The Last Repair Shop facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Last Repair Shop
Official poster
Directed by	Ben Proudfoot Kris Bowers
Produced by	Ben Proudfoot Jeremy Lambert Josh Rosenberg Kris Bowers
Starring	Dana Atkinson Paty Moreno Duane Michaels Steve Bagmanyan
Music by	Katya Richardson Kris Bowers
Cinematography	David Feeney-Mosier
Editing by	Nick Garnham Wright
Studio	Breakwater Studios
Distributed by	Searchlight Pictures L.A. Times Studios
Release date(s)	September 1, 2023 (2023-09-01) (Telluride)
Running time	39 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Last Repair Shop is a short documentary film from 2023. It was directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers. The film was first shown on September 1, 2023, at the 50th Telluride Film Festival. It later won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film on March 10, 2024.

About the Film

This film tells a special story. Since 1959, Los Angeles has fixed musical instruments for public school students. They do this for free! About 80,000 instruments are kept in good shape. A small group of skilled people work in a downtown Los Angeles warehouse. They are the ones who fix all these instruments.

The movie shows four of these amazing craftspeople. Each person is an expert in fixing instruments for a different part of an orchestra. The film also shares stories of students. Their lives have been made better because of this repair shop. The movie ends with a musical performance. This performance features former students from the school district.

Meet the People in the Film

The film features these talented individuals:

• Dana Atkinson
• Paty Moreno
• Duane Michaels
• Steve Bagmanyan

How the Film Was Made

The directors, Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers, had worked together before. They made another short documentary called Concerto is a Conversation. That film was also nominated for an Oscar in 2022.

The idea for The Last Repair Shop came from producer Jeremy Lambert. He found an article about the Los Angeles Unified School District's instrument repair workshop. This workshop has been open for 64 years!

Kris Bowers remembered the workshop from his own school days. He was an LAUSD student. He was surprised to see how small the workshop was. It became the main focus of the film. They decided to show the lives of four of the workshop's skilled workers. Kris Bowers' first instrument was a saxophone from the school. He felt it was important to also show the students. One of the staff members interviewed was Steve Bagmanyan. He is a piano technician. Steve is an Armenian refugee from Azerbaijan. He had even tuned the pianos Kris Bowers used in elementary and middle school!

Film Release and Screenings

The film first showed on September 1, 2023. This was at the 50th Telluride Film Festival. It was part of a special section for short films. On September 24, it won an award. It was named Best Documentary Short Film at the 2023 Calgary International Film Festival.

In October 2023, the film was shown at the Middleburg Film Festival. That same month, Searchlight Pictures and L.A. Times Studios bought the film. This made it available for everyone to watch for free. You could find it on the Los Angeles Times YouTube channel and website starting November 8, 2023. It also became available on Disney+ and other platforms worldwide on January 23, 2024.

On February 16, 2024, the film was shown in many movie theaters. More than 700 screens in the U.S. and Canada played it. This was part of ShortsTV’s yearly Oscar Nominated Short Films event.

The film also aired on television. It was shown on American Broadcasting Company (ABC) stations on February 17, 2024. This was a big deal. It was the first Oscar-nominated short film ever to be shown on TV!

How the Film Made a Difference

The film has had a positive impact. The LAUSD Education Foundation is now working on a big project. They want to raise $15 million. This money will help the musical instrument repair shop. It will support the workshop and its amazing staff. The fund will also create a training program. This program will teach students to become future instrument technicians.

Awards and Recognition

The film has received many awards and nominations:

See Also

• Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film
• Submissions for Best Documentary Short Academy Award