# London Film-Makers' Co-op
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Film-Makers%27_Co-op)
( Type: Cooperative )
## Description
Founded October 1966 in the basement of the Better Books shop on Charing Cross Road, by founder members including Ray Durgnat, Simon Hartog, Stephen Dwoskin, and [[Malcolm Le Grice]] ā inspired by [[Jonas Mekas]]'s Film-Makers' Cooperative in New York. Grew into one of the major centers of a worldwide avant-garde film network, running its own workshop, optical printers, and hand-processing lab. Work produced by its members in the late 1960sā70s came to be labelled Structural/Materialist Film.
## Key Tags
#structural-materialist #expanded-cinema #lfmc
## Opportunities
%% notes on relevant programs, calls, deadlines, or support offered %%
- Workshop/production facilities and distribution catalog for member filmmakers (defunct)
## Details
Grew from a screening/distribution service into a full production workshop by the early 1970s, adding optical printers and a hand-processing lab that let members work entirely outside the commercial film industry. Became the institutional and social center of British Structural/Materialist Film through the 1970s before financial strain forced a merger with London Video Access into LUX in 1999ā2002.
### Concepts and Theories
- [[Avant Garde Film]] - the LFMC workshop is the origin point of the British Structural/Materialist Film movement within avant-garde film
### Related Individuals
- [[Lis Rhodes]] - associated filmmaker
- [[Chris Welsby]] - member; early exhibitor of film installations in London galleries
- [[William English]] - associated with expanded cinema and performance work at the Co-op
## References
### Primary Sources Bibliography
%% none identified %%
### Secondary Sources Bibliography
Curtis, David. *A History of Artists' Film and Video in Britain*. British Film Institute, 2007.