Arts + Entertainment

Here's our take on influence in SF. Agree with us or argue with us—just keep reading.

posted November 16, 2007 12:21PM

	Sydney Goldstein 63, founder and director, City Arts & Lectures
Why: For 27 years, Goldstein has been orchestrating some of the best on-stage interviews in town: Perennial sellouts include Calvin Trillin, Steve Martin and Adam Gopnik. “I did not come to start City Arts & Lectures with a solid network, but began with knowing so little that I was not afraid to experiment. I began a series to benefit the city’s public libraries, honestly expecting little response. If this were such a good idea, someone would have done it already, was what I thought. Susan Sontag was the first person I asked to be on the board. She agreed to join this not-yet-formed board if she liked two other people on it. Tom Luddy was director of the Pacific Film Archive at UC, so that was one, and I hoped I would qualify as number two. Susan [appeared] on the first series, which included other writers I had worked with before, such as Fran Lebowitz—who opened with a black-tie lecture with ‘audiovisual aids,’ which, I recall, were imaginary. I think we were unknowingly re-establishing an old tradition of town-hall kind of gatherings, which at some point had disappeared.” Web Exclusive: Read more of this Q+A below

Sydney Goldstein
63, founder and director, City Arts & Lectures

Why: For 27 years, Goldstein has been orchestrating some of the best on-stage interviews in town: Perennial sellouts include Calvin Trillin, Steve Martin and Adam Gopnik.

“I did not come to start City Arts & Lectures with a solid network, but began with knowing so little that I was not afraid to experiment. I began a series to benefit the city’s public libraries, honestly expecting little response. If this were such a good idea, someone would have done it already, was what I thought. Susan Sontag was the first person I asked to be on the board. She agreed to join this not-yet-formed board if she liked two other people on it. Tom Luddy was director of the Pacific Film Archive at UC, so that was one, and I hoped I would qualify as number two. Susan [appeared] on the first series, which included other writers I had worked with before, such as Fran Lebowitz—who opened with a black-tie lecture with ‘audiovisual aids,’ which, I recall, were imaginary. I think we were unknowingly re-establishing an old tradition of town-hall kind of gatherings, which at some point had disappeared.”

Web Exclusive: Read more of this Q+A below

	Ashley Wheater 48, ballet master and assistant to the artistic director, San Francisco Ballet
Why: After playing a crucial role backstage at San Francisco Ballet, Wheater is about to see what it’s like to be in the spotlight—he’s just been tapped to lead the Joffrey as artistic director. “A ballet master wears many hats: teacher, coach, psychologist. You are shaping these dancers from the inside out. Choreographers come, make the dance and then leave the whole thing with you. You run rehearsal completely on your own. To be a good ballet master, you need to have gone to the top and know what that’s like, so you can take someone else there. And you have to put your own ego aside. It’s not about you—it’s about the dancer and the work.”

Ashley Wheater
48, ballet master and assistant to the artistic director, San Francisco Ballet

Why: After playing a crucial role backstage at San Francisco Ballet, Wheater is about to see what it’s like to be in the spotlight—he’s just been tapped to lead the Joffrey as artistic director.

“A ballet master wears many hats: teacher, coach, psychologist. You are shaping these dancers from the inside out. Choreographers come, make the dance and then leave the whole thing with you. You run rehearsal completely on your own. To be a good ballet master, you need to have gone to the top and know what that’s like, so you can take someone else there. And you have to put your own ego aside. It’s not about you—it’s about the dancer and the work.”

	Lawrence Rinder 46, dean of the college, CCA, and curator
Why: Rinder gave up one of the most powerful positions in the art world when he left NYC’s Whitney Museum in 2004. But taking into account that—as top dog at one of the most influential schools in the nation (where he served as founding director of the Wattis Institute)—he’s incubating tomorrow’s art stars, you could argue it was a lateral move. When Rinder talks, the art world listens.

Lawrence Rinder
46, dean of the college, CCA, and curator

Why: Rinder gave up one of the most powerful positions in the art world when he left NYC’s Whitney Museum in 2004. But taking into account that—as top dog at one of the most influential schools in the nation (where he served as founding director of the Wattis Institute)—he’s incubating tomorrow’s art stars, you could argue it was a lateral move. When Rinder talks, the art world listens.

	Another Planet Entertainment Bay Area–based concert promoters, founded in 2003
Why: SF always roots for the independent. so when Bill Graham Presents vets Gregg Perloff and Sherry Wasserman left BGP to found Another Planet Entertainment in 2003, a lot of industry support went with them. Operators of the Independent, Berkeley’s Greek Theatre and the soon-to-reopen Fox Theatre in Oakland, APE (with Noise Pop) also produced this year’s two-day Treasure Island Music Festival.

