Dan 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 MoreTwo New Harkham Projects Emerge
“Uncut Gems” [Was] to Open Cinefamily / Fairfax on Christmas 2019 [Updated]
![“Uncut Gems” [Was] to Open Cinefamily / Fairfax on Christmas 2019 [Updated]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d859da3ebd96315b08954f5/1576697160012-KX13QRW4X6J7UEUUJL2N/sandler.jpg)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fairfax Cinema—the rebranded Cinefamily entity—will open next week with a 35mm run of “Uncut Gems,” the new Safdie Brothers movie starring Adam Sandler. Yet inaccuracies in THR reporting left readers scratching their heads, and roiling anger over the Cinefamily scandal spilled into social media and may have caused the filmmakers to rethink their plans.
Read MoreOver $1M Missing in Latest Cinefamily Tax Filing
Dan 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 MoreWho's Hurting the Arts in L.A. Better?
Not an easy call.
Read MoreRonan Farrow, National Treasure
in commentary
Ronan Farrow’s new book comes out this week, and it seems to hit on some recurring themes.
From Rebecca Traister in The Cut:
New California Laws Ban Common Cinefamily Practices
in commentary
Two new laws attack exploitative workplace practices reportedly at the heart of Cinefamily’s business model— employee misclassification and forced arbitration agreements.
Read MoreUnfinished Business: The Enablers
in commentary
The future of workplace safety is up in the air. We don’t yet know if #MeToo will herald a new era of responsibility, or if it’s just the latest in a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. Changing the culture is a long-term project, and while (some) perpetrators have been held accountable, new ones take their place every day. For sustainable, lasting change, we have to walk and chew gum at the same time: as we hold jerks to account, we must also attend to the systems and structures that support and protect them.
On seeing a ‘life ruined,’ a hit of smug superiority can give a false sense of justice served—false because this downfall addresses only part of the problem. Increasingly, advocates and the press are putting enablers under the microscope…
Read MoreNew Fairfax Cinema Lighting, Film Community Still in the Dark
Fancy new seating, fancy new lighting, and “a fall opening with much the same program as Cinefamily.” Now, about that Certificate of Occupancy…
Read MoreWhat Can the Harkhams Buy for $250,000?
This 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 MoreOn Toxic Masculinity, Cinefamily/Fairfax, and the Harkhams
in commentary
August 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 MoreExclusive Pics of Cinefamily / Fairfax Renovations: Frontage or Fronting?
An intrepid visitor to 611 N. Fairfax sends along these fresh pictures of the renovations Dan and Sammy Harkham are making to the Silent Movie Theater.
Read MoreHarkhams’ Haunted Hall of Harassment
Once 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 MoreFairfax Cinema Lobbyist: Change of Plans
A 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 / Fairfax Hires Lobbyist to Woo City, Community
Cinefamily / Fairfax’s Dan Harkham has brought a veteran lobbyist onto the team. Apex LA’s Margaret Taylor is expected to help the Harkhams secure a conditional use permit to allow beer and wine sales at the rebranded Fairfax Cinema at the Silent Movie Theater.
Read MoreICYMI
A new L.A. publication lays out “After Cinefamily’s Demise, Where to Watch Movies.”
No mention of the Harkhams’ Fairfax Cinema. 🤔
Read MoreHarkhams Make (Yet Another) Half-Assed Effort to Run Away from Cinefamily
Cinefamily 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 MoreFairfax Attempts Opening, Cinefamily Gets More Tax Woes
In 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 MoreNew 2019 California Laws Fight Wage Theft, Sexual Harassment
in commentary
A new set of laws went into effect on January 1. They probably would have helped workers at Cinefamily. Hopefully at Fairfax Cinema the Harkhams will increase their attentions to wage theft, workplace bullying, and sexual harassment and abuse.
Read MoreFairfax Licensing on Hold, Sacramento Weighs Harkhams' "Fitness"
The ABC’s License Query System indicates the Harkhams’ application for a license to sell alcohol at the Silent Movie Theater’s Fairfax Cinema has been placed on hold. Are they a “public nuisance?” Was Cinefamily?
Read MoreYet Another Cinefamily Sexual Harassment Lawsuit!
In 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