Legendary Bay Area Publicist Karen Larsen Shutters Larsen Associates but Boutique Firm to Continue
Today, March 31, 2026, Karen Larsen will close the doors of Larsen Associates, the boutique San Francisco publicity firm she founded more than four decades ago, to pursue other interests. Her longtime colleague Tim Buckwalter will carry the work forward through a new company, Larsen Associated, preserving the firm’s relationships with Bay Area and global filmmakers and film festivals.
For over 40 years, Larsen championed filmmakers that mainstream publicity often overlooked — among them locals Marlon Riggs, Les Blank, Allie Light, Rob Nilsson, Peter Adair, Marc Huestis, Jennifer Kroot, Dan Geller, and Dayna Goldfine. She worked with distributors such as Sony Pictures Classics, IFC Films, NEON, Magnolia, Apple TV, and Janus; and led Bay Area Academy Award campaigns for films including the Oscar winners Mr. Nobody Against Putin, 20 Days in Mariupol, Navalny, Free Solo, and The Last Repair Shop.
Operating from the second floor of San Francisco’s former Ritch Street Baths, Larsen Associates also managed publicity for major Bay Area film festivals including CAAMFest, Frameline, SF IndieFest, and Mill Valley Film Festival.
Larsen and Buckwalter have worked together since 1990, when one of their first collaborations was the national theatrical and Academy Award campaign for Mark Kitchell’s Berkeley in the Sixties. Over the years, the firm’s work extended beyond film — providing research for clients including a presentation on the early internet for Larry Ellison, and a San Francisco street-renaming project — and lent publicity services to numerous Bay Area art and craft shows.
“It’s been an honor to work with Karen to discover and help foster the local film community,” says Buckwalter. “And of course, a terrific learning experience to work with someone who is a master at their craft.”
Larsen will continue to consult with independent filmmakers. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was awarded the Essential SF Award by the San Francisco Film Society in 2011. In 2026, she received the Marlon Riggs Award from the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle for her service to the local film community.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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