EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Schafer Steps Down As Tribeca Executive Director

Nancy Schafer announced today that she is stepping down as executive director of the Tribeca Film Festival and executive VP of Tribeca Enterprises. Schafer, who’s been with Tribeca since 2002, has also held roles as a programmer and as the managing director before taking on her latest position.

Her position will not be replaced. According to a Tribeca spokesperson, “We are not replacing her as we have a strong executive team who will absorb her responsibilities. We have always worked collaboratively across our senior staff.”

Schafer became the festival’s executive director in 2009. She joined the staff at the festival’s inception as a programmer and later became the managing director. As senior VP, she led the artistic curation and business development for Tribeca’s business expansion, specifically with the Tribeca Film distribution label.

In a first person article written exclusively for Indiewire, Schafer looked back on her time at Tribeca and addressed her next steps: “For the near future, I’m going to continue as a consultant to the Festival,” she wrote. “I also plan to focus on working more closely with filmmakers, using the experience I have had at Tribeca with identifying and building audiences, working with brands, and creating workable distribution models. The team at Tribeca has created a remarkably strong media brand and works daily to expand the audience for film. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to be part of that team.”

Go HERE for read her first person.