Shop supervisor Steve Bagmanyan in the repair shop. ‘Last Repair Shop’ is an Academy Awards nominated short documentary for this Sunday’s awards ceremony. Surrounded by blocks of choking Los Angeles traffic, homeless encampments and garbage, a windowless warehouse encircled by a security fence is the unlikely setting for “The Last Repair Shop,” an inspiring documentary now up for an Academy Award on Sunday, March 10.
Not that anybody on the workshop’s small-but-mighty team is complaining about their no-frills setup just south of Skid Row. They arrive before sunrise, said shop supervisor Steve Bagmanyan, and do their jobs quietly. Exterior of the repair shop. ‘Last Repair Shop’ is an Academy Awards nominated short documentary for this Sunday’s awards ceremony.
Beyond that, there’s a woodshop for fabricating obsolete parts, and the piano room, where a half-dozen uprights and baby grands are getting tuned and having their soundboards cleaned and hammers balanced. A 2022 California law increased state funding for music classes in Los Angeles and districts across California. Amid the pandemic, L.A. Unified used federal relief money to purchase roughly 32,000 new musical instruments for students. The repair shop is busier than ever.