Another Planet Entertainment
Bay Area–based concert promoters, founded in 2003

Why: SF always roots for the independent. so when Bill Graham Presents vets Gregg Perloff and Sherry Wasserman left BGP to found Another Planet Entertainment in 2003, a lot of industry support went with them. Operators of the Independent, Berkeley’s Greek Theatre and the soon-to-reopen Fox Theatre in Oakland, APE (with Noise Pop) also produced this year’s two-day Treasure Island Music Festival.

	George Lucas 63, entertainment tycoon
Why: Lucas revolutionized film by founding Industrial Light & Magic, which he took for a test drive on a little phenom called Star Wars. Thirty years later, Lucasfilm Ltd. also includes Skywalker Sound and his empire’s newest addition, video-game company LucasArts. Lucas is currently working on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, due out in May 2008, and supervising Clone Wars, the first computer-animated TV series from Lucasfilm Animation.

George Lucas
63, entertainment tycoon

Why: Lucas revolutionized film by founding Industrial Light & Magic, which he took for a test drive on a little phenom called Star Wars. Thirty years later, Lucasfilm Ltd. also includes Skywalker Sound and his empire’s newest addition, video-game company LucasArts. Lucas is currently working on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, due out in May 2008, and supervising Clone Wars, the first computer-animated TV series from Lucasfilm Animation.

	Peter Magowan 65, president and managing general partner, SF Giants
Why: Thanks to efforts spearheaded by Magowan, SF narrowly escaped losing the Giants to Tampa Bay in 1992. Then Magowan shepherded the 41,000-seat Pacific Bell Park to its completion in 2000. And, of course, there’s no team without some key players: On Magowan’s watch, the Giants signed Barry Zito and signed and re-signed (turning a six-year contract into a 15-year one) and then infamously didn’t re-sign a certain someone.

Peter Magowan
65, president and managing general partner, SF Giants

Why: Thanks to efforts spearheaded by Magowan, SF narrowly escaped losing the Giants to Tampa Bay in 1992. Then Magowan shepherded the 41,000-seat Pacific Bell Park to its completion in 2000. And, of course, there’s no team without some key players: On Magowan’s watch, the Giants signed Barry Zito and signed and re-signed (turning a six-year contract into a 15-year one) and then infamously didn’t re-sign a certain someone.

	Sean Penn 47, actor/director/writer/activist
Why: Having appeared in more than 30 films (including the forthcoming Crossing Over) and directed another four features (including this season’s Into the Wild), Penn is also famous for his outspoken politics. The Oscar winner has written for Interview, Time and Rolling Stone, and contributed a two-part feature in the San Francisco Chronicle following a wartime visit to Iraq and a five-part feature report from Iran during its 2005 election.

Sean Penn
47, actor/director/writer/activist

Why: Having appeared in more than 30 films (including the forthcoming Crossing Over) and directed another four features (including this season’s Into the Wild), Penn is also famous for his outspoken politics. The Oscar winner has written for Interview, Time and Rolling Stone, and contributed a two-part feature in the San Francisco Chronicle following a wartime visit to Iraq and a five-part feature report from Iran during its 2005 election.

Additional Q+A with Sydney Goldstein

Other than exposure, what does City Arts offer a guest that makes it appealing to appear?
We do take very good care of our guests, I think. They appreciate the simplicity of what we do and our attention to detail. Since most of our events are onstage interviews, a lot of thought goes into matching the right interviewer with each guest. After a while you gain a reputation one way or another. The city of San Francisco itself is a major draw.

Has the 826 relationship with Dave Eggers been a mutually beneficial one?
Our relationship with Dave Eggers—now a board member and always an amazingly generous soul—and 826 Valencia is definitely mutually beneficial. One of our first collaborations was [a program featuring] David Byrne, who we had never been able to get a yes from until Dave [Eggers] interceded.

Having built the City Arts brand and seen it flourish for more than two decades, do you think there will ever be a time when you can pass it off? Is there part of you that thinks it might be too painful to watch someone else run it?
When the time comes for me to turn over City Arts & Lectures to someone new, it will be both exciting and little sad. Producing the kinds of events I have had the privilege to present has been very rewarding work and has made a more interesting life for me and my family.

What is the best professional compliment anyone has paid you?
The best professional compliment that comes to mind is Gloria Steinem referring to me as the “Sol Hurok of ideas.”

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