'Underground Cinema 12' was the brain child of Cinema Theater manager and programmer Mike Getz. After Movies 'Round Midnight curator John Fles left Los Angeles in 1965 Getz assumed the role of programmer for the series and in 1968 transformed it into Underground Cinema 12, a series that included avant-garde, comedy, nonfiction, erotic, independent and amateur cinema. In 1968 Gene Youngblood began to author a weekly column documenting the series. In the column's first printing Youngblood said that he had decided to regularly cover Underground Cinema 12 to encourage young people to take advantage of the rare opportunities offered by the program. The psychedelic program was designed by the Intermedia Communications Company. In the early 1970s Getz expanded the program to other venues around the country including the World Theatre, 2159 North High Street in Columbus, Ohio, the Valley Art Theatre, 509 Mill Avenue in Tempe, AZ,' the Towne Theatre, Auburn at Myrtle in Sacramento, California and to the Academy, 3721 University Ave San Diego, CA. Each of the venues was described as the community's first 'far out film club.'
[Source: Los Angeles Free Press, April 19 1968]