AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: August 19, 2025
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Christopher Paulson, Deputy Director of Community Services Subject: REQUEST FOR THE CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER A FREE USE DAY FOR FARHANG FOUNDATION’S 16TH ANNUAL SHORT FILM
FESTIVAL AWARDS CEREMONY ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27,
2025, AT THE WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER FOR THE
PERFORMING ARTS
Attachments: None
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council approve the allocation of one of the City’s free-use days at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (“The Wallis”) for Farhang Foundation's 16th Annual Short Film Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday, September 27, 2025.
INTRODUCTION
This item is a request for the City Council to consider an approval for a free-use day of The Wallis’ Bram Goldsmith Theater for Farhang Foundation's 16th Annual Short Film Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday, September 27, 2025. The free-use day is part of Farhang Foundation’s in-kind request as part of their agreement with the City to provide cultural opportunities and performances during Fiscal Year 2025-26 (FY 25-26).
BACKGROUND
Farhang Foundation was a new Community Assistance Grant Fund (CAGF) partner with the City for FY 24-25. In their grant application, Farhang Foundation requested monetary assistance and one of the City’s free-use days at The Wallis. City Council granted Farhang Foundation the free-use day for the Bram Goldsmith Theater on Saturday, December 21, 2024, for their 12th Annual Celebration of Shab-E Yalda (Winter Solstice).
Following the 2024-25 CAGF program application and award cycle, the program was put on hiatus for 2025-26 and some organizations were informed they would no longer receive E-10
Meeting Date: August 19, 2025
funding. Other organizations deemed critical to providing community services or valuable cultural and performing arts opportunities were informed they would be extended a performance agreement to continue rendering their unique and important services and programs to the Beverly Hills community.
The Farhang Foundation was one of the organizations deemed as valuable to providing cultural and performing arts opportunities, and so they were again awarded an agreement to provide $15,000 in cultural and performing arts services to the community, and an inkind request for a use day at the Wallis (pending availability) for FY 25-26. This report seeks to consider and formally approve the allocation of one of the City’s free-use days at the Wallis for Farhang Foundation, based on precedent of free-use approvals.
Farhang Foundation plans to use the Bram Goldsmith Theater on Saturday, September 27, 2025, for their 16th Annual Short Film Festival Awards Ceremony. This is a public, ticketed event hosted by Farhang Foundation in collaboration with the City of Beverly Hills’ Community Services Department.
Tickets will be sold through The Wallis' ticketing services and start at $29 per person. The event will be marketed by Farhang Foundation on Farhang.org, via email, as well as on Farhang Foundation social media accounts, and it may also be advertised in local Persian language publications.
Through the City’s lease agreement with The Wallis, the City may sponsor or host up to ten (10) daytime events and up to ten (10) evening events in the Theatre, the Studio, or any other interior portion of the property, or the exterior Promenade or other grounds of the property, during each calendar year. To date, one free-use day has been approved for this calendar year, for City Council Installation (April 2025).
This event plans to utilize the Bram Goldsmith Theater and related facilities, Outdoor Promenade Terrace, non-hosted valet parking, and other related areas for logistical purposes. While the City’s agreement with The Wallis permits free use of the space, there are additional costs for labor and production associated with the event, such as ticketing, private security, and cleaning, that the organizers (Farhang Foundation) would bear. The preliminary estimated production cost Farhang Foundation will be responsible for is $17,546 and could increase as Farhang Foundation solidifies their program and entertainment lineup.
FISCAL IMPACT
Outside the free-use day at the Wallis from the City, any additional costs associated with Farhang Foundation's 16th Annual Short Film Festival Awards Ceremony, currently estimated at $17,546, will be funded by the Farhang Foundation.
Stephanie Harris,
Community Services Director
Approved By