At Best Startup California we track over 300,000 Californian startups and over 1,500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and organisations we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
We’ve ranked the top 80 Film companies in San Francisco, California. The companies, startups and institutions listed in this article are all exceptional companies, well worth a follow. We have included links to their websites, socials and CrunchBase (if you’re interested in their financials).
We selected the organisations listed in this article based on:
- Track record
- Executive leadership
- Market share
- Innovation
- ESG rating
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Top Film Companies & Startups (San Francisco, California)
Guidebox
Guidebox is the data layer that powers universal search and discovery for movies and TV across the OTT landscape.
Founder(s): Jeremy Riney, Kai Schneider
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Developer APIs, Film, TV
Follow:
Penrose Studios
Penrose is a group of artists, engineers and storytellers pushing the boundaries of virtual and augmented reality.
Founder(s): Eugene Chung, Jimmy Maidens
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Augmented Reality, Film, Film Production, Music, Video, Virtual Reality
Follow:
Tubi
Tubi is the world’s largest ad-supported video on demand (VOD) service. Available on Connected TV devices, Mobile, and the Web.
Founder(s): Farhad Massoudi, Thomas Ahn Hicks
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Digital Entertainment, Film, Media and Entertainment
Follow:
MovieLaLa
MovieLaLa is a social network enabling movie fans to discover upcoming movies through their friends and favorite stars.
Founder(s): Dana Loberg, Sahin Boydas
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Celebrity, Film
Follow:
Watchwith
Watchwith is a native digital video ad solution TV networks and premium video publishers use to monetize audiences beyond commercial breaks.
Founder(s): Zane Vella
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Advertising Platforms, Content Syndication, Film, Mobile Advertising, Social Media Marketing, Video, Web Development
Follow:
Indee
Indee has built a very secure platform for sharing videos to specific individuals.
Founder(s): Vignesh Ganesan
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Analytics, Digital Entertainment, Film, Information Technology, Media and Entertainment, Predictive Analytics, Software, Video
Follow:
Reelgood
Reelgood provides a complete guide to online streaming content.
Founder(s): David Sanderson
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Internet, iOS, Software, TV, Video Streaming
Follow:
SmartShoot
SmartShoot is a technology platform connecting brands with professional photographers and videographers to produce custom photos and videos.
Founder(s): Bradley Inman, John McWeeny, Justin McCarthy
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: B2B, Collaborative Consumption, Digital Media, Film, Human Resources, Internet, Photography, Product Design, Software, Video
Follow:
MetaCritic
Metacritic provides reviews on films, music, books and game genres to help consumers make entertainment-related decisions.
Founder(s): Marc Doyle
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Digital Entertainment, Film, Music
Follow:
OPS USA
Combining the adventurous spirit of hit movies like Oceans 11 and The A Team with the unparalleled competence.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Digital Entertainment, Film, Media and Entertainment
Follow:
LumiereVR
LumiereVR is a film studio that uses virtual reality technologies to make films.
Founder(s): Jenny Guo, Travis Wu
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Distribution, Software, Virtual Reality
Follow:
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a platform aggregating movie reviews from the web, and classifying good and bad reviews.
Founder(s): Patrick Lee, Senh Duong, Stephen Wang
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Consumer Reviews, Film, Media and Entertainment
Follow:
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm produces original content, postproduction effects, and audio for external clients, licensed products, and the gaming industry.
Founder(s): George Lucas
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Software, TV Production, Video
Follow:
Kanopy
Kanopy is a operator of online video streaming platform intended to democratize meaningful film and television.
Founder(s): Olivia Humphrey
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Continuing Education, EdTech, Education, Film, Film Distribution, Higher Education, Video, Video on Demand, Video Streaming
Follow:
Industrial Light + Magic (Lucasfilm)
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) creates visual effects for the motion picture commercial production and attraction industries.
