.,." Avni's book does a terrific job in capturing the heady sense
of creative buzz that envelopes Frisco's filmmaking fraternity and
exploring the Bay Area's diverse output. While this is the first
book from the George Lucas Books imprint, the scope goes way beyond
Star Wars. We are treated to an in-depth analysis of the key
studios ... and directors .... Each study is laced with nifty
potted histories, detailed studies of every film, a useful timeline
and tons of trivia; who kenew that PDI animated a segment of a
Simpsons Halloween episode for free? En route, the book highlights
some forgotten talents and unknown artists. The tone is
enthusiastic without sacrificing insight andintelligence and is
also not afraid to get gritty .... Essential reading for anyone who
loves great cinema."
From "San Francisco" magazine, June 2006:
..."until recently few writers had bothered to catalog the filmic
history of the most picturesque city in the world...it's a blast to
riffle through this gorgeous volume, with its large color stills
from films we all love. Even better, Avni provides lots of tasty
insider anecdotes."
From "7x7" magazine, June 2006:
"Cinema By the Bay offers an in-depth look at the bay area film
business, profiling the studios behind such classics as "The
Godfather "(American Zoetrope), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
"(The Saul Zaentz Company) and the big daddy--"Star Wars"
(Lucasfilm Ltd)."
From SF360.org (IFC/IndieWire), June 15, 2006:
"With Cinema By the Bay, Sheerly Avni has created not so much a
coffee-table book, as a depth-charge desktop tome: You may want to
get wired enough to finish it in one long sitting. This first title
from George Lucas Books is a rich, visual history of San Francisco
Bay Area filmmaking that doesn't just roll from A to Z (from
American to Zoetrope), but digs up the Northern California roots of
motion pictures themselves (from Muybridge to Von Stroheim,
courtesy of an elegant essay by former San Francisco film critic
Michael Sragow. Alongside the cornerstones of the historical NoCal
industry--Zaentz and Zoetrope, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and PDI--are page
after page of directors (Carroll Ballard, Joan Chen, Clint
Eastwood, Rob Nilsson, Henry Selick, Terry Zwigoff) who've helped
San Francisco maintain its status as a creative outpost."
From "Sci Fi Magazine," the official magazine of the Sci Fi
Channel, August 2006:
"Cinema By the Bay," the first release from the publishing arm of
the still-growing George Lucasentertainment empire, is an
affectionate look at the community of major filmmakers who base
themselves in San Francisco and environs rather than in that
glitzier production hub further down the coast....fun to page
through, but the book is significantly more novel in those sections
covering moviemakers and films that haven't had more than their
share of coffee-table books. Clint Eastwood...Philip
Kaufman...Michael Ritchie...Extreme collectors may want to snap up
the signed and numbered limited edition, which includes the
signatures of George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Saul
Zaentz."
From East Bay express, May, 2006:
"Tom Selleck was originally pegged to play Indiana Jones, as
Sheerly Avni reveals in Cinema by the Bay (JAK, $39.95), the most
beautiful coffee-table book about the most beautiful films made in
the most beautiful spot on Earth. Lustrous photographs augment
inside scoops on a dozen directors' careers..."
From the UK's Empire Magazine, June 2006 rated Five of Five
Stars:
..." Avni's book does a terrific job in capturing the heady sense
of creative buzz that envelopes Frisco's filmmaking fraternity and
exploring the Bay Area's diverse output. While this is the first
book from the George Lucas Books imprint, the scope goes way beyond
Star Wars. We are treated to an in-depth analysis of the key
studios ... and directors .... Each study is laced with nifty
potted histories, detailed studies of every film, a useful timeline
and tons of trivia; who kenew that PDI animated a segment of a
Simpsons Halloween episode for free? En route, the book highlights
some forgotten talents and unknown artists. The tone is
enthusiastic without sacrificing insight andintelligence and is
also not afraid to get gritty .... Essential reading for anyone who
loves great cinema."
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