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San Francisco Chronicle
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Co-Founders' is the musical to see with your start-up (or your hip-hop) buddies
'Co-Founders' playwrights Beau Lewis, Adesha Adefela and Ryan Nicole Austin sit for a portrait during a technical rehearsal for the production at American Conservatory Theater's Strand Theater in San Francisco on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle Nine years ago, Beau Lewis created an unusual weekly therapy group for struggling tech founders. Instead of sitting in a circle of folding chairs, participants freestyled — as in hip-hop. 'There was a pressure for us to keep up an external veneer of success and not actually be open and vulnerable about all of the challenges and fears that we had,' recalled Lewis, who co-founded toy company GoldieBlox and serves as CEO of media company and would-be musical theater disruptor Rhyme Combinator. Those feelings, he continued, came out in 'whatever your subconscious brain bled out over this beat.' Choreographer Juel D. Lane works onstage during a technical rehearsal for 'Co-Founders' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle All the angst released during those rap sessions has now evolved into 'Co-Founders,' a musical about Bay Area start-up culture whose world premiere begins performances Thursday, May 29, at American Conservatory Theater's Strand Theater. But it's no longer just Lewis' baby. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Co-playwrights Adesha Adefela and Ryan Nicole Austin, who also star in the show, pushed the production to ask broader questions. It investigates how tensions might multiply for a Black female coder from Oakland — someone who's never assumed part of, or invited into, tech's inner circle — and it explores how the Bay Area's inventive spirit extends beyond tech to rap and activism. The 'Co-Founders' production team tinkers with Dadvatar during a technical rehearsal on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle 'I consider myself a techie,' Adefela told the Chronicle during a group interview in the Strand Theater's lobby, which is outfitted with a grandma-style living room, complete with a twist-dial TV set and garish-print sofa, in an effort to help new audiences feel more at home. More Information 'Co-Founders': Written by Adesha Adefela, Ryan Nicole Austin and Beau Lewis. Directed by Jamil Jude. Performances begin Thursday, May 29. Through July 6. $25-$130, subject to change. ACT's Strand Theater, 1127 Market St., S.F. 415-749-2228. As an independent artist, Adefela produces her own music, records her own videos and builds her own website, she pointed out. And her relatives, too, might jury-rig a giant sound system from a couple of boombox speakers. 'I'm like, wow, that's engineering,' she said. 'How come that isn't seen as engineering? How come I don't see my cousins and the like in places like Apple?' Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the show, a song titled 'Valley to Vallejo' works to bridge that gap, thanks especially to lyrics by Austin that put La Raza and Black Panther Party activists as well as Oakland rappers Too Short and MC Hammer on par with Silicon Valley tech giants Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. The number asks, as Lewis put it, 'Does it take the same hustle to sell a tape out of a trunk as it does to sell a computer out of a garage?' Aneesa Folds rehearses 'Co-Founders' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle Austin points out that the drive of artists from San Francisco rapper JT the Bigga Figga to Vallejo Hyphy pioneer E-40 was 'inspired by the grit and the unapologetic nature of the Black Panthers.' 'That's where the synergy is with the spirit of the entrepreneur,' she continued. 'It's like, 'Hey, I gotta make something out of nothing, and even though everything around me says no, I know that I have it within me to say yes.'' Aneesa Folds, left, and Adesha Adefela rehearse 'Co-Founders' at the Strand Theater on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle In the show, Esata (played by 'Freestyle Love Supreme' star Aneesa Folds through June 22 and Angel Adedokun for the rest of the run through July 6) has an astonishing start-up idea that she's pitching to an elite accelerator: a 'Dadvatar' that creates a simulacrum of her dead father whom she's mourning. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 'If you are a technologist, what does that look like to deal with your loss?' Adefela explained. Choreographer Juel D. Lane works onstage while Dadvatar, an avatar controlled by live-motion capture from an actor backstage, is projected on a holographic scrim during a technical rehearsal for 'Co-Founders' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle Onstage, Dadvatar appears as a hologram interacting with flesh-and-blood actors, and he's operated in real time by actor Tommy Soulati Shepherd, who stays in a backstage booth. ACT is billing this use of technology as the first of its kind, noting that previous stage interactions between humans and holograms, as when Celine Dion sang with Elvis on 'American Idol,' have been recordings. The show's projection wizards are David Richardson, of Los Angeles' famed theater-projection-pop music hybrid 'Cages,' and Frédéric O. Boulay, who splits his time between the East Bay and what the team jokingly calls 'the East East Bay,' or France. Dadvatar, a a hologram who can react spontaneously in real time next to onstage actors, is projected on a scrim during a technical rehearsal for 'Co-Founders' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle 'I love the things that are not supposed to work,' Boulay said, of his attraction to the project. