What could be very good news for the Motion Picture Academy is not so good for the folks who throw the little awards-show-at-the-beach on Oscar weekend.
In naming Dawn Hudson its new CEO and longtime staffer Ric Robertson as COO, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences filled the hole created by the June retirement of Bruce Davis, the Academy's executive director for the last 20 years.
But it created an even bigger hole in the Spirit Awards' Film Independent, where Hudson (above, and below right with Darren Aronofsky) has served as executive director for 20 years herself.
The move stabilized one organization, but destabilized another.
Hudson, said longtime FIND board member (and former Academy president) Sid Ganis, is "the woman who guided Film Independent for 20 years, and pulled it up by its bootstraps."
Added screenwriter Larry Karaszewski, who had done extensive work with Film Independent and with the Academy, "Dawn is so the backbone of Film Independent that it has to leave a gigantic question mark as to where they go from here."
The organization, Ganis told TheWrap, has "taken a big gulp and said, 'OK, we have work to do.' And the work they have to do is to find a new version of Dawn -- or, I should say, to find a new leader, because you're not going to find a new version of Dawn."
Also read: Academy Names Dawn Hudson CEO, Ric Robertson COO
Both organizations are non-profits devoted to film. But FIND is smaller, leaner and less well-funded than AMPAS, which receives more than $65 million, the bulk of its operating budget, from broadcast rights to the Oscars. And Hudson is the face of Film Independent far more than Davis was ever the face of the Academy, where the president plays a more visible role.
A spokesperson for Film Independent said that it's too early for anyone within the organization to talk about its plans. Film Independent's executive board met on Friday, April 8, a few hours after the announcement of Hudson's departure, to discuss how it might move forward. It did not come to any specific conclusions that afternoon.
Its board of governors, which includes Ganis, Bill Condon, Stephanie Allain, Laura Dern and Tom Ortenberg, met last Wednesday and appointed a search committee, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting.
A separate search is currently under way to find a curator for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art film series, which FIND will take over in September.
"I don't know how they replace Dawn," said one filmmaker who has worked with Film Independent. "Her skill set seems like it was invaluable to them."
The key, the filmmaker said, was the way Hudson straddled the line between the creative and business sides: "At the end of the day a lot of the value of Film Independent is in its ability to convert corporate sponsorships into opportunities for filmmakers.
