"As the Montclair Film Festival enters its fourth year, we have grown to the point where we are looking to expand into a year-round arts organization," said Bob Feinberg, MFF's Founder and Chairman of The Board Of Directors. "We are excited to welcome Tom to Montclair and believe his experience and leadership will help MFF continue to deliver outstanding programs and events to our community, our sponsors and our partners in the film industry."
Powers and Neihausen are stepping down to devote more time to their other endeavors, but will continue to support the festival in an advisory capacity.
"When Raphaela and I started at Montclair, it was meant to be a part-time job, but in three years the festival has seen tremendous growth and needs a year round leader," Powers said. "We've long admired Tom Hall's work from afar and look forward to experiencing his talents in Montclair."
"Thom and I take tremendous pride in MFF," said Neihausen. "We love our colleagues and this community. We look forward to continuing that relationship in new roles that better fit our other work commitments."
Hall joins MFF from his position as Director of The Sarasota Film Festival in Sarasota, FL, having served there since 2004. "I am honored to be joining the Montclair Film Festival," said Tom Hall. "The team at MFF have built something special and I am excited to get to work with everyone involved. I very much look forward to getting to know this community and to helping the festival continue to grow and thrive."
Previously, Hall held the positions of Director, Artistic Director and Director of Programming at the Sarasota Film Festival in Sarasota, FL (2004- 2014) and Programming Director at newportFILM in Newport, RI (2009-2011). In addition, Hall was Programmer for The Nantucket Film Festival in Nantucket, MA (2002-2005) as well as a former Director of New Media for Bravo and The Independent Film Channel (1997-2000). He has also worked as an event producer (2012) and Industry and Guest Services liaison (2002-2003) at The Hamptons International Film Festival.
Hall is also one of the founding Executive Committee members of the Film Festival Forum, a non-profit program of the Independent Feature Project (IFP), and is a founding nominating member of the Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Film Awards. In January of 2010, Hall was named one of Spring Board Media's 20 under 40 in Film. Hall has directed short films for Bob Mould's Carnival of Light and Sound Tour and was an inaugural member of the indieWIRE blogging community with his blog The Back Row Manifesto, which is now a standalone website, as well as a contributor to Hammer To Nail and Filmmaker Magazine.
Raised in Flint, MI, Hall is a graduate of the University of Michigan ('94) and resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two sons.
About MFF
The Montclair Film Festival, Inc. (MFF), a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, nurtures and showcases the talents of filmmakers from around the region and world. MFF unites, empowers, educates and celebrates our region's diverse cultural heritage and robust artistic community by presenting an annual spring festival and a growing assortment of engaging programs and events all year long. The fourth annual spring festival will take place in April 2015. MFF 2014 was made possible through generous support from Signature Sponsor Investors Bank; Presenting Sponsors Audi, Audible and the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; and Leadership Sponsors Chubb, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage and HackensackUMC/Mountainside, among others. For information about MFF, visit www.montclairfilmfest.org.
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