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Richardson casually whips out sentences such as 'We've built a MetaHuman in Unreal Engine,' referring to an avatar and computer program well known in the gaming world. The resulting Dadvatar, in yellow shirt and jeans, resembles a video game character. When he appears next to human actors onstage, the result scrambles the brain; your eyes keep darting from one to the other, trying to make sense of it. Actor Tommy Soulati Shepherd, who plays Dadvatar, demonstrates the live-motion capture technology that allows him to puppeteer an avatar with his facial reactions from backstage at 'Co-Founders' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle Dadvatar gets projected onto an invisible screen, and to manipulate him, a motion-capture camera grabs and mirrors Shepherd's facial expressions: raised eyebrows and gaping jaws, micro-shifts in cheek muscles. 'I had to get contacts,' Shepherd revealed, noting that the camera can't read his eyes through glasses. New to the experience, it takes him an hour to get his contact lenses on every morning. Actor Tommy Soulati Shepherd, who plays Dadvatar, demonstrates the live-motion capture technology that allows him to puppeteer an avatar with his facial reactions from backstage at 'Co-Founders' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle To control Dadvatar's body movements, Shepherd uses an Xbox controller. Thankfully, he was already familiar with the gaming console, so he said that helped. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Also of unlikely assistance: being a drummer. Shepherd has to keep one eye on a monitor displaying the Dadvatar, another on monitors displaying what's onstage, so he can react as if he's really there. He has to emote realistically with his face while operating with his hands a pressure-sensitive controller whose left-right movements don't correspond to Dadvatar's physical location but to gestural intensity. Actor Tommy Soulati Shepherd, who plays Dadvatar, demonstrates using an Xbox controller to manipulate a holographic character in real time for 'Co-Founders' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle On his second day in the booth, he told the Chronicle, 'I'm going to get good at this.' But the bells and whistles aren't in your face, Boulay pointed out. 'The last thing you want is for audiences to walk out and say, 'That was a lot of cool technology,'' he said. Still, the show taps into debates about the supposed evils of tech that date back to 'Frankenstein' and Prometheus. Director Jamil Jude observes a scene during a technical rehearsal for 'Co-Founders' on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle 'This show reminds us that it is not technology's fault. It is the way in which we are trying to use it,' said director Jamil Jude. Ryan echoed that sentiment. 'Technology is a tool, and that tool is imbued with the power and the personality of the people that use it,' she said. 'So do you use that hammer and nail to build a concentration camp, or do you use that hammer and nail to build a temple or a theater?'
San Francisco Chronicle
11-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Has Warriors' Steve Kerr decided how to cover Steph Curry's absence?
Golden State Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr instructs his team during 4th quarter time out in Minnesota Timberwolves' 102-97 win in NBA Western Conference Semifinals' Game 3 at Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle Anthony Edwards (5) passes to a teammate between Gary Payton II (0) and Quinten Post (21) in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs at Chase Center in San Francisco., on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle Golden State Warriors' Kevon Looney is fouled by Minnesota Timberwolves' Mike Conley in 4th quarter during Dubs' 102-97 loss in NBA Western Conference Semifinals' Game 3 at Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle Jaden McDaniels (3) leaps to defend againt Brandin Podziemski (2) in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs at Chase Center in San Francisco., on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle Gary Payton II (0) puts up a layup in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs at Chase Center in San Francisco., on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle This could all fall apart in a hurry for the Golden State Warriors. They're down 2-1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in their second-round playoff series, but Saturday night's down-to-the-wire 102-97 loss shows what this postseason has the potential to become: The Warriors' craziest playoff run in the Steve Kerr era. Advertisement Article continues below this ad They have no business still being in the thick of this series, not with Stephen Curry sidelined. But the Warriors came alive Saturday and seem to believe they can go toe-to-toe with the full-strength T'wolves. Until or unless things go sideways, this is the most interesting spare-parts assembly project since Dr. Frankenstein's lab experiment. The Warriors even led by five with eight minutes to go Saturday, and though they lost, they did not collapse under the weight of reality. No Curry? No problem. OK, that's not true, Curry's absence is a monstrous problem, but the Warriors are tackling it gamely, like a guy who skipped classes all semester and now is confidently chugging Red Bull on his all-nighter before the final. When Curry went down with that hammie in Game 1, Kerr said he would use Game 2 and the day off beefore Game 3 to search for the formula for playing without Curry. He and his staff would go into the lab and tinker with various player rotations/combinations and strategies. