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.

IMG_1459IMG_1482

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!

 

,

Digital Journal Covers TechShop LA Town Hall

,

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

 

 

 

, ,

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

, ,

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!

 

Los Angeles, I’m Yours to Curate Lobby Art for Maker City LA

jesse-tise-grid-world-flyer We are thrilled to announce that we've tapped local design, culture and lifestyle website, Los Angeles, I’m Yours to curate an ongoing series of  art installations for our lobby! The first of these will feature the artwork of LA-based illustration designer Jesse Tise and we're having a big party next Friday, May 23rd to celebrate this collaboration and Jesse's big reveal of GRID WORLD!  For more details about the event and to read LAIY founder Kyle Fitzpatrick's latest blog post about this awesome partnership, click on the link below and stay tuned for more exciting lobby art news!

http://www.laimyours.com/66997/los-angeles-im-yours-maker-city-la-present-jesse-tises-grid-world/

 

 

 

 

Mayor Eric Garcetti Visits Maker City LA at The REEF

  EG

Last night The Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti hosted a reception for the African & African American Commissioners of Los Angeles at Maker City LA at The REEF.  Among other things, Mayor Garcetti touched on the potential for leadership in entrepreneurship and innovation to boost job growth and commerce in LA.

photo 1photo 3

Our musically inclined Mayor then charmed guests with a mini jam session before taking a tour of Maker City LA and heading out for the evening.

Click the link below to watch a short video Mayor Garcetti on the keyboard!

EG JAM MOVIE

It was an honor to host this event at The REEF. Many thanks to The Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti.

FGILA event at The Atelier at Maker City LA

photo 1 On Tuesday, April 29th Fashion Group International's Los Angeles chapter (FGILA) hosted a stylish event at The Atelier - our brand new workroom and event space for fashion, accessory and jewelry designers.  A robust and fashionable crowd was on hand for cocktails and conversation, with industry experts and insiders, about fashion, design and commerce in the digital age.

Panelists included:

Kendra Gratteri, Director of Merchandising, BeachMint

Alle Fister, Principal, Bollare

Rachel Pally, fashion designer

N. Jayne Seward, VeryVeryChic

Nicolas Ullah, Director of Marketing US at TrendStop

Kelsi Smith of LA Fashion Council, Stylesmith and Two Point Oh! LA Moderated the conversation.

* special thanks to sponsors Om Cocktails and Artisan House

Check out pics from this event below and be on the lookout for more fashion events at The Atelier at Maker City LA!

photo 2spreadpanel stagephoto 3om cocktailsfashionable ladies

 

 

 

Creative Mornings Los Angeles with Writer, Director, Producer Jesse Peyronel

photo 2 (1) copyphoto 4 On Friday, April 25th, CreativeMorningsLA returned to CultureBrain Academy at Maker City LA to talk about sex.  Writer, Director, Producer and featured speaker, Jesse Peyronel (who screened his indie film SIREN the previous evening) explored the subject through the vein of art & the muse.  As always, the turn-out was great, conversation intriguing and breakfast (provided by Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Red Bread) extremely satiating. See below for more pictures and twitter recap of the festivities; check back later for a full video of Jesse's talk.

photo 3 copy 2photo 1 (1) copy

,

COSTUME CAFE HEARTS MAKER CITY LA

,

costume cafe LA-based costume designer and host of the darling Costume Cafe Podcast, Colleen Monroe recently interviewed our very own Ava Bromberg about the vision behind The REEF, Maker City LA, and The Atelier - our one-of-a kind creative work-space for fashion/costume/accessory designers and textile artists!  It should be noted that this interview took place in the podcast studio, conveniently located  in our very own Media Lab! Listen to the full interview here or check out the highlights below:

Who:

Ava Bromberg

Career:

Urban Planner and Visionary who creates creative spaces for designers and makers to collaborate and learn from one another to forge new breakthroughs in design

Recent Project:

The Reef: A Creative Habitat, Los Angeles, California

Podcast Quote:

"Costume and Fashion Designers have really been isolated in their own silo, and I think ideally, they should be in a community with other creators, as well as, learning other skills that help them as 21st century creatives."

- Ava Bromberg

Common Thread Love

Alternative Apparel's uber cool culture and lifestyle blog, Common Thread gave Maker City LA some love the other day. Check out this article about LA's most creative coworking destinations:

Coworking Gets Creative in DTLA

MakerCityLA.LobbyArt-copy

When it comes to the creative class—artists, designers, writers, bloggers, entrepreneurs, inventors, and the like—every lifestyle choice is a reflection of who we are. From the clothes we wear to the coffee we drink, we reveal our individual interests, aesthetics, even our values. So it makes sense that considering how we work also comes into play in our professional lives.

Whether freelancer or full-timer, CEO or start-up, we’re all exploring new ways to work, collaborate and feel good about what we do. For creatives looking to network, stay inspired, and perhaps just a reason to get out of their pajamas and be more productive, coworking provides that community, collaborative energy and a sometimes much-needed push to pursue your passion.

In Downtown LA, cowork spaces have been around for several years as a place for mobile workers to plug in. But only in the last couple years have a few new hot spots sprung up that seem to be the talk of the town everywhere we go. Here we take a look at three that just might have something for every creative type. Plus, they each offer free day passes or tours to test the coworking waters and see where you feel most at home...

read entire article here.

 

,

FIBERSPACE short by LovelaceMedia

,

Great things happen when our community members collaborate.  Here, Dennis Lovelace of LovelaceMedia profiles Maker City LA artist in residence, Claudia Bueno as she installs FIBERSPACE for Thursday's opening event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quzYNWqQgxo

Hope to see you there!

ArtsTech LA (and tumblr page) launch!

