Dan Harkham
What does Dan and Sammy Harkhams’ Cinefamily have in common with some of the most beloved brands of the 1980s? Ongoing allegations of workplace abuses, sexual improprieties, and board coverups — well into the 21st century.
Read MoreIn which we present a condensed history of Cinefamily and accountability and Cinefamily Accountability. Featuring Dan and Sammy Harkham and their Board of Directors, that one guy who traumatized everyone (and needed a bath), and Brain Dead Studios. Also we try to answer: so what are we doing here again?
Read MoreWe hope that Brain Dead Studios offers a more safe and responsible work environment than the one that the Harkhams oversaw at Cinefamily.
Read MoreIt would be inaccurate reporting to say that the L.A. Planning Commission unanimously found Dan Harkham to be a bad person. But only a little?
Read MoreNearly a year to the day after being overwhelmingly opposed at the local neighborhood council, Dan Harkham’s hotel project gets pulled from the City Planning Commission agenda.
Read MoreMore than three hours into a neighborhood council meeting, community support for a proposed Harkham hotel project in Pico Robertson turned into opposition.
Read MoreDan Harkham’s proposed hotel is going to the South Robertson Neighborhood Council for a vote. Will his track record at Cinefamily endear him to the community?
Read MoreRather than oversee Cinefamily or Fairfax Cinema, Dan Harkham develops hotels. What can we learn from a 20-year old dispute involving a Harkham strike, rabbis marching with bitter herbs, and a hotel rebranding?
Read MoreAfter more than two years of planning, Dan and Sammy Harkham’s Fairfax Cinema opened its doors to the public on December 25, 2019. The new staff report having to address old business.
Read MoreDan Harkham is trying to open a theater and a hotel at the same time. This website unearths a Cinefamily Employee Handbook. How do those two things connect?
Focus, and ask again.
Read MoreDan Harkham filed Cinefamily’s 2017 taxes. Most of the document is either missing or incoherent, but we try to make sense of the numbers.
Read MoreNot an easy call.
Read MoreFancy new seating, fancy new lighting, and “a fall opening with much the same program as Cinefamily.” Now, about that Certificate of Occupancy…
Read MoreThis installment on the political life of the Harkhams (Silent Movie Theater / Cinefamily / Fairfax Cinema) will analyze the family’s donations to politicians and to political action committees (PACs).
Read MoreAugust 2019 will mark two years since jerks like Hadrian Belove and Shadie Elnashai ruined Cinefamily. Two years since jerks on Cinefamily’s Board rushed to shut the organization down rather than fix it, and paid for a secret report allegedly clearing them of wrongdoing. Two years since jerks like Dan and Sammy Harkham oversaw its demise, grabbed what they could, and tried for a rebrand and a do-over.
We attempt to mark the occasion, visit a new cinema, and provide a programming note…
Read MoreOnce in a while, the ol’ Google Alert delivers a real gem, like Ethan and Bethanie Newman’s recent podcast about the Silent Movie Theater.
Read MoreA disclosure from the Harkhams’ former lobbyist raises new questions about the viability of the project, and signals that the renovations and rebranding may not be on track.
Read MoreCinefamily ceased operations in August 2017 and Dan Harkham launched Fairfax Cinema shortly thereafter. But Cinefamily continues to exist as a legal entity. Newly-discovered state filings suggest Cinefamily finally closed. Except here’s why it didn’t.
Read MoreIn late 2018 the Harkhams applied for a Certificate of Occupancy from the L.A. Department of Building and Safety for the Silent Movie Theater’s Fairfax Cinema (Cinefamily). As of this writing in early February 2019, the application is still pending. New documents indicate that plans for the venue may have changed yet again, possibly related to an alcohol licensing challenge with the state ABC.
Read MoreIn November 2017, months after closing their doors, Cinefamily was named as a defendant in yet another lawsuit. (Hadrian Belove was also named as a defendant.)
Read More
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