Inspiring Conversations with Sabrina Torres of The Great Film Club

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sabrina Torres

Sabrina, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I never set out to start a film club. I simply wanted to meet filmmakers and act in their movies to attain footage for my acting reel and make more films. Especially after coming out of a global pandemic where we were isolated from each other, I craved a collaborative and creative environment. When I directed my film Tape and started submitting to film festivals, I was shocked by how expensive it was just to submit a film. It could be $25-$100 just to submit, and it was frustrating because I didn’t know if anyone even looked at it or if it was because you have to have notable people involved. It felt like such a gamble to submit when all I wanted to do was just meet more filmmakers to make films and don’t care for laurels or awards.

I respect what film festivals do for filmmakers there can be multiple pathways that can lead to major successes from submitting and getting selected into film festivals, but I just craved a space for filmmakers to come together on a regular basis and receive the best possible feedback they can possibly get, from a live audience.

When I started the film club, I received all kinds of short films and fantastic short film submissions. I would screen filmmaker’s short films, meet the filmmakers, and they would confide in me with the same concerns about the film festival circuit. Hearing those concerns from our filmmakers inspired me and made me understand the importance of what the film club is doing for local filmmakers, which is providing a safe space to screen their short films and work on their craft while making it accessible for everyone to attend the events and make short film submissions free. It’s just mind-blowing how my deep desire for community through film emerged into this movement championing artists.

I started the film club when I was working at a children’s theatre company and started hosting these short film open mics at the theatre where I worked at and I did everything myself in the early stages. When I didn’t have volunteers, I would sell concessions, work the soundboard and lights, set up the screen, take video and photos, and work the box office all in one night by myself. I posted about the events on Instagram and TikTok, and within a year, I grew a following and started hosting more screening events each month. This growth allowed me to quit my theatre job and focus solely on the film club, hosting screenings at my friend’s loft space in Downtown LA for about almost a year.

The children’s theatre I worked at is no longer at the same location. The location where we started the film club is now called The Eastwood, and they reached out to the film club to ask if we would like to do a screening event there and I replied, “As a matter of fact, we started the film club there.” When I went to check out the theatre, I saw it was newly renovated, which led me to start hosting the film club there again. It’s a full circle moment because we got to celebrate the film club’s 2 year anniversary there where the film club started and I’m just grateful that the film club is still running and our community of filmmakers keep attending and submitting their short films.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
This year has not been a smooth road for the film club; it has actually been quite bumpy. The film club expanded too quickly for its means and had to close the New York chapter due to low submissions and turnout rates, as well as a lack of a solid team to run the screening events. It was a very disappointing moment for me, but we had to make the decision because we were not financially able to sustain it. The LA chapter also faced a scary moment, but we are regaining our footing after such a tough year.

Picking up a day job has definitely helped in keeping the film club up and running for the community. It feels like the film club is starting all over again, but not entirely, as we have an awesome community of filmmakers who know about us. The short film submissions keep coming in, and I feel blessed to have the support of our community during challenging times. This support shows how important the film club is and that we bring significant value to our community of filmmakers.

I do plan for the film club to return to New York when we find a solid team and proper financing to host the screening events. The film club loves New York and will be back better than ever. We also plan to expand to other major cities in the distant future.

In short, we are looking for brands and companies to sponsor our events!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The Great Film Club hosts screening events in Los Angeles. Since we are still fairly new and growing, most of our events consist of two hours of short films by local filmmakers, followed by a one-hour mixer. What sets us apart from any other movie club is that we exclusively screen work by local filmmakers. Additionally, unlike other screening events or film festivals, we place a strong emphasis on building community through our club and short film submissions are free.

Many people refer to us as a film festival, but I always correct them and say we are a film club because we are not passively screening films. One of my biggest rules is that we only screen films if the filmmaker is present. I want everyone attending to meet all the filmmakers screening their work that night, fostering collaboration and connection.

Since our screenings are so frequent throughout the month, there are more opportunities to bump into someone you met at a previous event. This familiarity increases the likelihood of working on a project together or simply making a new friend.

The film club started from my desire for community through filmmaking, and to have built a community that achieves this is a blessing I could not have foreseen just a few years ago. I am excited to see how this desire grows because I know I am not alone. I am very proud of the community the film club has built.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
The film club in Los Angeles has started bringing on interns, and they deserve a lot of credit! They help immensely behind the scenes and believe in the film club’s mission of building community through filmmaking. I can’t wait to see how our interns continue to help the film club grow!

I also want to give a shoutout to all the volunteers who have helped throughout the past two years. Their support means everything!

Most importantly I would like to thank our community of filmmakers! You are the reason The Great Film Club is “great”! Thank you to those who keep attending and screening their films each time they’ve made a new project and those who just come and support local filmmakers by watching their films! We are only great because we have community!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @thegreatfilmclub

Image Credits
Nico Calderon
Robert Haleblian