Cinefamily facts for kids
Outside the Brain Dead Studios, 2024
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| Capacity | 224 |
|---|---|
| Construction | |
| Built | 1942 |
| Opened | October 31, 2007 |
| Closed | November 15, 2017 |
| Years active | 2007–2017 |
The Cinefamily was a special movie theater in Beverly Grove, Los Angeles. It was a non-profit place that wanted to make watching movies more exciting. It also aimed to help people feel like they were part of a community. This unique theater was located in the historic Silent Movie Theatre building.
To watch movies at Cinefamily, people could become members. A donation allowed them to attend all screenings and events. Non-members could also buy individual tickets for shows.
Cinefamily was open from 2007 to 2017. It closed due to serious concerns about its leadership. In 2019, the theater reopened as Fairfax Cinema. The next year, a clothing company called Brain Dead took over the space. They renamed it Brain Dead Studios.
Contents
The Story of the Theater
The building where Cinefamily was located has a long history. It first opened in 1942 as The Silent Movie Theater. It was started by John Hampton, who loved silent films, and his wife Dorothy. Hampton had a huge private collection of silent films. He showed them only in his own theater. The theater closed in 1979 because not enough people were coming.
After Hampton passed away, the Silent Movie Theater reopened in 1991. It stayed open until January 1997, when its owner, Lawrence Austin, faced an unfortunate event.
In 2007, Hadrian Belove, Sammy Harkham, and his brother Dan started Cinefamily. It officially opened its doors on Halloween of 2007. Hadrian had co-founded a video store called Cinefile Video. Sammy was a co-owner of the nearby Family Bookstore.
What Movies and Events Were Shown?
Cinefamily offered many different types of films and events. They showed everything from old silent movies to new films. They also hosted live comedy shows and live music. Sometimes they showed "found footage" or mixed media art. After some movies, they would have long question-and-answer sessions.
They created special movie series about famous filmmakers. These included Jim Henson, Jerry Lewis, John Cassavetes, and Andrzej Zulawski. Musicians like No Age and Stephin Merritt even created live music for films shown there.
Some of Cinefamily's other programs included "Animation Breakdown" and "Don’t Knock the Rock." They also had "Everything is Festival!" and special reunion events. These reunions celebrated shows like The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast. They even had special pajama party screenings just for women.
In 2010, Cinefamily showed the independent film Double Down by Neil Breen. This movie gained a small group of dedicated fans. In 2011, the Greek film Dogtooth was shown. It was so popular that it sold out and later received an Academy Award nomination. Cinefamily also held special screenings for films like We Need to Talk About Kevin and Battle Royale.
Starting in 2011, Cinefamily held a 24-hour holiday event called a telethon. During the second annual telethon, actor Robert Downey Jr. appeared. He promised to donate money to help upgrade the theater. About $144,000 was raised to install digital projectors and make repairs. In 2014, Robert Downey Jr. and his father, Robert Downey Sr., helped raise money. They appeared at a special event celebrating Robert Downey Sr.'s films.
The artist group Everything Is Terrible! held events at the theater starting in 2012. In 2014, they displayed their huge collection of over 7,000 Jerry Maguire VHS tapes. They arranged them to look like a "Jerry Throne."
From 2013, the theater hosted SpectreFest. This was a festival from SpectreVision, an indie horror film company co-founded by Elijah Wood. That same year, director Quentin Tarantino hosted a screening of films by Robert Blake. There was also a special series of films by Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson himself appeared and played music with Harry Dean Stanton.
In 2014, Mel Brooks presented a film from 1973 called Your Show of Shows. Director Werner Herzog also visited for a week-long showing of his 1979 film Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht. In 2015, Cinefamily helped restore the 1973 Japanese animated film Belladonna of Sadness.
In 2016, the theater held an X-Files marathon. It included a live episode of Kumail Nanjiani's podcast, The X-Files Files.
Why Cinefamily Closed
In August 2017, serious concerns were raised about the behavior of some leaders at Cinefamily. These concerns led to the resignation of Hadrian Belove and Shadie Elnashai on August 22, 2017. Actress Brie Larson, who helped start Women of Cinefamily, also stepped away from the organization. Cinefamily then stopped all its operations on August 26. Many former volunteers and employees shared stories about an unwelcoming atmosphere for women at the theater.
On November 14, 2017, Cinefamily officially announced its closure. This decision followed an independent investigation into the concerns. By January 2018, a website was created by a former member to continue looking into the theater's past issues.
A New Beginning for the Theater
On December 25, 2019, the theater reopened after a year of renovations. Dan and Sammy Harkham, who helped start Cinefamily, reopened it as Fairfax Cinema.
On October 6, 2020, the clothing company Brain Dead announced they would be leasing the space. They rebranded the theater as Brain Dead Studios. This new venue focuses on cult films and has an outdoor cafe with Asian food. Kyle Ng, a co-founder of Brain Dead, was a Cinefamily member. He acknowledged the past issues of the former theater. He stated that it's important to move forward and create a better example.
He explained that Brain Dead Studios wants to welcome a new generation of movie lovers. They also want to include older film fans. The main goal is to introduce new people to film and create a fresh, inclusive culture around cinema. Kyle Ng emphasized that no one involved in the new theater's programming or management was part of Cinefamily before. They are committed to making the space inviting for everyone.
