Valley Film Festival Returns For A Day Of Movies In North Hollywood

Saturday, February 7, 2026

David Krouse
Co-Producer The Valley Film Festival Outreach | South East European Film Festival

LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD PURPOSE GRANT

To the NoHo Neighborhood Council,

As a NoHo stakeholder via co-producing The Valley Film Festival—which has been held in North Hollywood since 2002 (initially at the El Portal Theatre and later at Laemmle NoHo 7)—I am writing to express my support for VFF’s Neighborhood Purpose Grant application for the ‘Made-in-the-818’ program scheduled for August 18, 2026.

While I no longer live in California, I am a professional with deep roots in the NoHo Arts District through my work at Laemmle Theatres, 24 Hour Fitness, and my current outreach for the South East European Film Festival Los Angeles (which will have three days of screenings in NoHo in May 2026).

The Valley Film Festival has not only been held at the Laemmle NoHo 7, but has also partnered with multiple North Hollywood stakeholders over the decades during our annual festival, including the Television Academy, Secret Rose Theatre, Jet Studios, Brews Brothers, Republic of Pie, John Rodger’s Theatre, Alley Studios, Gallery 800 (also known as the Lankershim Arts Center), Kahuna Tiki, The Federal Bar, Pitfire Pizza, the NoHo Arts Institute, Player One Arcade Bar, Big Mama and Papa’s Pizza NoHo, and Hennessey Studios (among others).

I first joined the Valley Film Festival in 2015 because of its 'Made-in-the-818' program, which provides a dedicated platform for local films that might otherwise not be screened. One of the things I’m most proud of is, despite being a single-screen festival with limited funds, VFF has screened more original films in NoHo over fewer days by ratio than other festivals I’ve worked with—even those with multiple venues, better funding, and longer runs.

For reference, The Denver Film Festival in 2025, with an operating budget of $7.13 million and total revenue of $13,178,274 million dollars, screened only one-hundred-and-thirty-six (136) movies over ten (10) days across eight (8) venues (including their own venue that has three (3) screens). This was a decrease from the previous year, when DFF only screened one-hundred- eighty-five (185) movies despite having fifteen (15) venues. The Valley Film Festival in 2025 screened forty-nine (49) films in four-and-a-half days at one (1) venue with a single screen, which was a decrease of around seventy (70) movies the previous year (due to an unforeseen change of festival dates, restricted venue business operating hours and loss of a our panel venue from the previous year). VFF was also still able to offer panels by Indie Rights and in Equity CrowdFunding free of charge during VFF25.

Prior to Covid-19, The Valley Film Festival represented the Valley on the Los Angeles Mayor’s Citywide Taskforce on Film and Television to increase production in LA, received an award from the California State Senate in 2018, and also received recognition again from the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office in 2025.

VFF has also worked to support and promote higher education in the San Fernando Valley, offering submission waivers and discount codes to student filmmakers at the local community college—Los Angeles Valley College—serving NoHo residents. In 2016 and 2025, students were invited to submit their work and were provided discount codes, resulting in World Premieres of Leyla Nejad’s project Unshackled, screened at VFF16, and Hila Cage Coppola’s The Talk at VFF25. In 2017 and 2018, VFF provided community (free) tickets to our Foreign and Documentary Film Programs at the Laemmle NoHo 7 to students and faculty attending Columbia College Hollywood in Tarzana, New York Film Academy in Burbank, and the NoHo Art Institute. In 2024, VFF produced an Encore Screening of our 10 Degrees Hotter Award for Best International Feature winner, Ciure, at LAVC, where students and the public received community (free) tickets. During VFF25, the final edition of the multi-day annual festival, students and faculty in the LAVC and CSUN World Language Departments received free admission to our Foreign Language Programs in Italian, Danish, and Spanish.

While The Valley Film Festival wrapped as a multi-day, annual festival last year, shifting its focus to professional development with a screening component—screening films for the San Fernando Valley remains a priority. Currently, we are in talks with Cal State Northridge’s World Languages Department about supporting their academic program by bringing foreign films in their language disciplines to screen on CSUN’s campus later this year. However, we want to continue to maintain our primary screening mission of movies Made-in-the-818 in North Hollywood.

A Neighborhood Purpose Grant would allow us to fill this objective by covering the cost of the screening and allowing us to provide community (free) tickets to the public, so NoHo (and Valley residents) can see their own culture screened in their community. The event will also allow for an influx of much-needed foot traffic to the NoHo Arts District, both at the Laemmle NoHo 7 and adjacent businesses, after the screening in after parties and celebrations.

While there are many worthy causes, awarding The Valley Film Festival a NPG will not only be funding a community event, but also re-seeding local tax-dollars back into the NoHo neighborhood. VFF was originally founded as part of the Valley Succession Movement of the early 2000s, and prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic a member of The Valley Economic Alliance. A NPG would allow Valley resident’s hard earned tax-dollars to work for them and stimulate further economic activity in the NoHo Neighborhood.

Thank-you for your time reading this and considering awarding VFF, a Neighborhood Purpose Grant to The Valley Film Festival.

Best Regards,

David Krouse