American cinematic artist Bruce Baillie founded Canyon Cinema as a filmmakers co-operative in about 1961. Baillie created it as an exhibition outlet for independent motion picture film. It then was formally established as Canyon Cinema, Inc., an independent, non-commercial film distributor in 1967.
This corporation was dissolved in 2013, following the transfer of its assets and operations to the Canyon Cinema Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
Canyon Cinema Foundation in San Francisco is a nonprofit founded in 2013 and dedicated to educating the public about independent, non-commercial, experimental, avant-garde and artist-made moving images. It nurtures scholarship and awareness with public programming at universities and nonprofit cultural organizations worldwide. With The Film Makers Cooperative, Canyon Cinema is one of the only major sources for prints of avant-garde and experimental film in America, and related research information.