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That's a lot of experimenting to do in a very short time. It's a level of mixing-and-matching that a coach and his staff usually do in training camp, not 10 games into the postseason. It's like putting together an IKEA credenza with a 24-second clock ticking. And yet when Kerr was asked after Game 3 how close his team is to finding the 'formula,' he said: 'Really close. I feel good about the way the game went tonight. We just couldn't close it out. Again, give them credit. They made all the plays in the fourth and (Julius) Randle and (Anthony) Edwards really got going, and we just couldn't quite overcome them once we got down. 'But we controlled much of the game. … The formula looks good. We'll have some adjustments to make, but I like the matchup. I like what we're doing.' In Game 2, Kerr seemed to be allocating playing time by pulling random names out of a hat. Saturday's substitution pattern still had a slightly experimental feel early on, then settled into something more orderly. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There's not much margin for error now, so some things seem clear. Jimmy Butler is going to go 43 minutes, minimum. Playoff Jimmy is the real deal, and they'll ride him hard. Jonathan Kuminga is suddenly playing like Kerr has wanted him to play all along, and they'll sink or swim with him. Somehow, some time during the last few days, Kuminga and Butler figured out how to play together effectively, after a half season of futility. Possibly out of the mix until further notice, because the Warriors can't wait for them to get their footing: Quinten Post and Moses Moody. This is not, and won't be, the old Steph Curry Warriors, but so far it's better than New Coke (remember that?). This squad might be a slightly better defensive team without Curry. The offense, instead of flowing gracefully around Curry, depends on a more elemental scheme, basically getting the ball to Butler and running around setting picks. Poetry lite. Different? Good grief. In the first half, the Warriors — the team that revolutionized basketball with 3-point shooting — were 0-for-5 (!) from distance. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Warriors are stripped down to playground pickup-game basics, but there's enough brain power — Butler, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II — to make it kinda sing at times. And that's against a solid defensive club, in the Western Conference semifinals. Professor Kerr and his staff will be tinkering with the formula right up until tipoff Monday in Game 4 at Chase Center, but it's pretty much locked in. They just need to remind their players to never make a mistake, ever, because they can't afford to. 'When (Curry's) not here, there's no room for error,' Butler mansplained. 'You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. ... And then you've got to take the right shots.' We're in new territory here. The Warriors of past playoff runs never dashed out of the tunnel before games with the world wondering who three of the starters would be. They've never had to face extinction without Curry. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But they've never had Playoff Jimmy, or this version of Kuminga. Somehow, so far, the Warriors are no longer the doomed crew defending the Alamo. This is an even battle. If you were hoping for thrills, surprises and suspense, you are not being cheated.
San Francisco Chronicle
11-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
California wine executives plead guilty to $360,000 bribery scheme
Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits, which produces the popular Josh Cellars, employed two executives who have pleaded guilty to bribery. Esther Mobley/S.F. Chronicle Two California wine executives pleaded guilty to bribing a powerful alcohol distributor and a retailer to promote their products in exchange for approximately $360,000 in gift cards, luxury watches, golf trips and baseball tickets. Prosecutors in February charged Matthew Adler of Walnut Creek and Bryan Barnes of Hermosa Beach (Los Angeles County) with commercial bribery, saying that Adler had given money and gifts to employees of a wine distributor and that Barnes had given gift cards to an employee of a wine retailer in exchange for favoring their company's products. Court documents do not name the companies involved in the scheme. But Adler and Barnes' employer was Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits, which produces or imports some of America's most popular wine brands such as Josh Cellars and Yellow Tail, and the distributor was Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, the country's largest alcohol wholesaler, according to a source with knowledge of the case. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Both Adler, who was charged with a felony, and Barnes, who was charged with a misdemeanor, entered guilty pleas in federal court in Oakland in April. Between 2016 and 2021, Adler used a third-party vendor to bribe distributor employees with thousands of dollars in prepaid Visa and American Express gift cards; a $6,750 Panerai watch; a Bentley car rental; tickets to spring training baseball games; custom suits; $2,370 concert tickets; and more. He took four distributor employees on a trip to Pebble Beach, which 'cost tens of thousands of dollars and included rooms, golf and caddie fees, spa treatments, and thousands of dollars in room incidentals,' prosecutors said. Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits, which produces Yellow Tail wine from Australia, employed two executives who have pleaded guilty to bribery. Liz Hafalia/S.F. Chronicle Deutsch Family had a marketing budget of $1 million per year, according to the filing, but Adler lied to his company's accounting department about how he was spending his funds: In 2019 he said he spent $47,131.49 attending a wine and food festival, but he actually sent that money to distributor employees. Adler left Deutsch Family in 2021 and began working for Demeine Estates, a subsidiary of Napa Valley's Lawrence Wine Estates, according to a news release. Adler's attorney declined to comment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Barnes, meanwhile, sent thousands of dollars in prepaid gift cards to the alcohol buyer of a retail chain with 'more than 100 Southern California stores,' prosecutors said. An attorney for Barnes did not respond to a request for comment. Maintaining sellers' independence is a cornerstone of U.S. alcohol law, which has mandated a three-tier system — a separate producer, distributor and retailer — since the repeal of Prohibition. Without this separation, powerful alcohol producers could influence stores to carry their products instead of others, which would diminish competition, particularly at the expense of smaller producers. Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits has frequently been accused of anticompetitive behavior. The embattled company recently settled a major lawsuit with a competitor that complained Southern had illegally boycotted it, and last year the Federal Trade Commission sued Southern for illegal price discrimination. In 2022, the Internal Revenue Service and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau descended on Southern Glazer's office in Union City in what officials described as 'an official activity.' Advertisement Article continues below this ad Adler has a hearing scheduled for September and Barnes for October.
San Francisco Chronicle
27-04-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Why this Texas lab has been so successful at solving Bay Area cold cases
A worker cuts into a human bone, sent by medical examiners, to prepare a sample for DNA sequencing at Othram, a DNA forensics lab. The lab has helped solve cold cases in the Bay Area. Michael Wyke/For the S.F. Chronicle Investigators dredged a teenage girl's bones from a Santa Cruz riverbed in 1995. In Santa Rosa, skeletal remains of a homeless man were found three years later. Part of a skull was pulled from a ditch in Placer County in 2001. The three sets of bones went unidentified for decades, leaving families to worry and wonder about the fate of their loved ones — until this year, when investigators in each case were finally able to put names to the remains: 13-year-old Laura O'Malley, missing since 1975. Robert Michael Ream, 44. Zania Williams, who was 34 when she disappeared in 2000. The identifications were among half a dozen Northern California cases that investigators closed in just over a month. In each case, Othram, a forensic lab in Texas, developed DNA profiles from the remains that helped law enforcement agencies track down each victims' relatives. Article continues below this ad The laboratory, which sits just north of Houston, was the first in the world built specifically aimed at testing, sequencing and tracing crime scene DNA to help law enforcement identify nameless victims and criminal suspects. After sequencing the DNA, specialists at the lab upload the profiles to public genealogy databases to identify possible relatives, at which point law enforcement takes over, tracking potential family members down, collecting DNA and testing it to see whether it matches. Since its founding in 2018, the lab has developed methods to test contaminated or degraded crime scene DNA and infer relationships between relatives, and it has purchased its own genealogy database to crowdfund investigations. The lab has identified thousands of John and Jane Does, including some remains that are more than 150 years old. Article continues below this ad 'We announce a case almost every single day,' said Kristen Mittleman, one of Othram's co-founders. 'And each time we get a solve, there's a family out there waiting for that answer, (in many cases) waiting decades.' At least 15,000 Jane and John Does lie scattered in pauper's graves and morgues across the United States, in what forensic experts deem a 'silent mass disaster.' Nearly 20% of those unnamed remains are in California. Identifying remains has presented a major challenge for law enforcement agencies nationwide. Staffers prepare a sample for DNA sequencing at Othram, a DNA forensics lab that has helped solve Bay Area cold cases. Michael Wyke/For the S.F. Chronicle For decades the federal government has operated CODIS, a national database that contains DNA of criminal suspects and other genetic material collected at crime scenes or during investigations. But traditional DNA testing returned results only when investigators were able to make an exact match. Article continues below this ad If the DNA of a crime victim wasn't in the CODIS database, investigators were relegated to looking for matches through other methods, such as fingerprint comparisons or dental records. Over the years, however, the burgeoning field of genetic genealogy has changed that. Profiles conducted through traditional DNA testing in CODIS examine 20 genetic markers. Now, more advanced sequencing at Othram and elsewhere allows people to map relationships between DNA profiles, meaning they can use family trees to identify unknown DNA samples. Cold-case identifications have also become more prevalent in recent years, thanks to public genealogy databases that can contain millions of DNA samples. That means new breaks in cases that would have gone unsolved, or finally being able to name a John or Jane Doe who has gone unidentified for decades. 