ONE FINGER RIOT PREMIERES ‘GIVE ME A DRUG THAT WORKS FOREVER’

We're excited to share this gorgeously shot, travel lust evoking, music video for One Finger Riot's single 'Give me a drug that works forever'. The LA-based indie band shot the scenes featuring front man and artist Sam Friedman staring, singing and jamming, in our Media Lab! http://vimeo.com/102793740

Looking for an amazing space to shoot your next music video... or webisode... or Youtube series? Hit us up, we'll hook you up!

 

 

Maker City LA Partners with L.A. Fashion Council To Present Spring 2015 LA Collections

lafw_main We are thrilled to partner with the Los Angeles Fashion Council to present the Spring '15 LA Collections at Maker City LA during LA Fashion Week in October!  The multi-day affair will showcase the work of a coterie of carefully curated local fashion and accessory designers to industry insiders, buyers, journalists and bloggers.  Interested designers can apply for consideration here.

The collections will take place October 7th-9th.

Read what the LA Times and California Apparel News have to say about this exciting collaboration (in partnership with LAFashionWeek.com)  below:

L.A. Fashion Council announces spring 2015 plans, partnerships (LA TIMES)

Smith, Uner to Relaunch FashionWeekLA.com (APPAREL NEWS)

www.losangelesfashioncouncil.org

 

 

Connecting: Makers

Posting this for obvious reasons- enjoy! Why do we make? Connecting: Makers examines how the connected world is changing the nature of creativity. When everyone is a maker, new possibilities emerge, but with them come new responsibilities about digital transparency, cultural awareness, and the role of the designer.

http://vimeo.com/96699192

Connecting: Makers is the second film in the Connecting Series.

Watch both films at connectingthefilm.com.

CNN Honors Our Friends at WriteGirl

Congratulations to our friend Keren Taylor,  for being selected as one of CNN's 2014 Heroes. This initiative honors "Everyday People" who are "Changing the World".  As the founder of WriteGirl, an LA-based organization that's giving teen girls a voice by teaching them to wield the power of the pen, Taylor certainly fits the bill.  No stranger to high level praise for her amazing work, Taylor was presented with a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award  by Michelle Obama in 2013. We ourselves are honored to have had the pleasure of hosting several Write Girl workshops at Maker City LA over the course of this year and look forward to continued collaboration with this wonderful organization.  Watch CNN's coverage of a Write Girl Fiction workshop that took place earlier this year at Maker City LA below and be prepared to be inspired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO4mugQm17c

Interested in supporting Write Girl right now? Learn how to contribute to their third annual Poetry Drive below. Buy a Poem, Help a Girl!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/third-annual-writegirl-poetry-drive-buy-a-poem-help-a-girl

 

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#BringTechShoptoLA with @MakerCityLA, @TechShop, & @LA2050

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Last Thursday we took to the twittersphere with our amazing partners, @TechShop and @LA2050, to help get the word out about the campaign to #BringTechShopToLA! We engaged a #NationOfMakers in conversion about innovation, technology and the Maker movement in #LosAngeles and beyond.  Check out this tweet-by-tweet Storify recap that our friends at LA2050 created for your engagement:
[View the story "#BringTechShoptoLA with @MakerCityLA, @TechShop, & @LA2050" on Storify]
Learn more about the campaign to #BringTechShopToLA here.

#CultureBrainPickings Draws a Curious Crowd

culturebrainpickings On Wednesday evening, fans of Brainpickings.org came out in droves to see  the popular blog's NYC-based founder Maria Popova get her brain picked by CultureBrain's Sharon Ann Lee. The event - appropriately tagged #CultureBrainPickings for the social media savvy crowd -   featured an inspiring conversation between culture and trend analyst, Lee and interestingness hunter, Popova.

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Enjoy these choice tweets from this special event:

First Ever White House Maker Faire Unites #NationOfMakers

whmakerfaire It's been a great week for the Maker movement. On Tuesday, President Obama visited a TechShop location in Pittsburgh on where he spoke about his agenda for economic development and lauded facilities like TechShop for spurring innovation in manufacturing by providing high-tech resource sharing, and homegrown R&D facilitation to communities across the country.

Yesterday, the White House hosted its first annual Maker Faire where tinkerers, builders, entrepreneurs, inventors and creators converged in our nation's capital to celebrate the Maker Movement.  President Obama proclaimed June 18, 2014 a National Day of Making, saying, "I call upon all Americans to observe this day with programs, ceremonies, and activities that encourage a new generation of makers and manufacturers to share their talents and hone their skills." Read the Presidential Proclamation here (or watch the full video below). Learn more about the 2014 White House Maker Faire participants and festivities here.

