The Theatre Vanguard records span the years 1971-1979 and encompass 4.5 linear feet. The collection contains correspondence, programs, press releases, clippings and reviews, grant applications, and information on film series. The majority of the correspondence is between Douglas Edwards (theatre administrator and film adviser) and leading avant-garde-experimental filmmakers such as Les Blank, Michael Snow, Jonas Mekas, Hollis Frampton, Jon Jost, Tom Palazzolo, Mark Rappaport, and many others. Within the correspondence files is a wealth of additional information from the filmmakers, including biographies, filmographies, flyers, film synopses, pictorial material, and stills. There is also valuable topical information within such film series as History of the American Avant-Garde, Regional Survey of Independent Films, International Feature Films, Filmvid 1977, and Ann Arbor Festival Highlights. Edwards was a member of the Filmex program selection committee from 1975 to 1978, and the collection contains documentation on Filmex, particularly regarding the selection of films for the annual festival held in Los Angeles. The files contain correspondence, memoranda, press releases, press clippings, and programs. Of special interest are the memoranda that deal with the inner workings of the program selection committee and Filmex. The collection offers an invaluable insight into independent and experimental filmmaking during the 1970s.

Theatre Vanguard (1973-1978) was a nonprofit theater for the performing arts located on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Its purpose was to provide a venue for all performing arts that were noncommercial, experimental, or unusual, and to help support new artists by giving them total box office receipts. The five major areas of performance were film, dance, music, theater, and mixed media. For personal reasons, the founding and principal patron of Theatre Vanguard closed the theater in 1978. At that time, Encounter Cinema (1979-1985) took over the programming aims of Theatre Vanguard.