How do San Francisco’s migrant neighborhoods gain, maintain and evolve their identities?
This three-part series for the California Migration Museum explores how flashpoints in migration history radically reshaped three San Francisco neighborhoods: The Mission, The Castro, and Chinatown. The project tells the story of neighborhood transformation through the particular experiences of living and historical characters: A Chinese-American merchant uses a colorful architectural style to help demarcate land ownership and draw customers into post-Quake Chinatown. A poet fleeing persecution in El Salvador finds political and artistic sanctuary in the 1980’s in the Mission.
And an openly gay merchant sets up a hairdressing salon in a predominantly Irish neighborhood in the 1950s. The neighborhood then transforms into the gay Mecca, known today as The Castro. All of these stories are told with Walking Cinema’s unique brand of location-based audio, augmented reality and installations.
Archival assistance from the GLBT Historical society and The Chinese Historical Society of America.
Impact
Took a virtual museum to the streets creating exhibits, events,
and key local partnerships
Success of the project led to over $150,000 in grants to produce similar walks
Trained up the museum staff in site-based research and storytelling
Format has become the museum’s hallmark for expansion across California
Download the Project
About the Experience
An historical music video you walk into
For this project we worked closely with three Bay Area musicians who have particular attachments to each of these neighborhoods. The musicians narrate and score the tours, making the walks like historical, in person music videos. Installations in restaurants, area businesses, and non-profit partners give audiences a tactile, hands on experience of the story. Overall, the goal was to make audiences of all ages drawn into a layered telling of immigration history through rhythm, magical AR overlays, and hidden installations along a captivating walking path.
Technology
The experience is unlocked through a free mobile app built on Walking Cinema’s proprietary Unity platform that allows for mapped, geocoded audio. Augmented Reality experiences are developed to match specific sites along the tour using archival images and 360 photos to align them to the environment. All of our content is rigorously tested in a range of devices and users to ensure quality playback and intuitive ease of use.
In this projects we pioneered animation of characters from murals and content management system that allows audio and AR updates without resubmission to the app store.
Augmented Reality
GPS
Audio Tour
Audio Sample
In this scene from “Chinatown: Spaces in Between” narrator and folk singer Alex Wong walks audiences through the 60 seconds that changed Chinatown forever. Rich sound design by Sasha Mandel and original scoring by Alex make the disaster both horrifying and rhythmic.
Written by Alex Wong, Katy Long and Michael Epstein.
Photo Gallery
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Interviewing poet Jorge Argueta, Mission District, 2023.
Many of the stories arose from walks with people who had personal experiences migration flashpoints.
PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL EPSTEIN
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Musician and narrator La Doña with poet Jorge Argueta.
Musician and narrator La Doña with poet Jorge Argueta combined to tell the story of how San Francisco became a sanctuary city and what coffee had to do with it.
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Record Player installation in Adobe Books.
Various hidden installations along the walking path help tell the story. Here a record by La Doña’s father reveals a strong connection between San Francisco and El Salvador.
PHOTO CREDIT: MICHAEL EPSTEIN
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Idhaz with Mike/Michelle Gerry.
Musician and narrator Idhaz with Mike/Michelle Gerry, the first openly gay merchant in the Castro.
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Harvey Milk and his camera shop, early 1970’s.
The Castro tour uses augmented reality to bring Milk’s world of celebration and protest to life in front of his camera shop.
PHOTO CREDIT: GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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Alex Wong tells the story in the Chinatown.
In the Chinatown tour singer/songwriter Alex Wong tells the story of a merchant who kept Chinatown in the center of the city by inventing a new architectural style.
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Merchant Look Tin Eli’s pre earthquake world
Merchant Look Tin Eli’s pre earthquake world comes to life around you via augmented reality.
Talent
Alex Wong, Sound Designer, Writer, Narrator
Alex Wong creates music to help people remember who they are and show themselves to the world. Alex scored the tour with original music, co-wrote the script for the story, and narrated the tour.
Jefferson Russell, Newspaper Man
Jefferson A Russell is an actor primarily based in Baltimore/DC who has worked for over 25 years in theatre, screen and as a voice artist. He is an adjunct professor of Theatre at Bowie State University.
Darragh Howard, Voice Actor, Miscellaneous Irish Voices
Darragh is an Irish immigrant cum San Franciscan who loves public radio. For over two decades has been a strong supporter of anything made by Michael Epstein.
IDHAZ Bitar, Musician, Sound Designer, Writer, Narrator
Max is a web and mobile app developer specializing in interactive educational media. Before joining Walking Cinema, Max worked at Tom Snyder Productions, Inc.
Mike-Michelle Gerry, Protagonist
Mike Gerry was the first openly gay business owner on Castro street. Also known as Michelle, he was a popular and well known drag performer during the late 1960s and early 1970s in San Francisco.
Kimberly Schraf, Voice Actor, Miscellaneous Irish Voices
Kim has been an actor in Washington DC’s professional theater community for over 35 years. She has taught literature, theater, and has narrated over 600 books on tape.
Jorge Argueta, Interviewee
Jorge is a celebrated Salvadoran poet and writer whose bi-lingual children's books have received numerous awards. A native Salvadoran and Pipil Nahua Indian, Jorge spent much of his childhood in rural El Salvador.
La Doña, Musician, Sound Designer, Writer, Narrator
La Doña--born Cecilia Cassandra Peña-Govea in San Francisco, California--is a solo reggaeton singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Production Team
Bradley Lincoln, Mixing
Michael Epstein, Director
Michael is a screenwriter, transmedia director, and expert in place-based storytelling. He co-wrote, directed, and co-produced the story.
Sasha Mandel, Sound Designer
Sasha is a sound designer with a passion for interactivity and deep listening. He mixed the audio for this tour and created the soundscapes you hear throughout the experience.
Elissa Mardiney, Producer
Elissa is an audio producer for Walking Cinema. She co-produced the tour and helped with research, project-management, editing, and installations.
Maxim Antinori, Developer
Max is a web and mobile app developer specializing in interactive educational media. Before joining Walking Cinema, Max worked at Tom Snyder Productions.
Diana Maio, AR Visual Designer
Diana designed graphics and motion graphics for 2D/3D/AR experiences on the tour.
Aynne Valencia, Design
Aynne is a Professor and Design Anthropologist. She did visual and UX design for the mobile application and website.
Gabby Santas, Research
Gabby is a Project Manager at the California Migration Museum. She carried out research for this story.
Katy Long, Host, Research, Editor
Katy Long is the founder and Executive Director of the California Migration Museum. She tells stories about immigration and identity. You’ll also hear Katy host the tour as you walk.
Sofie Kodner, Producer
Sofie Kodner is an award-winning journalist and documentarian. She often reports at the nexus of history, design, and culture. She produced the tour and led interviews with Jorge Argueta.
Press & Articles
A Cry for Freedom: Exploring the Castro’s Gay Migration, GLBT Historical Society
I think that’s one thing IDHAZ (an electronic musician who narrates the tour) brings that’s really valuable. As a trans man, he finds resonances in Mike’s story...
The California Migration Museum, Migrant Footstep, SF Fun Cheap
In a series of immersive audio tours, Migrant Footsteps, The California Migration Museum tells the secret stories of San Francisco’s migration histories...
Migrant Footsteps, SF/Arts
Created in partnership with the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, Before the Bulldozers is a new app-based walking tour that leads...
Migrant Footsteps, Independent
Arts & Media
That’s why the California Migration Museum was established in 2021, we decided that we wanted to break through the museum wall...
Migrant Footsteps, Everything Immersive
Free, immersive audio tours bringing California’s migration history to life...