Reyna Cowan interviews former KPFA News Director Alan Snitow and his film partner Deborah Kaufman about their new film Company Town.
The film investigates the impact of the “technification” of San Francisco and its impact on community stability, loss of diverse in communities and skyrocketing rent costs. The once free-spirited city of San Francisco is now a “Company Town,” a playground for tech moguls of the “sharing economy.” Airbnb is the biggest hotel. Uber privatizes transit. And now these companies want political power as well. Meanwhile, middle class and ethnic communities are driven out by skyrocketing rents and evictions–sparking a grassroots backlash that challenges the oligarchy of tech. Is this the future of cities around the world? The feature-length documentary, “Company Town,” is the story of an intense election campaign to determine the fate of the city at the epicenter of the digital revolution.