The L.A. film industry is less “red carpet and limos” nowadays and more “figuring out how to mix your own audio and light your own set.” Despite these conditions, rising directors and filmmakers still dare to create motion pictures against the odds.
Some of the folks that understand the hustle best are the ones running Silver Lake Shorts, a 501(c)3 non-profit that hosts free monthly screenings at El Cid on Sunset Boulevard. During each showing, they screen about 90 minutes of short films, both animated and live action.
“It just creates this really beautiful dynamic of more established creators screening top-level stuff, and then more emerging creators testing things out and working through things and seeing their work screened with a big crowd,” co-executive director Jared Corwin tells L.A. TACO.
Corwin moved to L.A. in 2014 to pursue TV writing, subsidizing his aspirations with steady budtending. In 2020, he screened his short film at an earlier rendition of “Silver Lake Shorts,” which was started by Ben Sharp, current co-executive director and past El Cid manager.
The duo spent the last few years developing Silver Lake Shorts into what it is now, a sponsored organization platforming artists and even funding a group of directing fellows. Every month they prove that there’s a lively ecosystem of filmmakers, many of them on the brink of creating their own magnum opus.
Whether you’re into mindfuck sci-fi, grieving puppets, or heavy stories about identity, these are 10 L.A. filmmakers you need to be watching right now.