Craigslist: Casual Encounter Goes to Celluloid

SAN FRANCISCO – From the “Men Seeking 230 lb. Wives” to the “Women Seeking Gay Uncles,” Craigslist.org is the miracle website.

Later this year you’ll be able to see its story in a documentary in at a theater near you.

In “24 Hours on Craigslist,” San Francisco director Michael Ferris Gibson tells the story of the site that instantaneously satisfies curious needs and the man behind the name.

At the recent South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Gibson showed a rough cut of the documentary, which charts the site's far-reaching and offbeat effects on some people in San Francisco, where the site originated.

When asked if there is a real person named Craig behind the site, fans queried in the film seem to regard the question as akin to asking about the existence of God.

The movie centers around founder Craig Newmark and the site’s beginnings in 1995. It was born as a free, down-to-earth and uncensored bulletin board that revolutionized the ease and speed with which people could communicate, exchange goods and services and create community.

The site primarily focused on housing, jobs, items for sale and personal ads.. To date, Craigslist is wired up to more than two dozen U.S. cities.

Gibson told XBiz that he actually got his entire film crew from the site, and that each one of them will share in any gross profits from the movie.

The film is scheduled to be released by fall.

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