Want to know more about efforts to #BringTechShopToLA  or learn about joining the #NationOfMakers movement? Join us for a twitter party discussion next Thursday, June 26th from 1-2pm.  No need to fly to the east coast - this is a virtual event so you can tweet in from anywhere.  Info available here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wHorfRvvcE

President Obama Visits TechShop, Pittsburgh; Joins the Maker Movement!

President Obama learns from Terry Sandin about the injection molder, a machine at TechShop Pittsburgh in Bakery Square. (Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette) Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/06/17/Obama-arrives-in-Pittsburgh/stories/201406170170#ixzz352yiQHdz Yesterday, President Obama visited a TechShop location in Pittsburgh's Bakery Square neighborhood where he spoke about  innovation in manufacturing and the importance of  high-tech resource sharing. These are all things that TechShop is delivering to communities across the country and why we're so thrilled about the movement to bring a TechShop facility to LA.

Read The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's coverage of the Prez's high-tech visit here.

 

 

Pre Lit Green Screen Action in Full Effect!

Did you know that our Media Lab features a soundproofed filming area with a pre-lit green screen and a new Kino Flo lighting system? Our friends at Knox Ave films took full advantage of the facilities when they shot this quirky/funny/cool video for DJ LIquid. Check it out: http://vimeo.com/97985434

DJ LIQUID from Knox Avenue on Vimeo.

Interested in creating your own film magic?

Contact us to schedule a tour of the media lab or book a studio session today!

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Creative District Dubs Maker City LA A "Great Resource For Indie Filmmakers"

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Our friends at Creative District wrote an awesome post on their blog as a follow up to last week's indie filmmaker mixer here, at Maker City LA.  In addition to Seed & Spark, NationBuilder and Technicolor's new online platform for creative collaboration, we're proud to have been listed as an essential resource for Indie filmmakers. Here's an excerpt:

"4 Great Resources for Indie Filmmakers

This Monday we hosted an independent filmmaker mixer at Maker City L.A. along with our friends at Seed & Spark and NationBuilder.

Over 100 L.A. film and media makers joined us for a night of inspiring conversations, featuring  a panel and Q&A with filmmakers Mia Chang and Brian Dannelly, moderated by Karen Worden ofFilm Courage.

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For those who didn't attend, we’d like to introduce you to our event collaborators. Each of these organizations offers important resources for filmmakers and are all based in Los Angeles.

1. Creative District is a professional network for filmmakers and artists to collaborate. Showcase your work, find opportunities, and build your creative career all in one place. Over 10,000 creatives are collaborating on thousands of projects on CD, and we’d love to have you among them. Sign up today.

2. Seed&Spark is building a truly independent film community where filmmakers and audiences join forces to fund, promote and watch the best new independent films. Seed&Spark’s film-specific crowdfunding tool - the WishList - allows supporters to buy or loan specific items to a production (all of which count toward the fundraising goal). Their fees are also the lowest in the business, and their success rate is the highest (70%!) Filmmakers who choose to stream their films on Seed&Spark keep 80% of the transactional revenue, and Seed*Spark takes no rights. It’s your film!

3. Nationbuilder is community organizing software used by filmmakers, studios, agencies, and actors to help them raise funds, connect with influences and fans, and increase visibility of their work.

NationBuilder has quite a few films and production companies organizing on our software with great success, including Dear White People, Invisible War, The Bully Project, Brave New Films, Mediamente.TV, The Lost Bird Project, and more.

Read more about how grassroots organizing with NationBuilder helps films connect with audiences, and contact Jeff Mallare (jmallare@nationbuilder.com) or Carlin Scrudato (cscrudato@nationbuilder.com).

4. Maker City L.A. provides an elegant and affordable space for film and media makers, and is extending a special discounted Media Lab rate to our network.  Watch as the stars of Sock Puppet Sitcom Theater demonstrate the capabilities of DTLA’s newest production facility:

http://youtu.be/Lq_RrQTJ9fI

Click here to read the post in its entirety.

 

 

 

Indie Filmmakers Come out for Creative District Event with Seed & Spark and NationBuilder

crowd On Monday night, we hosted a networking event for LA's independent film community in partnership with Creative District , Seed & Spark and NationBuilder.  Over 100 movers and Makers turned out to take in a panel discussion with filmmakers Mia Chang (Boulevard, Struck by Lightning) and Brian Dannelly (Saved!, Struck by Lightning), who shared their experience producing and directing Struck by Lighting and other works. The conversation and ensuing audience Q&A was moderated by Karen Worden of Film Courage.

