NewFilmmakers LA Gives Year-Round Access to Emerging Talent

Executive Director and Co-Founder of NewFilmmakers Los Angeles Larry Laboe gives an overview of this unique film festival, which holds screenings on a monthly basis rather than an annual event.

The NewFilmmakers Series actually began over a decade ago in New York at the renowned Anthology Film Archives, with more than 500 features and 1,600 shorts is New York’s oldest and leading screening series. Many well known films were launched at NewFilmmakers, including Too Much Sleep, Zero Day, and Blair Witch Project.

“One of the really cool things about NewFilmmakers is we have already a built-in audience – not just of patrons who come – I mean over 30,000 people have come to our festival since it was founded,” Laboe said. “But we have a core group of 1,700 active, dues paying members who pay to go by buying an annual membership.”

The biggest difference between NewFilmmakers Los Angeles and other L.A.-area film festivals is the aspect of monthly screenings, which provide opportunities for new talent to get their projects seen and the ability to collaborate with other filmmakers on a year-round basis.

“Community really sums it up, you have that community once a year, but I want to fulfill that community every month, I want to have a place where I can go – both as just someone in the community who wants to see stuff new, and network and connect with people,” he said. “And also as a content creator, as somebody who might have something at any point in the year that I don’t necessarily wait, to show.”

Laboe points out that in today’s world, filmmakers of all backgrounds and experience levels have a much easier time learning the process and getting access to equipment than at any time before.

“Filmmaking now is accessible to anybody who really wants to know about it… there’s a lot more access than there ever was before, so I think that’s really powerful and exciting.”

Watch the full interview for more about NewFilmmakers L.A. and to hear Laboe explain the advantages of using crowdsourcing site Seed & Spark, as well as his thoughts on creating a short film as a pilot for a web series.

Guest Bio

A member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), Larry Laboe has contributed to marketing campaigns by some of the world’s most prestigious advertising firms, including McCann-Erickson Worldwide, Publicis Groupe, Cheil, J. Walter Thompson (JWT) and Arnold Advertising Worldwide. After producing numerous short and feature film productions, Larry began producing television and new media projects with international digital production house SXM. His first network series was NBC’s ‘Ctrl’ starring Tony Hale and Steve Howey. Since, Larry has produced for top networks and brands including Disney, NBC, CBS, VEVO, Dailymotion, MTV, Break Media (now DEFY Media), Comedy Central, IKEA, Samsung, Coca-Cola and Smuckers. Projects have included talent such as James Franco and Joesph Gordon Levitt.

These series have been viewed more than 1 billion times over both traditional and new media, and have garnered multiple awards at BANFF, SXSW, NATPE, MIPTV, Cannes and the Webbys. The series have been covered in publications worldwide and SXM has been profiled by publications such as Fast Company. Titles produced by SXM include CTRL, Fact Checkers Unit, Easy to Assemble, Armed Response, SOS Island, Matumbo Goldberg, The Comment Show, Kitchen Jam, Diagnosis Stories, and Extreme Retreat among others.

In addition, Larry is a co-founder of the non-profit organization, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA), which helps to highlight emerging, independent filmmakers from around the globe. He currently serves as Executive Director. He also teaches Advanced New Media and Alternative Distribution at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI).