CMR-Carlas Movie Restaurant

At CMR-Carla’s Movie Restaurant we support emerging artists and individuals with disabilities. CMR Provides a dinner club environment for emerging filmmakers and talented artists in music, fine arts, and theatre to present their work to the public. It is a place for new audiences to engage with new filmmakers and artists and support their work. Individuals with disabilities interested in film, in the arts, in the service industry, or the helping profession are invited to participate in CMR.

CMR is the vision of Carla Sramek, artist with disabilities, who in the year 2000, at age 16, designed her own “Movie Restaurant.” With the support of a large community of believers, CMR started as a pilot program in 2011 and began operating as a pop-up in local restaurants in 2012, showcasing the films, art, and music of CSULB students. In 2014, CMR was awarded the Emerging Arts Organization Award by the Long Beach Arts Council. That same year, Carla was diagnosed with a Stage 4 medical condition, followed by repeated surgeries, and treatments. Throughout the years of treatment, Carla never missed one Pop-up of CMR. Today Carla is healed, resumed painting, and expanded into the realms of filmmaking, writing, musicals and stage costume design, and giving full attention to CMR and its programs. It is her dream for CMR-Carla’s Movie Restaurant to have a permanent home where people eat, engage, and experience art. CMR became a nonprofit corporation in 2018, and until 2019 had been fully funded by Carla’s family. In 2021 CMR added virtual pop-ups that enlarged its reach and access to a larger community.

CMR honors emerging artists and the community with celebration of original creations, bringing people together to talk about art, created for ALL to feel welcome, engaged, and brought into the experience. People come and find delight in art, make new friends, collaborate on new projects, and experience hospitality. Persons with different abilities find a place at CMR to grow, develop their talents, and contribute to to the community. Our new guidebook MICROENTERPRISE HITS THE BIG SCREEN--Carla's Movie Restaurant: A Directorial Debut in Business by Carla and Hilda Sramek and Leslie A.M. Smith, is for anyone wanting to start a microenterprise, with additional resources for persons with disabilities.

CMR needs to expand its reach to a larger community of artists and supporters of the arts, as well as to individuals with disabilities. CMR is in need of a partner restauranteur and of a permanent building for its operation.

Southern California live performances by artists, worldwide streaming.

CMR has been the vehicle for artists and community to come together in a celebration of art. Persons with disabilities find their place at CMR, to work, make friends, and showcase their talents. In their own words, artists have told us: "Thank you to CMR for giving me an opportunity to perform in my first professional entertainment role!" (J. Lockwood-Wewer, Author and Entertainer) “Thank you very much for this wonderful experience! I am very glad I got to sell the first edition of my prints from this event last night.” (H.Sung, School of Art) “It was an amazing event to see! What a venture! I am so impressed, so many talented people coming together, enjoying the evening together. There’s so much great talent at our school and it was nice to finally spend time with other students from departments I admire! Amazing! I look forward to the next one.” (L.Agan, School of Art) “I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful opportunity of being a part of this awesome night. I would love to be a pat of the next event! I really loved it.” (A.Gordon, Cole Conservatory of Music) “It’s good for art to have a place that’s open —where it’s not an assignment, not graded.” (S.Kim, School of Art) “Filmmakers want that, and people involved in the community want that as well. I tell them it’s a place for the community to see things they’ll never see. Short films live on the internet or in film festivals. I never catch anyone that’s not interested in CMR. They think it’s really cool. I still haven’t seen anyone doing this.” (Francisco Portillo, Filmmaker) Also, “The community loved CMR!” (T.Keil, AoSA, Huntington Beach) “When is the next one?” (Griffins Grill, Los Alamitos) “Thanks for bringing everyone. Always a pleasure having you.” (M.diPiazza, Long Beach)

On February 20, 2020 we had our last in-person Pop-up at diPiazza's Restaurant in Long Beach, CA before it was sold. During that year's lockdown we shifted to streaming to audiences worldwide. We look forward to meeting artists and audiences, the art-loving community, in person again, as well as continuing to share our events online worldwide. Our post-pandemic focus is on reaching out to artists and the community through community art events, farmers' market, and coffee houses to re-establish in-person contact. The CMR experience is described in a guidebook that we wrote for anyone wanting to start a microenterprise, with additional resources for persons with disabilities, titled MICROENTERPRISE HITS THE BIG SCREEN --Carla's Movie Restaurant: A Directorial Debut in Business by Carla and Hilda Sramek and Leslie A.M. Smith.