Fairfax Cinema (Cinefamily 2) Opens Its Doors

After more than two years of planning, Dan and Sammy Harkham’s Fairfax Cinema opened its doors to the public on December 25, 2019. The first screening was 1983’s Variety, described on IMDB as:

A woman becomes obsessed with pornography and the mysterious rich patron of the Times Square porn theater called Variety where she works selling tickets. This awakens her sexuality, which confuses her worried boyfriend.

In rebranding the shuttered Cinefamily, the Harkhams have spoken of setting a new tone and a “much higher standard.” Perhaps opening the new run with a controversial story of obsession and porn set in a workplace—a movie theater—was winking self-referentiality? In any event, the first week of operations has seen stumbles:

*Horseshoes, hand grenades, & building permits?*

Originally, THR reported Fairfax Cinema would open Christmas Day with the West Coast 35mm exclusive screening of Uncut Gems. The LATimes later reported the film’s distributor, A24, pulled the screening following online controversy.
Fairfax Cinema appears to be operating without proper paperwork from the L.A. Department of Building and Safety. On December 19, LADBS Building Inspector Jonathan Quach confirmed the city was “in the process of issuing the [Certificate of Occupancy],” and suggested it would be issued by December 25. As of Christmas, the Certificate was still “on hold” (see nearby image), but Fairfax reportedly opened its doors anyhow. (As of this writing, the Certificate has still not been issued, and LADBS staff have not replied to questions.)
Sammy Harkham added “An open letter to the community” to the Fairfax Cinema website, addressing the public controversy about Cinefamily. It was not well-received on social media.

Seemingly spurred by negative comments on social media, a Fairfax Cinema staffer has reached out to former Cinefamily employees who have expressed concerns. When contacted by this website, however, the staffer reports his knowledge of Cinefamily is “limited at best” because he “joined the company recently.”

This website is pleased to once more have a line of communication to Fairfax Cinema, which again confirms what we reported in early 2018: the plan is to be “a for-profit revival theater.” We hope additional conversations will shed more light on Fairfax Cinema programming, amenities, staffing, and governance.

In addition to a website, Fairfax Cinema maintains a presence on Instagram and on Facebook. (There are also many imitators for your amusement. This website, Cinefamily Accountability, has no connection to any such parody account.)

Update 1/2/20: This post has been edited. A previous version of this post misunderstood comments from a Fairfax Cinema spokesperson. We regret the mistaken inference.

TL;DR

For the decade of Cinefamily’s existence, and for a certain sort of weirdo, the nonprofit single-screen cinematheque was the best thing about L.A.

In August 2017 we discovered Cinefamily was also a harmful place, especially for workers and for women. Reporting at the time focused on workplace sexual harassment, but when this website investigated we found a deeper rot. Former insiders told us of alleged assault, retaliation, wage theft, and embezzlement—as well as fraud against distributors, taxpayers, and regulators.

Cinefamily’s $2 million annual budget was subsidized by taxpayers and overseen by professionals. If the board of directors had done its job, damage may have been reduced, and Cinefamily might still exist. Instead, evidence indicates some directors were not only aware of problems, but were involved in covering them up.

This website provides original reporting as an ongoing call for institutional responsibility. We seek what the board promised: a credible and comprehensive accounting, victims heard and creditors paid, and a new approach to corporate governance and community accountability.

Please reach out with questions, complaints, tips.