AFTER 18 years, the LA Film Festival is coming to an end.

“While we are very proud of what we’ve accomplished with the LA Film Festival over the past 18 years, the truth is that it has struggled to thrive, and the time has come for us to try something new,” said Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent, which organizes the fest. “We are all deeply grateful to [festival director] Jennifer Cochis for her vision, passion, and creativity, and we’re enormously proud of the festival that she oversaw these past two years. We remain committed to serving filmmakers and audiences across Los Angeles.”

LA Film Festival was founded by Robert Faust as the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1995. IFP/West, the forerunner of Film Independent, became involved as co-producer of the festival in 2000 and absorbed complete control of the fest in 2001. But while Los Angeles has dozens of local and special-interest film festivals each year, more ambitious festivals have found it difficult to sustain a major festival in the heart of Hollywood. Meanwhile, LA Film Festival has had a somewhat nomadic existence in recent years, while also undergoing its own change of focus.

In announcing the end of the festival, Film Independent said it will shift its focus to a variety of year-round programs and initiatives, including several that traditionally coincided with the festival, like The Portal, a showcase of VR and immersive storytelling and Future Filmmakers, which features work by high-school filmmakers.(SD-Agencies)