Meet Sabrina Torres | The Great Film Club Founder & Head Programmer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sabrina Torres and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sabrina, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
After the pandemic, in 2022, I started going to the Secret Movie Club and they mostly host 35 mm screenings of old movies and once a month they’ll have these short film open mics where any film under 10 minutes gets to go up. Which I was so pumped to go to every month I looked forward to that particular event every month I met filmmakers through there and I even made my short film Tape from meeting filmmakers there. It was June 22, I remember the date and Craig the host said that they were renovating the space for three months and they weren’t gonna have their open mic nights. I literally was so bummed cause I looked forward to these events every month. My whole summer was planned around meeting filmmakers and making movies. So with that passion, I felt an intuitive calling to do it at the children’s theater that I worked at, so that night I just invited everyone to do it at the theatre and a month later I started The Great Film Club.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Great Film Club host screening events, panel discussions and workshops catering to local filmmakers in the cities we are based at such as Los Angeles, New York, and the Bay Area. We mostly host screening events since we are still fairly new and growing, but most of our events are two hours of short films by local filmmakers, followed by a one hour mixer. I think what set us apart from any movie club is that I only screen, local filmmakers work, and another thing that sets us apart from any other type of screening event or film festival is that I really emphasize building community through our club. A lot of people say that we’re film festival and I always correct him and I say we are a film club because I really am not passively screening films. One of my biggest rules is that we only screen as long as the film maker is present, because I really want everyone that is there that night to meet all the filmmakers that are screening that night in hopes of collaboration and connection. Also, since the screenings are so frequent throughout the month, especially in Los Angeles, there’s more opportunity to bump into somebody that you saw at another film club event or workshop and the familiarity of meeting someone over and over again makes the probability of working on a project together or just making a friend more likely. The film club started because of my desire for community through filmmaking, and to have built a community that does just that is such a blessing that I could’ve not foreseen just a few years ago and I’m excited to see how that desire grows across the country because I know I’m not alone. I am very proud of the community I have built.
From the moment I started hosting my film club events. I would talk about it on TikTok and post about it on Instagram. I would post about it 3 to 5 times a day just to get the word out and at the time I was only doing one screening event a month. And I did that for about 11 months before it gain massive momentum on Instagram. It was May 2023 short film open mic event where I sold out 114 tickets at the children’s theater I formally worked at and at that moment I knew I was doing something different.
I did face a lot of challenges dealing with people, especially as a woman I did face harassment and stalking and my previous employer, trying to sabotage my event, but those stories don’t deserve airtime. I just mention it because those are realities that do happen and the way I overcame those challenges was that I just kept going and kept focusing on what was working for me. Such as All Together Now who have been such immense support to me, they are my friends, who, basically let me use their artist loft space to host my film club events they really helped elevate the experience of the film club specifically in Los Angeles and it’s really beautiful to have friends that want to grow with you, and be on this journey with you.
I think the biggest lesson I learned is if you have a good idea and executed it, your efforts will not go unnoticed.
I just want the world to know that The Great Film Club is only great because we have community and that if you believe in yourself and focus on what’s working for you, I guarantee things will work out for you!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m really bad at itineraries, but the only thing that really comes up in my mind is I would take my bff to a meditation/gratitude journaling group that is hosted by Adam @adamgoesham it’s a free event that has a sound meditation and then after we write what we are grateful for and share it out loud to the rest of the group and it’s just really beautiful to hear what people overcome and are grateful for.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents for going along with this crazy endeavor and encouraging me! Your love and support has been my greatest asset! My twin sister Chia and her boyfriend Sebastian for being my day ones and always believing in me!
I’ll love to give a shoutout to All Together Now for being the bestest friend to the film club and elevating the communal experience. We do have something special!
To Gardena Cinema for welcoming the film club in your historical single screen theater and giving our local filmmakers a platform to participate in our monthly panels.
And lastly, to all my volunteers that has help with the film club be what it is today and all the creative people who have attended the film club and follow us, you are the reason why the film club is great! Our community makes us great!

Website: https://linktr.ee/thegreatfilmclub

Instagram: @thegreatfilmclub

Image Credits
Nicholas Calderon The Great Film Club Photographer