The beloved shop, which was featured in an  short  last year, repairs students鈥� school instruments across the district: taking in, fixing up and and sending back school pianos, tubas and drum sets on a daily basis.

It鈥檚 been operating for 65 years, and now the shop needs to raise $15 million to ensure it keeps functioning well into the future, said Ben Proudfoot, who co-directed the Academy Award-winning documentary about the shop and co-chairs its fundraising campaign. 

This month, the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation gave the shop a big start on its ambitious goal, with a $1 million gift. 

And to celebrate, cellist Yo-Yo Ma visited and played a couple riffs at a party held in the shop鈥檚 slightly ramshackle, downtown L.A. warehouse digs.  

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the thing with this particular project, it鈥檚 hard to argue with,鈥� explained documentary co-director Proudfoot, who is also campaign committee co-chair for the repair shop鈥檚 fundraising efforts; and why it attracts such support. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just really an important thing.鈥�

And the shop itself, a windowless warehouse encircled by a security fence, is due for an upgrade. 

Surrounded by blocks of choking traffic and not so far from skid row, the shop鈥檚 entrance is marked by a pair of fireproof doors and an unassuming sign reading  鈥淢usical Instrument Repair.鈥�

Many people had no idea about the shop, and even those who used it didn鈥檛 quite grasp its significance, said Proudfoot. 

But what stood out to him was that it was the last of its kind. 

The country鈥檚 second-largest district is the only one left where students could have full access to music education without spending their own families鈥� money, Proudfoot said. That鈥檚 in part due to the repair shop that keeps their instruments working.   

That鈥檚 a big deal for a school district where about 80% of students live in poverty.

Proudfoot said music education is important for all students, not just the ones particularly wealthy, lucky, or skillful.

鈥淵ou learn discipline, you learn to listen, you learn you play a part in a whole,鈥� Proudfoot said. 鈥淭here are so many great lessons in music education.鈥�

But Proudfoot said he noticed immediately why the shop needed help. There weren鈥檛 enough employees to cover the work. Only a dozen district employees were tasked with repairing and maintaining about 130,000 school instruments.

Amid the pandemic, L.A. Unified used federal relief money to purchase roughly 32,000 new musical instruments for students. The repair shop was busier than ever. 

With many employees on the verge of retirement, the shop needed publicity to bring in skilled technicians or job seekers willing to learn. 

So, Proudfoot and co-director Kris Bowers decided to put their filmmaking skills to use to help the shop. The plan worked, with the documentary garnering massive national attention 鈥� and also winning an Oscar.  

Now the pair is helping with fundraising for the shop. Proudfoot said 90% of the money raised will go to apprentice programs to train the next generation of repair shop workers.

As an extra incentive to get big donors, sections of the repair shop can be named in their honor or for their loved ones. 

The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation was the first to make a donation; now a new sign in the repair shop reads 鈥淭he Lorre Family Strings Department鈥� in honor of their donation. 

That $1 million is more than all of the other donations thus far combined, and will allow the district to begin training the next generation of repair shop workers. 

To make the celebration even more spectacular, the students and faculty got a visit from cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who underscored the shop鈥檚 importance. 

鈥淭he young people that are getting these instruments, they will probably see the world in the year 2100,鈥� Ma  鈥淲e may not see that world, but we can help make it possible that world is actually a good world.鈥� 

Proudfoot said the best part of fundraising is seeing small donations from over 30 states where people have no connection to the shop, but feel compelled to help in any way they can. 

Those small donations, added to the $1 million, have brought the total to $1.7 million in less than a year. 

Proudfoot said Ma was no different, and getting him to come to the event was as simple as showing him the documentary about the shop. 

鈥淲e told him, 鈥楧o you want the little girls in this film to have a violin or not?,鈥欌�� Proudfoot said. 鈥淚f you do, then you gotta show up. That鈥檚 our campaign.鈥� 

This article is part of a collaboration between 社区黑料 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

The ABCs of Book Banning, directed by Trish Adlesic, Nazenet Habtezghi and Sheila Nevins, spotlights texts that have been challenged and/or restricted at school libraries across the country in recent years. In several sequences, students address the camera directly, read aloud from the publications, and share their thoughts on the furor surrounding the books. 

You can . Here鈥檚 recent footage from a lively post-screening panel discussion at the New York Public Library: 

Elsewhere today at 社区黑料, Ben Chapman spotlights another nominated film: The Last Repair Shop, which spotlights the four-person team who maintain and repair some 80,000 musical instruments provided free of charge to any and all public school students in Los Angeles. 

You can learn more about the film, and stream it for free, right here. 

The 96th annual Academy Awards air at 7 p.m. ET Sunday night on ABC. 

When the directors of the Oscar nominated short documentary 鈥淭he Last Repair Shop鈥� walk the red carpet next month, the four LAUSD workers who keep thousands of musical instruments in good repair will be right by their side. 

The four craftspeople who work in one of the nation鈥檚 last free instrument repair shops, are at the heart of the already celebrated documentary, out now via the Los Angeles Times and Disney+. The film chronicles the lives and impact of the four unsung LAUSD heroes unlocking the possibility of music education in Los Angeles.

Now they鈥檙e about to get their Hollywood moment.

“Everyone was over the moon excited for this once in a lifetime experience,鈥� film co-director Ben Proudfoot (Oscar winner for The Queen of Basketball) told LA School Report. 鈥淓veryone is abuzz figuring out what to wear! The plan as of now is for them to wear their aprons, at least for the photos on the red carpet so people know who they are!”

The film was also co-directed by LAUSD graduate Kris Bowers (Composer for The Color Purple, King Richard, and Bridgerton) 鈥� who realized while making the documentary that shop supervisor and piano tuner Steve Bagmanyan was the same man who repaired his broken piano in the 90s while he was an LAUSD student.

Los Angeles is one of the last school districts in the nation to offer free instrument repair, provided to students since 1959. Along with a staff of 12, the four LAUSD employees toil in the shop which operates out of a warehouse on Naomi Avenue in Los Angeles. 

Bagmanyan said he鈥檚 excited about his night at the Oscars, but his priority is LAUSD鈥檚 students and their musical instruments. 

鈥淢y Oscar everyday is the job I鈥檓 doing for our kids, for our students,鈥� Bagmanyan told LA School Report. 鈥淲hen I see a happy teacher, or get a thank you reply on an email, or a thank you card from students, that is our Oscar.鈥�  

As for what he鈥檚 wearing on his big Hollywood night, Bagmanyan said he鈥檒l pull out the tux he wore two years ago to his daughter’s wedding. 

The Last Repair Shop profiles Bagmanyan, string instrument expert Dana Atkinson, brass specialist Paty Morena and woodwind keeper Duane Michaels. The four talk deeply and emotionally, providing moving details about their lives and how they came to their jobs. The film also features several LAUSD students who detail how music has enriched their lives.

Since the premiere of the documentary, the quartet has been elevated to community stardom. Besides walking the Oscars red carpet, the group was honored in January at L.A. city hall. 

鈥淭here is an extraordinary rush of catharsis when after working on public school tubas and trombones and trumpets for 20 years, suddenly you鈥檙e standing in the council chambers of .LA. City Hall, and the president of the city council is thanking you for your service and telling you how many lives you have touched,鈥� Proudfoot told LA School Report. 
Delicately assessing instruments in need of fixing sent from district schools, employees at the music repair shop magically bring back to life and maintain an estimated 80,000 instruments, which according to Bagmanyan has grown to about 140,000 more recently.

Lathering rusted tubas in sonic baths and using intricate tools to tune atonal violins, no instrument is left unplayable.

鈥淭he city council president .. compared L.A. of the 21st century to Vienna of the 18th century. It is the epicenter for music,鈥� Proudfoot said. 鈥淎nd he really centered these repair people as heroes of our city, and heroes of the global community of musicians.鈥� 

鈥淭his is not just a musical instrument repair shop,鈥� Bagmanyan says in the documentary. 鈥淲hen an instrument breaks, there鈥檚 a student without an instrument. No. Not in our city.鈥�

Proudfoot said LAUSD鈥檚 music program plays a critical role in creating a pipeline of opportunity. 

鈥淚t’s part of what makes Los Angeles the creative capital of the world, our ability to have the world鈥檚 best musicians at hand, and many of them start in the LAUSD system.鈥� Proudfoot said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have people who can play the newest Star Wars score in a quick moment, if you don鈥檛 have good music programs.鈥�  

Students featured in The Last Repair Shop exude enthusiasm about their profound relationship with music, professing 鈥渢he violin is my best friend鈥� or 鈥渨hen I鈥檓 feeling tense or I鈥檓 feeling sad or angry, the saxophone calms me down.鈥�

鈥淚 was also just so moved by how articulate they are about the necessity of music in processing the journey of their lives,鈥� Bowers said. 

The generational love for music programming concludes the film, with a reunion of LAUSD graduates  playing a final piece on the Warner Bros. Eastwood Scoring Stage.

鈥淵ou had people who had played on the Jaws score in 1975 who went to LAUSD and you had (LAUSD student) Porshay, who is nine years old and just in the first couple years of learning how to play violin,鈥� said Proudfoot. 鈥淪o I don鈥檛 know if that has ever happened before, if a group like that has been assembled. The sort of avengers of LAUSD music.鈥�

LAUSD is currently working to expand music programming, taking advantage of the traction gained from the documentary. LAUSD arts administrator Titus Campos said the documentary has opened the door for partnerships and support for more arts initiatives. 

鈥淲e want to continue to be able to鈥�  enhance the team at the last repair shop,鈥� said Campos. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e exploring that possibility with Ben and Kris.. to expand our technicians who fix the instruments, and thereby be able to increase our turnaround time in fixing instruments.鈥� 

Bowers said he was proud to have highlighted the work of the repair shop, and is excited to share the Oscars red carpet with the craftspeople.   

鈥淥ur intention with making this film was to lift and shine a light on these remarkable individuals whose work has touched and impacted thousands of lives, but has gone mostly unseen,鈥� said Bowers. 鈥淪o sharing this moment with Steve, Paty, Duane and Dana where they鈥檒l be seen and celebrated in such a massive way will be .. the height of achieving what we set out to accomplish with this film.鈥