Westflix (formerly known as the Harvard-Westlake Film Festival) was founded in 2004 by video art student Elizabeth Yale in her senior year. The first year showcased 13 films in HW's Rugby Auditorium by high school students from throughout the Los Angeles area and featured guest speaker Jake Gyllenhaal '98. The next three years, the festival went on to great success in showcasing excellent student films and guest speakers Brett Ratner, Jamie Lee Curtis '76 and Jason Reitman '95. In 2008, in its fifth year, the festival moved its venue to the incredible ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood, and a full house enjoyed films and guest speaker Paul Thomas Anderson. In 2009, the festival continued at the ArcLight Cinemas but was moved into the renowned Cinerama Dome and filled all 800 seats with guest speaker Tom Hanks. In 2010, the audience heard Academy-Award winner Kathryn Bigelow in conversation with Jason Reitman. In 2011, Guillermo del Toro got us started and Jake Gyllenhaal '98 made a guest appearance for the awards ceremony. In 2012, Dreamworks head Stacey Snider P'15 gave us insight into the business; in 2013, director Alejandro Inarritu P'13'16 inspired us with his poetic sensibility; and in 2014 Debra Chase helped us understand the job of a producer. In 2015, director Edgar Wright shared his insights into comedic filmmaking. In 2016, we welcome screenwriter and dialogue master Aaron Sorkin P'19, and in 2017, actors Kate Beckinsale P'18 and Michael Sheen P'18 took the stage as our guest speakers.