Founder(s): George Lucas
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Production, Media and Entertainment, Motion Capture
Follow:
Flixfindr
Flixfindr makes it easy to search and discover movies available on Netflix, HBOGo, iTunes, Hulu, Amazon, and other streaming services.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film
Follow:
Truveo
Truveo is a video search engine acquired by AOL, providing various types of movies, TV shows, music and other related videos.
Founder(s): Adam Beguelin, Tim Tuttle
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Search Engine, Video
Follow:
Junction Investments
Invest in major motion pictures alongside professional film financiers.
Founder(s): Adam Kaufman, Brian Goldsmith, Dennis Coldwell, Heston Liebowitz
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Finance, Financial Services
Follow:
MakingOf
MakingOf features in-depth filmmaker interviews and movie features.
Founder(s): Christine Aylward, Natalie Portman
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Digital Media, Film, Social Media
Follow:
shadowBOX Studios
ShadowBOX Studios is a company that helps out photographers and filmmakers get projects done and get attention for their work.
Founder(s): John Whitman
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Production, Hedge Funds
Follow:
CastTV
CastTV, an internet video search and aggregation company, provides users with a daily catalogue of TV shows, movies and trending videos.
Founder(s): Alex Vikati, Edwin Ong
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Internet, Video
Follow:
BrandedPlacement
BrandedPlacement simplifies product placement advertising in films & streaming video content
Founder(s): Arnaud Fischer, Johann Garcia
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Advertising Platforms, Brand Marketing, Content Creators, Film Production, Media and Entertainment, Video Advertising
Follow:
aMedia
aMedia produces and distributes Asian and American media.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Distribution, Media and Entertainment, TV Production
Follow:
CryWorks
CryWorks is a entertainment company focused on creating virtual and augmented reality experiences
Founder(s): Euan K Macdonald
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Production, Gaming, Media and Entertainment, Software, Virtual Reality
Follow:
Live3D | ZingFront Inc
Live3D, the leading 3D-video software for productions, including animation, vtuber show, mini video, cartoon theater and live broadcast.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: 3D Technology, Animation, Cloud Computing, Film Production, Software, Virtual Reality
Follow:
Academy Software Foundation
Academy Software Foundation is an open source foundation intended for developers in the motion picture and media space.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Media and Entertainment, Open Source, Software
Follow:
Scripped
Scripped provides web-based screenwriting software and crowdsource scripts for producers and brands.
Founder(s): Ryan Buckley, Sunil Rajaraman, Zachary Freer
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Internet, Software, Video Streaming
Follow:
Kinda Funny
Kinda Funny is a video making platform for gaming, movies, and nerd culture.
Founder(s): Colin Moriarty
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Gaming, Video
Follow:
Tempest Digital, Inc., by Alejandro Franceschi
Tempest Digital, Inc. is an S-Corp seeking venture capital for an innovative alternative to the broken studio, distribution, and IP models.
Founder(s): Alejandro Franceschi
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Augmented Reality, Consulting, Film, Film Production, Motion Capture, Robotics, Video Games, Video Streaming, Virtual Reality
Follow:
SWIVIT
Versatile mounts and accessories for GoPro cameras and users.
Founder(s): Jason Y. Morlon
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Production, Hardware, Manufacturing, Software, Video
Follow:
Godfrey Dadich Partners
Godfrey Dadich Partners creates documentary films, logos and identity systems.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Consulting, Film, Web Design
Follow:
Beast
Beast specialize in editorial and visual FX for the advertising, digital and music industries.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Film Production, Music
Follow:
California Newsreel
California Newsreel engages in the production and distribution of innovative social films that engage, inspire and educate the audiences.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Distribution, Film Production, Social Impact
Follow:
Silicon Color
Silicon Color offers color finishing software that individuals can use for film coloring at a professional level.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Software, Video
Follow:
B I G H O U S E S T U D I O
Big House Studio offers full-service access to worldwide locations used for events, film, and photography.
