california film foundation

What california film foundation does

California Film Foundation (CFF) is a Sacramento-based nonprofit film organization that operates the Sacramento Film Festival and its Cine Soul program, also known as the Sacramento International Black Film Festival. It serves African diaspora filmmakers, film enthusiasts, and film professionals through film exhibition, networking, and education. Cine Soul has operated since 2005, and Cine Soul 2026 is presented as the organization's 21st festival.

CFF's portfolio includes Cine Soul, the Urban Film Summit, educational workshops, and a Ning-based online member platform. The platform supports member registration, filmmaker directory listings, videos, photos, and event information; no native application, public API, or SDK is disclosed. Programming is distributed through in-person events, the foundation's website, Facebook, and Instagram.

CFF's disclosed business model combines ticket and All Access pass sales with membership fees. Pricing varies by event, a Cine Soul 2016 All Access V.I.P. Pass was priced at $40, and some events are free for members. Current annual revenue is not disclosed, so the available commercial evidence is limited to these transaction and recurring-membership mechanisms.

Name

california film foundation

Legal name

California Film Foundation

Website

https://californiafilm.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Short description

California Film Foundation is a Sacramento nonprofit that organizes film festivals, networking events, and workshops for African diaspora filmmakers, film enthusiasts, and local industry professionals through Cine Soul and related community programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film Festival Organization and Cultural Programming

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities (71132)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Film Festivals & Festival Organizers (MPADAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits (BPAGAHAJ), Programming, Booking & Repertory Exhibition Services (MPADAKAL)

Keywords

• Film festival production
• African American cinema
• Filmmaker networking events
• Film education workshops
• Nonprofit film organization

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Festival Tickets and Passes: Sale of tickets and All Access VIP passes for film festivals and events. Cine Soul 2016 offered All Access V.I.P. Pass for $40.
2. Membership Fees: CFF membership provides access to events, some free entry for members, and directory listings for filmmakers to connect with industry professionals.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

California Film Foundation organizes film festivals and educational programs for filmmakers, with its flagship offering being the Sacramento Film Festival and its Cine Soul (Sacramento International Black Film Festival) program celebrating African American cinema. It supplements festival programming with the Urban Film Summit for industry networking, Cine Latino and CineAsia specialty programs, member directory services, and educational workshops for aspiring filmmakers.

Product overview

California Film Foundation (CFF) is a film industry network and festival organizer offering a portfolio of film festival products and filmmaker services. The core offerings include the Sacramento Film Festival (SFF) as the parent festival, with the Cine Soul (Sacramento International Black Film Festival) as its flagship African American cinema program. Supporting products include the Urban Film Summit for industry networking, Cine Latino and CineAsia for specialty cinema, plus member video/photo platforms and educational workshops. The organization runs multiple festivals annually including events in April and August, serving filmmakers and audiences in the Sacramento region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cine Soul: The Sacramento International Black Film Festival - a program focusing on African American cinema and filmmakers, featuring local talent and award-winning films
• Urban Film Summit

Products and services

• Cine Soul Film Festival Annual film festival celebrating African American cinema and filmmakers, featuring local and international film screenings, the Urban Film Summit, and filmmaker networking events; intended for filmmakers, film enthusiasts, and industry professionals in the Sacramento region.
• Sacramento Film Festival The parent film festival of California Film Foundation, running each April with events also in August, showcasing independent and specialty films including the Cine Soul, Cine Latino, and CineAsia programs.
• Urban Film Summit Annual industry networking event introducing filmmakers and actors to one another and encouraging participation in local filmmaking projects for adults and youth, featuring industry guests, panels, and mixers.
• Cine Latino A film program showcasing Latino cinema within the Sacramento Film Festival framework, intended for audiences interested in Latino cultural film programming.
• CineAsia A film program showcasing Asian cinema within the Sacramento Film Festival framework, intended for audiences interested in Asian cultural film programming.
• Workshops & Education Programs Film industry educational workshops and training programs offered to aspiring filmmakers, actors, and industry professionals through the foundation's education programming.

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• FilmFreewaycoreTechnology or IntegrationFilmFreeway serves as the submission platform for Cine Soul film festival, allowing filmmakers to submit their work for consideration through the standard film festival submission process.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• American Black Film Festival (ABFF): The American Black Film Festival is a long-running annual festival dedicated to Black cinema and content creators, founded by Jeff Friday. It is the most direct peer to Cine Soul as both organizations focus exclusively on programming and celebrating Black filmmakers, though ABFF operates at a national scale (Miami) compared to CFF's regional Sacramento focus.
• Pan African Film Festival: The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles is one of the largest Black and African diaspora film festivals globally, screening films from across the African diaspora. Like Cine Soul, PAFF centers African American and African diaspora cinema, making it a closely comparable programming peer though at substantially greater scale.
• BlackStar Film Festival: BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia presents films by people of African descent and celebrates Black cinema as an artistic tradition. It is a direct programming peer to Cine Soul, both serving as regional platforms celebrating Black filmmakers, though BlackStar emphasizes artistic and avant-garde work over CFF's broader community-oriented programming.
• CAAMFest (Center for Asian American Media Fest): CAAMFest is the nation's largest showcase for Asian American and Asian diaspora cinema, based in San Francisco. As both a regional festival under a parent nonprofit and a diaspora-focused film programmer on the West Coast, CAAMFest is structurally analogous to CFF's Sacramento Film Festival umbrella that houses CineAsia programming.
• New York African Diaspora Film Festival: The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) presents films from across the African diaspora across multiple NYC-area venues. Both organizations share the diaspora-cinema programming thesis and operate year-round events rather than just annual festivals, though ADIFF operates in a much larger market.
• Urbanworld Film Festival: Urbanworld is a New York-based annual film festival focused on diverse storytelling and filmmakers of color. It is comparable to Cine Soul as a multi-cultural programming festival serving emerging and established filmmakers from underrepresented communities.
• Outfest: Outfest is an LGBTQ+ film nonprofit running the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival and year-round programming. While focused on a different community, Outfest shares CFF's nonprofit festival-organization structure, year-round programming model, and community-mission orientation.

Broad incumbents

• Sundance Film Festival: Sundance is the largest US independent film festival and a nonprofit organization run by the Sundance Institute. As a broad incumbent in the festival space, Sundance is comparable to CFF as a nonprofit festival operator, but operates at vastly larger scale and programming breadth.

Others

• Sacramento Film Festival (parent brand operations): The Sacramento Film Festival itself is the parent program of Cine Soul within the same organization. External Sacramento-area film programmers (e.g., Sactown Movies, Sacramento Black Film Collective) could be considered peers though they are generally informal or single-event operators rather than structured nonprofits.
• FilmFreeway: FilmFreeway is the dominant submission and discovery platform for film festivals, and is a strategic technology partner to CFF. It is an ecosystem participant rather than a competitor, but defines the filmmaker acquisition and festival discovery surface that CFF operates within.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=100069098408550
• Instagraminstagram.com/cinesoulforever
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/california-film-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about california film foundation