News of Cinefamily's Death Greatly Exaggerated (By Cinefamily)

January 03, 2018 in original reporting

On November 14, the Cinefamily Board of Directors announced an intention to dissolve. Now comes news from the Attorney General's office that not only has Cinefamily not dissolved, but they haven't even filed initial paperwork to do so.

We're not sure what this means, or why Cinefamily hasn't moved forward. But we think this is probably good news for Cinefamily creditors, including staff with pending wage claims, distributors who haven't been paid for screenings, and members owed refunds. The more the AG's office is aware of debts, the harder it will be for Cinefamily leadership to walk away from their responsibilities.

If you haven't yet registered your debt, this would be a good time to do so.

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.

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