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We also debuted this awesome promo video for the Media Lab, featuring our friends from Sock Puppet Sitcom Theater:

http://youtu.be/Lq_RrQTJ9fI

Here's a rapid twitter recap of the evening's festivities for those who couldn't be there:

Sock Puppet Sitcom Theater Presents The Media Lab At Maker City LA

Still curious about what the Media Lab at Maker City LA has to offer? Our friends from the Sock Puppet Sitcom Theater demonstrate everything DTLA's newest production facility has to offer in this nifty video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq_RrQTJ9fI&feature=youtu.be

Special thanks to the cast and crew (listed below) for making this magic happen!

Starring the Sock Puppet Theater Sitcom, Los Angeles (sockpuppetsitcomtheater.com)

Writer, Director & Producer: Mark Hayward (sockpuppetsitcomtheater.com)

Cinematographer, Director, & Producer: Suzanne Strong (www.suzannestrongfilm.com)

Voice Actress: Stephanie Riggio (www.stephanieriggio.me)

Production Assistants/Sock Puppeteers: Heather Bejar, Joe LeMieux and Tony Bay

Editor: Jamie Kennedy

Color Editor: Suzanne Strong

email us for more information at info@makercityla.com

 

Downtown L.A. development spreading south with planned SoLA Village

la-la-fi-sola-village02-jpg-20140604 The LA Times just ran a story about an exciting 7.5 acre development project in the works for our South Los Angeles neighborhood. The project is being developed by the people behind Maker City LA, The Reef, and sister property Atwater Crossing, and will be designed by award-winning architecture firm, Gensler .

Should it go forward, the development will be called SoLa Village and will include a mix of commercial and residential space, incorporating "skyscrapers and low- and mid-rise residential buildings along with outdoor plazas and terraces intended to create a pedestrian-oriented community".

Read the entire story here:

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-property-report-20140605-story.html

la-fi-g-property-report0605-web

TypeFace Revealed and Revered at Backasswards!

  David Jonathan Ross's Wild West font, Manicotti

Last week, fans of font from far and wide convened at Maker City LA for a typographic speaker series presented by Los Angeles Is Just My Type (LAIJMT) Meetup Group featuring celebrated type designer David Jonathan Ross.  Ross, who works at The Font Bureau, shared a riveting history on the art of typography, with a particular focus on his favorite variety: reversed stress typefaces. From Gothic Italian to Playbill to Arbor to Trilby...Tua...Estro...his own creation, Manicotti - and seemingly every other typeface in between -  Ross made it perfectly clear that this isn't the only period in history when there have been too many fonts to choose from!

reversebeautyrewardbristoldrawingfav tf

 

Check out these choice tweets from the event and be on the lookout for information about the next font-abulous LAIJMT Meet-up!

 

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Digital Journal Covers TechShop LA Town Hall

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We are always thrilled to get great coverage of our events, like this first hand account of last week's TechShop LA town hall meeting by Digital Journal writer and hacker space advocate Matt Terndrup: Fabrication Studio TechShop is coming to Los Angeles, California http://youtu.be/T6-pktRt4bI

Los Angeles - Imagine a place where you can build whatever you want. There are tools you can use, people to talk to, and skills to learn.

Creative environments are popping up all across the world where like-minded people come together to create Do-It-Yourself projects, starts businesses, and develop rapid prototypes. They are named hackerspaces, makerspaces, fabrication studios, and fab labs; each of which specializes in their own niche field of work.

Near the center of this DIY maker movement, where just about anyone can build something for cheap, is a chain of member-based workshops called TechShop. This company was founded by previous Mythbusters advisor Jim Newton and part-time computer science professor Ridge McGhee. Jim’s vision was to establish a place where people can learn new skills while having access to industrial tools. In October 2006, they set up their 1st shop in Menlo Park, California. Over the next few years, TechShop grew into a vibrant, creative community of artists, makers, engineers, startup enthusiasts, and everyone in-between.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/technology/fabrication-studio-techshop-is-coming-to-los-angeles-california/article/384598#ixzz32xqWEnqy

 

 

 

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TechShop Los Angeles Town Hall: Tech & Innovation in LA Twitter Recap

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techshop floorMaker Manifesto Earlier this week, TechShop CEO Mark Hatch  returned to Maker City LA at The REEF to lead a discussion about the state of LA's tech and innovation landscape with special guests Ava Bromberg (The REEF SVP),  Michelle Garakian (Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti) and Brent Bushnell (CEO of Two Bit Circus). Local tech innovators, maker community members, entrepreneurs and potential investors came out to join the conversation and to support TechShop's efforts to open a 9th outpost  at The REEF, in downtown LA.

Check out these choice tweets from the event:

In March, TechShop announced plans to open in downtown Los Angeles at The REEF. For more information on investing and/or joining the campaign to bring TechShop to Los Angeles, go tohttp://invest.techshop.ws/los-angeles.

 Big thanks to new Maker City LA community member Consensus Inc. for live tweeting this event!