New Resource for Cinefamily Creditors

January 12, 2018 in original reporting

Many film distributors, contractors, donors, and other creditors have reported an inability to reach Cinefamily regarding outstanding debts. Creditors have specifically cited the unresponsiveness of Cinefamily accountant Erin Hensley and Cinefamily principal Dan Harkham. Hensley is now the managing director at Harkham's Fairfax Cinema. She can be reached at erin [at] fairfaxcinema [dot] com. Harkham can be reached at dan [at] fairfaxcinema [dot] com.

If creditors have any success at collecting on debt, please let us know! In the meantime, we still recommend communicating with the appropriate governmental entities for a "belt-and-suspenders approach." We've updated the creditor resources to reflect the new information.

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.