Sammy Harkham
Cinefamily founder and board member Sammy Harkham took a break between stints of film programming at his theater on Fairfax to write about Hollywood men behaving badly. We take a closer look at Sammy’s graphic novel and his broken promises of creating a safe and responsible workplace.
Read MoreWhat 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 MoreWe hope that Brain Dead Studios offers a more safe and responsible work environment than the one that the Harkhams oversaw at Cinefamily.
Read MoreAfter agreeing to talk with this website, Fairfax Cinema changed course. Then the anonymous Tweets began. Are the Harkhams falling back on an old playbook?
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 MoreAfter yet another derailed attempt at straightforward communications with the Harkhams about Cinefamily, Fairfax Cinema, and the Silent Movie Theater, we release this letter, marking the one-year anniversary of the Board’s failure.
Read MoreRecent filings with the L.A. Department of Building and Safety indicate Cinefamily/Fairfax plans to begin renovations on the Silent Movie Theater. According to the city engineer overseeing the permit application, “they are doing some interior and exterior work to the existing theater,” including “proposing a small bar at the rear.”
Read MoreAccording to a new filing with the Los Angeles County Recorder's office, amidst all of the existing debt the Harkhams appear to have... taken on more debt!
The April 13, 2018 filing by Community Bank of Pasadena indicates a $250,000 promissory note secured by the Silent Movie Theater. Community Bank already holds a first mortgage in excess of one million dollars based on a 2015 refinancing of the property.
Read MoreIn the wake of the recent attention paid to the shady rehab industry, we take the opportunity to point out that, hey, Dan Harkham of Cinefamily and Fairfax Cinema is/was active in L.A.'s rehab industry. Sammy Harkham confirms.
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