UUSF Forum: Michael Epstein "Exploring the Fillmore's Deep History with Immersive Stories"

The Fillmore District holds an multi-layered legacy of San Francisco's best and worst civic projects, one of the richness of cultural sites in the city, it also holds a sorrowful history of exclusion. For the past six years, local journalist and entrepreneur Michael Epstein has been producing innovative non fiction projects that allow people to look inside The Fillmore's deep history and grapple with its unresolved tensions. "The Fillmore Eclipse, "an immersive theater project produced with local gallery Honey Art Studio," explores the fading Bebop scene in the 1950's and "The Museum of the Hidden City" is an award-winning audio and augmented reality walk through the Fillmore that looks at how Redevelopment was both welcomed and resisted in the neighborhood.

Michael Epstein is a journalist specializing in media that gets audiences moving. He has directed, written, and produced over 20 documentary theater, immersive audio, and new media projects that invite exploration of critical places. He is the founder of San Francisco-based interactive studio Walking Cinema and is adjunct faculty at the California College of the Arts.