Former Sundance Film Festival chief Tabitha Jackson has been named the director of New York’s Film Forum.
Jackson will assume the role on Feb. 23. An industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in independent and non-profit media, Jackson joins Film Forum after two years of research fellowships with MIT Open Documentary Lab, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, along with a Rockefeller Foundation residency.
Jackson had the high-profile gig of Sundance Film Festival director starting in 2020 and had to steer the premier indie gathering through two virtual editions as a concession to COVID. She started at the Sundance Institute in 2013 and oversaw the documentary film program; she stepped down after two years as festival chief. In 2022, she co-created the podcast “The Film That Blew My Mind” with former Sundance Festival head John Cooper. Jackson began her career as a researcher, producer and director for the BBC before moving to the United Kingdom broadcaster Channel4 as a commissioning editor for arts and performance and animation, and as an executive producer for Film4.
“‘Independent nonprofit arthouse cinema’ — those four words distill everything I’ve championed throughout my career. That they also describe Film Forum, my local movie theater, makes this appointment feel like coming home,” Jackson said. “For 56 years, Film Forum has built a national and international reputation for bold curation, unparalleled repertory programming, fiercely loyal audiences — and legendary banana bread.”
She continued, “It is an honor to step into the world built by my predecessors Karen Cooper and Sonya Chung, Artistic Directors Bruce Goldstein and Mike Maggiore, Managing Director Chad Bolton, and the rest of the incredible Film Forum staff and board, and a privilege to lead this vital space into its next chapter. Because Film Forum is where art becomes civic life — where a film can start a debate, transform the way we see, or simply remind us we’re not alone in the dark.”
Film Forum was founded in 1970 and operates as a four-screen, independent, nonprofit arthouse venue in downtown Manhattan. The cinema is open 365 days a year, with approximately 225,000 annual admissions. Longtime chief Karen Cooper stepped down as its director in 2023 after 50 years on the job. She was succeeded by Sonya Chung, who exited the role after two years. Film Forum’s board chair Gray Coleman and HR professional Stella Strazdas headed the national search to find the next director.
“After a search process involving a large number of extremely qualified candidates, our board of directors and staff quickly reached a strong consensus around Tabitha, and it’s no surprise, given her passion for film and history of strong management in the non-profit arts arena,” Coleman said. “Plus she is a longtime resident of Greenwich Village and has spent years attending screenings and events at Film Forum. My board colleagues and I look forward to seeing Tabitha preserve our mission and expand our reach for many years to come.”
Source: variety.com
