An earlier version of this same article appeared here on July 18, 2013. This version has been altered slightly to reflect the latest crowd-funding info regarding The Frida Cinema which is set to open its doors on February 21, 2014!
Let me tell you about Logan Crow...
When I first encountered Logan I didn't even know his name. This was in the days of Myspace and he was running a profile called Mondo Celluloid which condensed the calendars for all of Southern California's various indie and revival cinemas into one convenient location. As a So-Cal film lover, this was mana from heaven. No longer did I have to go around from site to site to see what was at The Egyptian, The Nuart, or The New Beverly. This man was obviously a genius.
Before long, Logan was programming and hosting his own screenings of classic midnight films like Faster, Pussy Cat! Kill! Kill! and The Forbidden Zone in various local theaters complete with costume contests and special guests in attendance. Due to laziness and an unpredictable work schedule, I was unable to attend any of these early screenings, but when Mr. Crow took up residency at the nearby Art Theatre of Long Beach I no longer had an excuse to miss out on the fun. I decided that I simply had to attend the February 2009 screening of A Clockwork Orange.
Seeing as there was a costume contest component to the screening, I figured this would be a great opportunity to work on my amateur photography skills. In the days leading up to the screening, I reached out to Logan (I think this is where I finally learned his name) and asked if it would be cool for me to take some photos at the screening and if he liked them he could use them on his website as long as he credited me. Being the nice guy that he is, he did me one better: he offered 'Becca'lise and I free admission to the screening! And so began my year-long tenure as official photographer for Mondo Midnights. And oh what a year that was!
Here's a sampling of some of the films I had the pleasure to shoot screenings of: Sid and Nancy (for Valentines Day), Killer Klowns From Outerspace (with the Chiodo Brothers in attendance), The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (with live rock score), my first Jodorowsky film El Topo, The Toxic Avenger (with Lloyd Kaufman, Toxie and a Tromette), a prom themed Carrie screening and of course the first several Long Beach Zombie Walks!
As much as I loved these screenings, after moving to Orange I had to gracefully bow out. But Logan has just kept going. Mondo Celluloid begat the much more prestigious sounding Long Beach Cinematheque and the Zombie Walk grew into an all day event. He has organized wonderful community events ranging from summer screenings on the beach and family movies in the park to a breast cancer benefit screening where they showed a Russ Meyer film. Wherever there is a screen (or room for one), Logan Crow will find a way to show a great film on it because he eats, drinks, breathes and bleeds cinema.
And now it is time for Logan to take the next logical step in his film fanatic evolution: running his own art house theater! This is where YOU come in:
Since the Frida will be run as a certified non-profit, donations and memberships are absolutely a must! Please for the sake of art and cinema, go to
and give what you can to make The Frida into the best Art House the world has ever seen! Thank you for your time and see you at the movies.
Since the Frida will be run as a certified non-profit, donations and memberships are absolutely a must! Please for the sake of art and cinema, go to
and give what you can to make The Frida into the best Art House the world has ever seen! Thank you for your time and see you at the movies.
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