I’m pleased to report that the Laemmle Charitable Foundation contributed $133,000 to local non-profit organizations in 2014. This represents a 10% increase over 2013 giving.

Our largest gift was made to the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. With $10,000, the Foundation became the first sponsor of the organization’s Operation Firefly program. This program runs from November through February, setting up bike light distribution points throughout LA County. Free light sets are distributed to riders who are caught out at night without this vital safety equipment. Since many people are riding out of economic necessity, they are unable to afford lights, or can not afford to replace stolen lights. This program helps make our streets safer for the most vulnerable road users.

We continue to support a number of local environmental groups that are helping to make Los Angeles more sustainable. Included here are organizations such as Friends of the Los Angeles River, Heal the Bay, Tree People and The Trust for Public Land – Parks for People LA.

Food security is an issue in Los Angeles. So we support traditional food banks like SOVA. But we also support innovation organizations like Food Forward that provide fresh fruit and product to food pantries by gleaning fruit from wholesalers, farmer’s markets, and even by picking fruit from backyard trees.

Homelessness is also one of those intractable problems for our community. So we make it a point to support a number of organizations working on short-term and long-term solutions for this problem. These include OPCC, Chrysalis, Union Station Homeless Services and LA Family Housing, among others.

While we tend to develop long-standing relationships with the organizations we support. Some organizations have been supported by the Foundation since our inception in 2000. But we also like to find new groups to support. This year, these include Valley Community Healthcare, Ascencia, and The Maple Counseling Center.

Los Angeles is a great place to live. But it can be better, healthier, more sustainable, and more just. We feel that these organizations are working hard everyday to address the problems that face our community. We are proud to be able to support them with our grants and we invite you to join us and make a year-end, tax deductible contribution.

The Spirit Awards turn 30 next February 21, and lots of the film we’ve shown, are showing or will show are up for shiny hardware. BIRDMAN and BOYHOOD are the worthy nominees with the most nods, but other terrific, startlingly original films you can see at Laemmle Theatres include CITIZENFOUR, MOMMY, WHIPLASH, SELMA, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT and more. John Waters, a frequent host of the proceedings, calls it his “kind of crowd…sexually confused…and financially challenged.” Here are his birthday wishes for Spirit Awards:

Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson of Indiewire are pleased with Film Independent’s Choices, which they think are a return to the organization’s non-conformist roots. (Last year the Spirit Awards and Oscars were carbon copies of each other in most of the major categories.) Listen to their conversation.

In last week’s issue of the Los Angeles Business Journal (membership required), Greg Laemmle urged leaders in Sacramento and Los Angeles to help create a greener, more connected Los Angeles through good policy, urban planning, and smart business practices.

Business owners often have a stereotype of being cold and dismissive of their employees and the local area’s needs. However, this is a stereotype of owners in the past and isn’t true for the newest, brightest owners and CEO’s who understand that in order to have a thriving business, every part of the business needs to be looked after.

For the employees, this includes providing employee benefits, have a high-quality HR system that deals with issues quickly, and look for new ways to keep employees engaged. Using Zenefits for HR software is a good idea for companies who want to maintain a good working environment for their employees. However, it’s not just the employees that need to be considered. Providing care and resources for the local area will help businesses be thought of fondly by the locals and ensure a good public image. This mutually benefits the area and business which is why Laemmle is calling for businesses to contribute to transforming neighborhoods into pedestrian-friendly business hubs. To contribute to this, businesses should really consider installing Burglar alarms in order to deter criminals from operating in the neighborhood which will, in turn, encourage more consumers and business owners to show an interest in the area. If businesses show that they care about their premises enough to take their security seriously, this will give customers confidence in their local businesses.

Greg cited the Playhouse 7 in Pasadena as an example of how an infrastructure that encourages walking, cycling, and public transit can benefit commerce and community.
“When we built the Playhouse 7 in Pasadena in 1999, we used shared-parking agreements. There was an understanding that as the area grew, the Playhouse District would add parking. Once the Gold Line started running in the area, many of the surface parking lots in the immediate vicinity of the theater were developed into mixed-use buildings with retail on the ground floor and residential units above. The area became denser, more vibrant – a real 24-hour neighborhood.

The Playhouse District never did add more parking but our business hasn’t suffered. Instead, people are finding alternative ways to get to the area – walking, biking or taking public transit. The economic boom that made the neighborhood more vibrant happened without adding parking – instead, we helped create a more authentic neighborhood commercial experience, and the city of Pasadena saved money for other vital needs.”
We hope to replicate the success of the Playhouse 7 in the coming months when we break ground on the Laemmle Lofts project in Glendale, a five-screen theater with 42 apartments and 6,000 square feet of commercial space.

Download and read the full article: Measuring-Commerce-by-Foot-LA-Business-Journal.PDF

A special note to our Valley fans: We continue to search for similar projects in West Valley neighborhoods and sincerely appreciate your support.