Sarah Winshall and Micah Gottlieb co-founded the festival in 2024.
The LA Film Festival (LAFF) previously operated as the city's independent film festival from 1995 to 2018, hosting in various venues.
Six years after the discontinuation of LAFF, producer Sarah Winshall and film non-profit executive Micah Gottlieb co-founded the Los Angeles Festival of Movies.
The new organization signed on Gottlieb's company, Mezzanine, as well as streaming service Mubi as sponsors.
[1] The first edition of the Los Angeles Festival of Movies took place from April 4 to April 7, 2024, in three independent venues: Vidiots in Eagle Rock, 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown, and Now Instant Image Hall in Chinatown.