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On Jan. 31, Yale Cinematic Productions and Yale Dramatic Association collaborated to host a movie night fundraiser for fire relief efforts in Los Angeles.
Zeyna Malik
10:18 pm, Feb 02, 2025
Contributing Reporter
Zayna Malik, Contributing Photographer
Elora Sparnicht ’27, a Southern California inhabitant and Cinemat president, was devastated to see families lose everything and historic pockets of Los Angeles burn. As the city is a particularly special place for artists and filmmakers, Sparnicht thought about what the Cinemat could do to express their support.
What resulted was a joint movie night event alongside the Dramat to raise funds for the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund.
“As amazing as it would have been to pack the El Capitan Theatre and raise $1 million, gathering some high-quality humans in Silliflicks and raising $129 is still awesome in my book,” said Sparnicht. “Every dollar counts, and it warms my heart to know that busy college students on the other side of the country still care.”
The Wildfire Recovery Fund was chosen because of its well-established network in Los Angeles, which ensures that donations would go toward families most severely and directly affected by the destruction. Donations came from ticket contributions — suggested at $5 per person — as well as the sale of popcorn, soda and candy throughout the event.
Cinemat and Dramat, while sharing a natural overlap in their artistic pursuits, rarely organize events together and typically offer separate programming. According to Julia Weston ’28, director of education for the Cinemat, this fundraiser provided an opportunity to explore common ground and work toward building a more collaborative relationship between the two organizations.
While this event marked the first time that the two groups had co-organized a philanthropic event, members of both groups hope that it will not be the last.
“We’re two student organizations that have strong ties to Los Angeles and we thought it was an important cause to help out and unite our communities,” said Florence Barillas ’27, the Cinemat secretary.
While fundraising was the primary goal of this event, the night also served as a reminder of film and theatre’s abilities to bring people together around pressing real-world issues.
The two groups decided to screen “La La Land” because it struck the right balance between theater and film — fitting for the nature of their collaboration. As a musical, it naturally appeals to both groups, said Sparnicht, which made it an easy choice for a shared screening.
But beyond that, the two organizations settled on the musical-romance-comedy film due to it taking place in Los Angeles. In fact, according to Sparnicht, the film was a pertinent way to remind people why the city matters.
In the film, Los Angeles isn’t just a backdrop — it’s a character in its own right. Choosing this film wasn’t about asking people to care about the fires; it was about reminding them why they already do.
For many involved in the Cinemat and Dramat, Los Angeles is more than just a setting for films — it’s their home and a potential career destination. That personal connection makes the cause feel even more urgent, said Barillas.
“It’s an industry that affects a lot of us directly as people aspiring to work in film and theater. It’s definitely very close to home, but we’re excited to navigate this with joy and fun at the same time,” said Weston.
Organizers acknowledged that global crises might feel distant at a college campus and said that while many students cared about the fires, they might not have known what they could do to help. By creating a low-barrier way to help out — just showing up to watch a film — the two organizations said that they hoped to make it easier for students to contribute.
As of Jan. 31., the L.A. wildfires have been fully contained.
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