Photo credit: Adriel Reboh
HamptonsFilm has announced that Executive Director Anne Chaisson will be stepping down after this year’s October festival. Chaisson began her relationship with HamptonsFilm as a film producer, attending the festival with films she produced, and then co-founding and co-chairing the Advisory Board in 2002. She became Executive Director in 2012.
During Chaisson’s 12-year tenure, the organization grew exponentially, new initiatives were implemented such as the Compassion, Justice and Animal Rights, and Air Land and Sea Signature programs, a weekly year-round Now Showing series, free outdoor screenings in the summer, and yearly educational programs for students from elementary through high school. New awards also became fixtures at the festival, including the Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award, honoring those in the creative space who also excel in other fields, The Melissa Mathison Award, named after the late screenwriter, to highlight female screenwriters, and The Peter Macgregor Scott Memorial Award, honoring narrative short filmmakers. Most recently, Chaisson was able to add Artemis Rising Foundation as a new presenting sponsor for 2024, and the annual film festival expanded from five days to this year’s extended 11-day event. She also helped guide the organization through COVID, keeping the festival going virtually and through drive-ins during that extraordinary year.
“I’m so proud of the work we’ve done together, transforming HamptonsFilm from a single annual event into a vibrant year-round non-profit organization,” said Chaisson. “My tenure at HamptonsFilm has been one of the most fulfilling of my career, and the challenge to grow a non-profit in such extraordinary times is something I will forever be thankful to have taken part. I feel I have accomplished what I set out to do and I am ready for the next chapter.”
“We thank Anne for her dedicated service to the festival for the past 12 years, and we wish her well in her next chapter,” said Randy Mastro, Chairman of the Board for Hamptons Film. “Our festival is thriving, and we are confident it will continue to grow, thanks to our great staff, board, and network of supporters.”
Mastro said he will appoint a subcommittee of the board to conduct a national search for a new Executive Director, to be selected after this year’s October festival.
Longtime Artistic Director David Nugent, along with the rest of the programming team, and the entire festival production team will remain, working to prepare for the upcoming 2024 festival and beyond. This year’s festival will take place from October 4-14th across the Hamptons.
