Not a Festive Occasion

The surprise resignation of Brian Gordon last week as artistic director of the Nashville Film Festival has the city’s film community—and even many of the festival’s closest associates—scratching their heads. It was just last month that the city’s 39-year-old film fest smashed its old attendance records, posted an unusually high number of advance sell-outs, and got high marks from visiting filmmakers and audiences alike—which has been a yearly occurrence since Gordon became the festival’s programmer in 2001.

So what happened? Neither NaFF staffers nor Gordon will provide details, but this much has been pieced together from sources close to the festival: that a new staff position was created to shoulder some of Gordon’s administrative duties. When NaFF executive director Sallie Mayne presented him with the subsequent salary restructuring, it included a significant decrease in Gordon’s own paycheck. Instead of a bonus for a record-setting year, Gordon was reportedly offered a sizable pay cut.

Gordon tendered his resignation—an outcome few seem to have expected. NaFF board members contacted last week expressed surprise and dismay over Gordon’s departure. “That doesn’t make any sense,” said one NaFF board member, who said the possibility of the artistic director’s departure didn’t come up at a board meeting the week before. “That’s really bad news.”

Nancy VanReece, executive director of the Nashville Shakespeare Festival and a member of the NaFF’s executive committee, was among those stunned by the decision. “I can say that from my chair, Brian Gordon gave a gift to this city that we can never repay him for,” VanReece wrote last Thursday on her blog Contemporary Expression (nancyvanreece.blogspot.com). “His talent and vision will be lost to NaFF and that is a horrible sacrifice….

“I believe that the executive communication process was flawed and I trust that the dedicated board of directors will make best efforts to make corrections on where things went terribly wrong.”

At least one board member wonders if there’s any hope for a reconciliation, which seems doubtful. More answers may be coming after an emergency board meeting this week. The big question is how the festival plans to replace Gordon—whose 20-plus years of film-industry connections, festival experience and programming expertise were already purchased at a discount—in time to pull off its hotly anticipated 40-year anniversary celebration next spring.

Ironically, the most succinct summation of Gordon’s assets came last week from NaFF executive director Mayne. “As artistic director of the Nashville Film Festival, Brian Gordon contributed a wealth of knowledge about film history and the film industry,” Mayne said in a brief statement. “In addition, he provided a successful program of great films for the annual festival during his tenure.

“At this time, however, Brian has chosen to resign his position with the Nashville Film Festival. We wish him the best in all his future endeavors.”