Founder(s): Altura Ewers
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Events, Film, Photography
Follow:
Scary Cow Productions
Scary Cow is a crowdsourced film incubator
Founder(s): Jager McConnell
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Association, Communities, Film, Incubators, Non Profit
Follow:
Float Hybrid
Float Hybrid is an Entertainment company.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Broadcasting, Film Production, Social Media, Software
Follow:
Mantle
Display and recommend your movies
Founder(s): Mike Fogarty
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Collectibles, Ediscovery, File Sharing, Film, Social Media
Follow:
TPD
The Art of Connecting Media Production with IT!
Founder(s): Khalid Alomari
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: 3D Technology, Animation, Film Production, Information Technology, Media and Entertainment, Virtual Reality
Follow:
Frameline
The longest-running, largest and most widely recognized LGBTQ film exhibition event in the world.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Motion Capture
Follow:
Silverspace
Silverspace is a home assessment app aimed at providing a home security audit for the aging community.
Founder(s): Enrique Garcia
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Software
Follow:
EIDR
EIDR is the universal unique identifier for movie and television assets. A not-for-profit, open standard, membership organization.
Founder(s): Jim Helman, Kip Welch
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Asset Management, Content Discovery, Database, Film, Media and Entertainment, Supply Chain Management, TV
Follow:
PassPlay
The Movie Library
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: E-Commerce, Film, Social Media, Social Network
Follow:
Linc
Studio Platform As A Service
Founder(s): Igor Boshoer
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Cloud Infrastructure, Film Production, Media and Entertainment, SaaS, Virtual Reality
Follow:
Full Frame Productions
Full Frame Productions is a video and film production company.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Broadcasting, Film Production, Media and Entertainment
Follow:
Golden Thread
Golden Thread , is the first American theatre company devoted to plays from or about the Middle East, defined broadly & inclusively.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Digital Media, Film, Film Production, Media and Entertainment, Performing Arts, Social Media, Theatre
Follow:
Caachi
Caachi is a place where independent filmmakers can tell their stories. Caachi uses a Peer-to-Peer BitTorrent file sharing protocol to push
Founder(s): Thomas Ahn Hicks
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film
Follow:
Faithwerks Distribution
Faithwerks Distribution specialized in the CBA and has reputation in the film making industry.
Founder(s): Barrett Dungy
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Film Production, Information Services, Music
Follow:
Cinematiq
Cinematiq offers digital cinema packaging and 3D asset creation services to entertainment, advertising and marketing organizations.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: 3D Technology, Advertising, Digital Media, Film Production, Video
Follow:
Premiere Pictures International
Premiere Pictures International is an entertainment industry that produces films, motion pictures, animation, television and stage programs.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Animation, Film, Film Production, Media and Entertainment, Music
Follow:
PlaceVine
PlaceVine is a web-based matchmaking service connecting marketers with product sponsorship opportunities across media channels.
Founder(s): Adam Erlebacher
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Film, Video
Follow:
12fps
12FPS is a creative agency that transcends mediums to promote revolutionary ideas.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Broadcasting, Film Production
Follow:
Chocolate Chip Media
Chocolate Chip Media is a media production company.
Founder(s): Gene Finley IV
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Production, Media and Entertainment
Follow:
Make’n Movies
Make’n Movies is a technology-driven investment management firm.
Founder(s): Ash Conway
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Art, Blogging Platforms, EdTech, Education, Film, Internet, Journalism, Open Source
Follow:
advancescreenings
advance is an online platform that enables its users to make bookings for advance movie screenings.
