Cheryl Eddy, Behind the New "SF360 Movie Scene"

As it turns out, there really is more you can find out about local film than even SF360.org can tell you. A new TV show called “SF360 Movie Scene,” the latest launch under the SF Film Society’s SF360 banner, premieres this week, beginning tonight, Monday, Feb. 5, 8 p.m., on ComcastSF, Channel 11. In the inaugural edition, hosts Cheryl Eddy, the Associate Arts Editor at the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and Rod Armstrong, SF Film Society Programming Associate, interview SF Indiefest founder/festival director Jeff Ross about the next big festival inferno smoking on the horizon. They also speak with Cyrus Amini, director of “25-Cent Preview,” and his star, Dorian Brockington, both of whom lit up the Green Room on my short visit to the set last week. We wrote to Eddy to find out about what kind of Bay Area cinema brilliance we can next expect to come off her ComcastSF couch as SF360 Movie Scene takes off.

SF360: What’s your plan for the show? What guest can we look forward to seeing next?

Cheryl Eddy: The next show — it premieres the first Monday of every month — will have someone from the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, talking about the 25th edition of that fest, which starts in March. Hopefully we’ll have one or both of the programmers/directors and a local filmmaker. The long-term plan is to keep covering local festivals, like Frameline, the Jewish Film Festival, DocFest, and of course the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival. I like the idea of covering different elements within the show — talking about whatever big festival is happening that month, but also films (local or otherwise) that will be opening in Bay Area theaters. I’d also like to highlight filmmakers who maybe don’t have a film in a festival, but are having a screening at a rep venue, like at Other Cinema or the SF Cinematheque or the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Also, I’d love to do an episode all about horror movies at one point, since that’s my favorite genre and there are several horror filmmakers working locally and making great, scary, gory stuff. I’ll get some fake blood sprayed on me in the service of good television … I don’t mind!

SF360: Who are your role models as a TV show host?

Eddy: Vince McMahon, Phil Donohue, Morton Downey Jr, Charlie Rose, Statler & Waldorf … just kidding. I’m not gonna say Ebert & Roeper though, because I think that show tends to be formulaic, and our show isn’t really a “here are our reviews of the latest movies” type of deal. Maybe Tyra Banks should be my role model…she’s pretty fun to watch. Though I won’t be donning a fat suit or going undercover as a stripper (or a man) or wearing my bathing suit on the air anytime soon.

SF360: What was the most difficult thing you had to do to prepare for your first episode?

Eddy: Trying not to look at my notes too often, trying to remember which camera to look at, worrying about using up too much time on each segment. Trying to remember to sit up straight, cause I’m a career sloucher. It was also hard deciding what to wear. They told us “no black” and if you know me, you know that’s what I wear most of the time in real life. So that was a challenge.

SF360: What can we expect to find in your Green Room?

Eddy: Yeah, my rider specifies NO BROWN M&Ms! Just kidding. I think the only thing I brought in there was the latest San Francisco Bay Guardian and a bottle of water. I’m totally boring. No whisky or local-cable groupies in sight. Maybe next time!