'In most of these cases, the leads have been exhausted for decades,' said Sgt. Andrew Clark of the Sonoma County Coroner's Office, which is tasked with ID'ing the county's unidentified bodies. 'Now we have a new avenue (to identify remains), and we're going back through and examining old cases.' Now coroners and detectives are tracking down the identities of nameless corpses — or perpetrators who have gone unpunished for decades. In California, investigators used the method to help identify the Golden State Killer in 1998, apprehending a former police officer and serial killer responsible for murdering at least 13 people and raping 50 women between 1973 and 1986. Article continues below this ad In Sonoma County, the coroner's office has more than 20 open cases of unidentified remains, Clark said. Until this year, one of those cases belonged to a man whose body was found in Santa Rosa, just off Highway 101. The man had black hair, a skull tattoo on his left bicep, and was wearing jeans, a black jacket, two brown sweaters and white sneakers, according to a 1998 story in the Chronicle a week after the body's discovery. Clark's office worked with Othram to develop a DNA profile of the remains. Using genealogical analysis, they pinpointed several of the deceased person's half brothers — finally identifying the remains as belonging to Robert Michael Ream. He was 44 years old at the time his body was found. Families have spent decades wondering what happened to their loved ones, Clark said. 'Not knowing is worse than knowing bad news,' he said. 'It's quite often for decades that they have that unsettled feeling. Now they have that peace.' Article continues below this ad With the advancements in DNA technology, the Placer County Sheriff's Office launched a cold case squad in 2023. Since then the office has closed three cases, said Elise Soviar, the spokesperson for the sheriff's office. Zania Williams, the woman whose remains were discovered in early 2001, marked the most recent success, she said. Now the department is reviewing all cold cases and any John and Jane Does to see whether there's available DNA that might help them close those cases. 'From an investigative standpoint, it's nice to feel like we can get families answers,' Soviar said. 'In many cases, it's been a very long time that they've wondered what happened to their loved ones.' In other cases, such as the 1976 murder of Karen Percifield, investigators are helping identify perpetrators who've never been held accountable for their crimes. A working lunch at Othram, a forensics lab north of Houston. Michael Wyke/For the S F Chronicle Annie Goheen spent 50 years waiting for police to tell her who killed her little sister in Aptos. In May 1976, Goheen and her husband were living at the Bayview Hotel when her mother and sister came to visit her. Goheen and her husband were performing at a bar at the hotel that night. After finishing their set, the couple went out for breakfast while Goheen's mom and sister headed to bed. When they returned, Goheen's mother told her that Percifield had gone for a walk. Goheen figured she'd headed to the beach or the park near the hotel, and she'd be back soon. But Percifield never returned. A jogger found her body several days later, in a brush-filled ravine near Aptos Village Park. She'd been stabbed twice in the chest. Months after the killing, police arrested a man named Richard Sommerhalder, charging him with murdering two other young women — but initially said they didn't believe he had any connection to Percifield's murder. Goheen eventually came to believe that he was the likely culprit, she said. 'He was a predator,' she said, recalling a friend of hers he'd been dating, only to discover that he'd assaulted her. Police never charged Sommerhalder with killing Percifield. But in 2019, Santa Cruz sheriff's deputies reopened Percifield's case, submitting evidence with the suspect's DNA to a lab in California. Using traditional DNA testing, the lab developed a profile of the sample — but was unable to match it with others in the CODIS database. Four years later, the sheriff's office sent the case to Othram, which sequenced a more comprehensive profile and then used genetic genealogy tracing to identify potential relatives, allowing detectives to connect the DNA to Sommerhalder. 'No matter how much time has passed, we will never stop seeking the truth,' Santa Cruz Sheriff Chris Clark said, in a news release announcing the development. 'Advances in DNA technology continue to provide new opportunities to deliver justice and closure to victims and their families. This case is a powerful example of how those advancements can give us the answers we've been searching for.' Sommerhalder, however, won't face trial for his crimes. He died in 1994. For Goheen, the news that police identified Sommerhalder was bittersweet. She'd spent years agonizing about that night long ago when she left the hotel to get breakfast with her husband, wondering what would have happened if she'd asked her sister to go with them, wondering whether she could have prevented the killing and saved her sister. She spent years trying to come to terms with the tragedy before she was able to forgive Sommerhalder — and even longer before she was able to forgive herself. 'I'm glad it's over with,' she said, in a phone interview. 'How dare one human inflict that much pain?'