Founder(s): Matthew Fong
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Information Services, Ticketing
Follow:
One Union Recording Studios
One Union Recording Studios is a media production company that focuses on post-production audio facilities for films and other TV projects.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Broadcasting, Film Production, Music, TV Production
Follow:
Screener.ly
Secure video hosting platform for the film and television industry.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Cyber Security, Film, SaaS, Video Streaming
Follow:
Relatable Content
Relatable Content believe everyone deserves good branding and relatable content.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Production
Follow:
WEREHAUS
WEREHAUS is a creative production studio specialized in making commercial media content.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Content Creators, Digital Media, Film Production
Follow:
Redford Center
The Redford Center is committed to transforming social and environmental issues into films that inspire positive change.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Broadcasting, Content, Film Production
Follow:
Playou, Inc.
Playou, Inc. is a company that creates animated videos introducing companies and their products.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Animation, Film Production, Marketing, Video
Follow:
Cralocs
AirBnB for film location
Founder(s): Ibukunoluwa Salau
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Production, Location Based Services, Marketplace, Real Estate
Follow:
Shadowlight
ShadowLight is an NGO that performs arts, documentary files, shadow play, and digital archiving services.
Founder(s): Larry Reed
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Non Profit, Performing Arts
Follow:
Storyline Productions
Storyline Productions helps their clients use media to communicate more clearly with their customers.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Broadcasting, Film Production, Media and Entertainment, TV Production
Follow:
Hectic Digital
Hectic Digital, a motion graphics and visual effects studio.
Founder(s): Clayton Douglas
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Animation, Film, Motion Capture
Follow:
Tapestries of Hope
Tapestries of Hope is a feature length documentary and social entrepreneurship effort.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film
Follow:
Prescreen
Prescreen is a daily movie service that presents entertaining, enlightening, and educational films to movie lovers.
Founder(s): Dan Rummel, Lee Wilson, Shawn Bercuson, Wes Donohoe
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Education, Film, Media and Entertainment
Follow:
Remedy Editorial
Remedy Editorial specializes in the conceptualization, production and post design with creative ideas, shooting and motion design.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Film, Film Production, Video
Follow:
Umlaut Films
Umlaut Films deals with film production, creative concept creation, motion graphics and production management services.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Content Creators, Film Production, Media and Entertainment
Follow:
Htv360
HTV360 provides video and web production services.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Broadcasting, Film Production, Media and Entertainment, TV Production
Follow:
Maximum Flavor Media
Maximum Flavor Media is a video production company.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film Production, Media and Entertainment, Video
Follow:
Little Fluffy Clouds
Little Fluffy Clouds is a design studio that specializes in high-end motion graphics, animation, and production services.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Animation, Film Production, Graphic Design, Video Editing
Follow:
Cleverhat Photoplay
A media lab dedicated for creating world-class videos for startups
Founder(s): Harry Nath
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Animation, Film, Video
Follow:
GoForCrew
GoForCrew is a free global service that connects film producers and more to make a product.
Founder(s): Fred Madrid, Misha Sundukovskiy
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Audio, Film, Photography, Product Design, Video
Follow:
Ninth Street IFC
Ninth Street IFC is an NGO that renders community participation, cultural preservation, promotes democracy and film production services.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Event Promotion, Film Production, Non Profit
Follow:
Fridays
Fridays is a media and broadcasting company that focuses on advertising, video, film, and animation production services.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Animation, Broadcasting, Film Production, Video
Follow:
iHypeTV Productions
iHypeTV Productions is a video platform that provides film services to local filmmakers.
Founder(s): David Bermudez
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Digital Media, Film, Film Production, TV Production
Follow:
ZAP Zoetrope Aubry Productions
ZAP Zoetrope Aubry Productions is an film studio and post production facility that offers services like color correction,motion graphic.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Film, Video Editing
Follow:
Q Black Media
Diversified portfolio fund
Founder(s): Joe Q Bretz, Joseph Bretz, Richard Verdoni
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Broadcasting, Film Production, Media and Entertainment, Nightclubs, Real Estate
Follow:
Product Place Me
Product Place Me is an application that allows content producers to connect with advertisers.
Founder(s):
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Industries: Advertising, Film
Follow: