Outfest ends its 40th with “They/Them” horror film starring Kevin Bacon – Los Angeles Blade
LOS ANGELES – That’s a wrap! Outfest closed out its 2021 festival Sunday August 22 at The Orpheum Theatre with a colorful celebration. The night was a glittering success, a happy reminder of pre-covid times and a credit to the leadership of Outfest’s bold new executive director, Damien Navarro.
The Closing Night Gala featured a screening of the documentary feature, Fanny: The Right to Rock, and a live reunion performance from Fanny and her band – the first all-female rock band to release an album with a major label back in the mid 1970’s.
Oscar nominated actor Elliot Page also appeared via video message to accept Outfest’s Achievement Award. Page, who came out as transgender last December, praised the film festival for “an incalculable amount of positive change and transformation in this world.”
Page confessed to the Outfest team “I don’t know that I’d be sitting here without the work that you’ve done and continue to do and the space and the platform you’ve created for so many voices and stories to get out there and to reach people.”
Outfest is a really big deal. For up and coming queer filmmakers it’s a lucrative career launchpad and networking goldmine. For hot indie feature films, it’s a festival must-stop and a respected laurel for the poster. For the city of LA, it’s an incredible week of films, panels and programs, and for the queer community its a vital fighter in the battle for more LGBTQ+ representation in media.
Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival is the largest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world. Founded in 1982 by a couple of UCLA students, its soon to celebrate its 40th birthday. This year’s festival ran from August 13-22 and featured full length feature films such as the incredible film ‘Firebird,’ short films, panel discussions, outdoor festivities, indoor screenings (for vaccinated attendees) and exclusive online festival programming – that extended through till Wednesday, August 25.
But Outfest the organization is more than just the film festival, it’s also an educational resource, and a programming-laden Eden for queer artists. The groundbreaking organization now boasts many branches. Outfest Forward is a development program for underrepresented artists to build their entertainment careers.
The Netflix Fund for Creative Equity recently invested $100 million in The Outfest Screenwriting Lab, a valuable incubator for new talent. Outfest works to nurture, promote and celebrate the incredible work of LGBTQ+ creators.
Both Outfest the festival and Outfest the organization are successful case studies on how a business can grow, evolve and thrive. Extending outreach and investing in future LGBTQ+ storytellers has been one of the largest pushes made by the bold new executive director, Damien Navarro.
In 2019, the board of directors of Outfest took a giant step forward in hiring Damien Navarro as executive director. Damien Navarro is a native Angeleno, start-up entrepreneur, cinephile and urban farmer. He boasts an impressive resume, a well tended garden of startups, consulting firms and businesses.
Navarro began his career as an entrepreneur, founding and then later selling his digital marketing and tech consulting agency. Fresh out of college and eager to create content, Navarro founded Earthbound Media Group with a group of friends. Fifteen years passed and the company was suddenly working with huge house-hold name brands.
Eager to get back to creating content, Navarro changed the name to Brighter Collective and sold off his first company. From there he founded The Institute, a marketing, fundraising and consulting firm. Navarro also served as a faculty member at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media Arts; and yes, he ran Monkey Business Farms, the Laurel Canyon micro-farm, with his husband, Adam.
Navarro’s position at Outfest comfortably sits at the intersection of his multifaceted career, which must have made him an obvious pick for executive director. “The reason I chose this next career move was to challenge myself,” Navarro said on a phone call with The Los Angeles Blade.
Navarro said he has not only grown as a leader, but as a queer person. His almost two years with the company were a time of great reflection and introspection not only for him, but for the company as well.
When the landmine of Covid hit Navarro saw the catastrophe as the perfect opportunity to bring in his skills and expertise as a leader in the business world – evaluating what works, what needs changing and then moving forward with the confidence and assurance of a seasoned businessman. “You really realize that culture plays a role in any business,” Navarro shares, “the culture is the way you impact change. Working with the board, with investors, with the community.” thus began Navarro’s process of adapting the culture of Outfest to become “a culture of change”.
When Navarro began at Outfest much of the programming had gone unchanged for years. The evolution and expansion of many Outfest programs had stalled because of a lack of funding or lack of support. Nose to the grindstone, focused on funding and just staying open, Outfest had gotten caught in the hamster wheel many nonprofits and many arts organizations find themselves in. 2020 provided the time for revitalization.
Here’s how Damien Navarro did it. Navarro said “step one is to breathe.” Before enacting any changes, big or small, Navarro recommends finding presence in the present, grounding yourself and saying “today we’re okay.” For step two, he evaluated all the programs currently in place and asked “does this still meet the intended mission or impact?” For step three, he made changes.
For Navarro, the most important improvement was for the film festival and its programming to reach new communities. His goal: have Outfest reflect all of Los Angeles, “not just West Hollywood.” The festival has taken strides to connect with previously unrecognized talent in previously unexplored (underprivileged) neighborhoods, cultivating the next generation of filmmakers.
This year, in the short film programs, Outfest will be awarding three $5,000 cash awards to the Short Form Jury Winners to be announced later. “It’s not enough for us to give stars and certificates,” said Navarro, “we have to put real money in the hands of the filmmakers.”