Film Lab
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 320501790
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2018
- Forms available
- Form 990 2018, Form 990-EZ 2017
- Location
- Lido Beach, NY, USA
- Phone
- 9175380730
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Film, Video
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $249,685
- Expenses
- $293,141
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Aaron Dean Eisenberg (President)
People named in this filing
- Korey Jackson (Treasurer)
- David Grant (Director)
- James Cernero (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Every time we all make a film, we climb a logistical, emotional, and financial mountain. Filmlab was established to make this process easier, cheaper, & more accessible to our community. We do this through our qualifications as a fiscal sponsor, our gear rental discounts with sales and rental houses as a not-for-profit, and our in-house resources covering everything standard in the spectrum of a professional production company: crew, gear, an annual insurance policy, office space, a screening room, and guidance . Our relationships with crew, performers, agencies, post-houses, and rental houses empowers every project we incubate. We aim to encourage a rigorous creative process with a focus on story-telling that is risky and experimental, to actively contribute to the diversification of the current climate in the entertainment industry, to foster a less divided film community, to challenge and disrupt common notions of what's commercially viable. To unify the brilliant independently floa
What it reported doing in 2018
In 2018, we helped incubate over 30 low-budget short films, some of which have gone on to win awards at festivals, become Oscar nominee eligible, and premiere at The Whitney museum.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and assets have declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 97
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 16
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $531.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -17.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 129.8% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -200% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $267K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.