Over the past several months, even before news of the financial crisis broke, it's been an open secret that many film festivals around the U.S. have been suffering - while some have managed to secure enough funding to stay in operation, others (like the recently shuttered Jackson Hole Film Festival) haven't been so lucky. While I leave NewFest in the capable hands of my Board of Directors and on good terms, chiefly out of a desire to move on to new challenges elsewhere (yet to be determined), it would be disingenuous to not acknowledge that the difficult realities of non-profit funding had some role in my decision. Running a film festival, in my experience, is hardly a standard full-time job - it's an all-the-time job.
NewFest artistic director departs, reflects on state of film festivals
