Wanted: All-Round Genius
The Hamptons International Film Festival, now heading into its sixth season and hoping to establish a presence in Manhattan, has begun a search for yet another executive director.
"We've received dozens of resumes from New York, the West Coast, and the East End," said Stuart Match Suna, the new chairman of the festival's board, "even before we've run an announcement."
The Film Festival has seen five executive directors come and go since its first season. One board member, Steven Gaines, compared the job to "putting on five Broadway opening nights at once. You have to be an impresario, a fund-raiser, and a marketing genius."
A Longer Loop
"Part of the reason that it's hard to get an executive director is that a lot of people don't want to come to the East End," said Michael Braverman, a board member. "They feel the [film] business is concentrated in other places. They feel as if they're out of the loop out here."
"In an ideal situation, when we can afford it, we will have a New York office as well as a Hamptons office."
"We're determined that this will be a year-round operation," said Mr. Gaines. "We'd like to hold seminars on film year-round, have a professional writers' retreat at Gurney's Inn, and fund-raisers in Manhattan."
More Programmers
To manage all that, said the board member, the new executive director will have to be good at raising money. The festival's current operating budget, about $850,000, does not begin to cover its ambitious vision.
The search committee has just begun scheduling interviews with candidates, Mr. Gaines said, noting that the board was "also looking to hire more artistic programmers."
To date, he explained, just one person has been largely responsible for selecting films. But last year, 800 films were submitted to Stephen Gallagher, the program director.
Into The Breach
Mr. Suna said the new hires would also be expected to "expand our programming in new directions - increasing the number of our panel discussions, and involving well-known screenwriters, producers, and directors in the panels."
In each of the festival's first three years, the executive director either quit or was let go before the first film was shown. Every time it happened, Darryl McDonald, the program director, took on the additional responsibility.
In 1996, Ken Tabachnik had the job. He resigned unexpectedly last winter, and Bruce Feinberg, a board member, stepped into the breach.
"Bruce was stepping in to solve a problem for us - we had no director," said Mr. Braverman. "There was no discussion at the time if the position was to be short-term or long-term."
Mr. Feinberg has since resumed his seat on the board.
On The Lookout
Several board members who live or work in the city are on the lookout for a suitable location there, said Mr. Suna. The festival's only office at present is on Newtown Lane in East Hampton.
Besides Mr. Suna, an owner of Silvercup Studios, the board's executive committee includes Mr. Gaines, Pat Swinney Kauffman, and Jeremy Nussbaum, vice chairs, Robert Wiesenthal, treasurer, and Cynthia Sulzberger, secretary.
Mr. Gaines said it would be "impolite" to discuss the executive director's salary, but it was reliably reported that Mr. Feinberg was paid about $65,000 and that the new director might earn an additional $10,000, possibly in the form of a housing allowance.
The 1998 festival will take place from Oct. 14 to Oct. 18, starting during the week after East Hampton's giant 350th anniversary parade and block party.