Our very own Sharon Ann Lee has been instrumental in bringing the popular ArtsTechMeetup to Los Angeles, where she will serve as  the group's Director (and Tumblr-er).  Here's her latest post about last month's inaugural ArtsTechLA event: ArtsTech-Los-Angeles-Maker-City-LA-1

ArtsTechLA Launches

Last week, we had our very first ArtsTech LA gathering hosted at Maker City LA. We had a fantastic panel including ArtsTechMeetup founder Julia Kaganskiy to kick off our event.  The focus of our first meetup was to showcase a variety of Arts + Tech projects happening in LA and discuss the city’s unique ecology of communities experimenting and making work.

Julia began with the origins of the meetups in NY and how she wanted to bring the disparate communities of arts organizations, startups and tech artists together to share ideas and talk to each other.  She also touched on the Art, Tech, Design incubator she is now heading at the New Museum called New, Inc.  This experimental project is in part a response to the ongoing changes in the ways artists and creative are working today: cross-disciplinary, collaborative, leveraging technology and increasingly straddling the line between culture and commerce.

Amy Heibel shared news of the revival of LACMA’s Arts + Tech Lab which originally ran from 1967-1971 and paired artists like James Turrell, Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg with major tech companies.  The twitterverse was all atwitter as Amy told a story about Oldenburg’s many thwarted attempts to animate his giant hydraulic, pneumatic mechanical icebag. She noted that “a really important part of the Art+Technology program is the pursuit of purposeful failure.”

Mileece, one of Maker City LA’s Artists in Residence shared her work and philosophy of using technology to highlight the dire environmental disaster headed our way.  Her work uses clean energy to produce art objects and immersive experiences that reconnect us to plants, the earth, and each other.

George Bloom shared how Hollywood is using 3D laser scanning to recreate locations that are problematic to shoot like The Great Wall of China and The Vatican.  He also talked about the possibility of pairing laser scanning and the Oculus virtual reality system as a way for artists to create new worlds with very little costs.  Just a few days later, Facebook announced that it was purchasing Oculus.

Bret Nicely talked about how MOCA.tv was started to expand the conversation they were having with their audience.  Being “the artist’s museum,” MOCA intended to create content that was compelling to the digital natives of YouTube, not just typical “museum” content with talking heads giving lectures.  The energy of MOCA.tv’s collaborations with artists like Bjork and Yung Jake are great examples of how an institution with a clear and relevant POV can reimagine the museum in the digital age.

Mark Allen, founder of Machine Project, one of LA’s longest running experimental incubators, also lit up twitter when he said “there are more artists than the world can pay for.”  At Machine Project, Mark creates artist lead events, classes and experiments that test ideas that may or may not work. The environment is friendly and inclusive, unlike the traditional gallery vibe, allowing the diverse ecosystem of LA’s creative community to experience emerging ideas in progress without judgment or fear of failure.

During the panel discussion, we had some great questions from the community that sparked possible future event topics.

Some themes emerged from this session about the landscape of LA that makes it uniquely hospitable for Arts + Tech .

  1. A variety of small independent projects percolating all over the city—from guerilla radio networks to experimental video games
  2. Direct access and informal collaborations between indie art projects and city institutions
  3. LA’s openness to new ideas, complex thinking, willingness to experiment and fail
  4. LA is known for Hollywood, but it also has deep science and technology roots like JPL and new innovators like Space X
  5. The variety of international communities that call LA home—enriching the city with great food, art, cultural practices and global thinking
  6. A willingness to share information and learnings with the community
  7. The great weather

Thanks to everyone who participated and came to our 1st event.  Judging by the enthusiasm, it looks like LA was really ready for ArtsTech LA to happen.  Apologies to all of you on the wait list who couldn’t get a ticket this time.  Please follow us on twitter  for the latest announcements on future events.

Thanks again to Julia for giving LA a great start. A big thanks to artist and photographer Jody Asano for taking these awesome photos of the event. And thanks to our sponsors GreenBar, Cabo Chips, Stumptown Coffee, and Joia for making our event so delicious.

See you soon at a future ArtsTechLA gathering!

Sharon Ann Lee, Director of  ArtsTech LA

Read full post on Tumblr here and stay tuned for future events, new and Arts + Technology coverage!

,

TechShop Town Hall Twitter Recap

,

IMG_0367IMG_0374 Last week we broke awesome news that TechShop has plans not only to come to LA, but to make The REEF (where Maker City LA is based) their latest home!  Friday evening, the San Francisco-based company's CEO Mark Hatch and Founder Jim Newton lead an invigorating information session at Maker City LA about the significance and influence of the Maker Movement.  They also shared details about the facility as well as the goals for funding and membership commitment to be achieved over the next four months in order to make TechShop Los Angeles a reality.

Here's a sampling of choice tweets from the evening:

Needless to say, we are thrilled about the impending presence of TechShop LA, as it will lead to unprecedented opportunities for collaboration and plenty of DIY goodness for the Maker City LA community.

For more information on investing and/or joining the campaign to bring TechShop to Los Angeles, go tohttp://invest.techshop.ws/los-angeles.

Media Lab Shoot with My Hotel Wedding

photo 2 photo 5 Last week My Hotel Wedding co-founder Lauren Randolph ushered  in a talented camera crew of slew hospitality industry experts to film a series of stylish-yet-informational vignettes for the start-up wedding and event-planning website she runs with her sister.  The edutaining day-long shoot featured expert tips and advice from an etiquette coach, a pair of party planners, a seasoned mixologist, and celebrity chef/caterer Pace Webb.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at what went down:

photo 1photo 10photo 4 photo 3

interested in our awesome Media Lab offerings and capabilities? Check out details here.