LESLI KLAINBERG AND ANNE CHAISSON JOIN THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER

NEW YORK – January 16, 2011 – The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today that Lesli Klainberg and Anne Chaisson have joined the organization. Klainberg has assumed the role of Managing Director and Chaisson is now Associate Director of Corporate Sponsorships.

Commenting on Klainberg and Chaisson joining FSLC executive director Rose Kuo said, “Lesli and Ann are both experienced, talented and creative leaders in the film community and I look forward to working with them to expand our mission, look for new opportunities and to continue the Film Society's support of artists from around the world.”

Klainberg is heading an executive team charged with managing operations on behalf of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, its programs, film festivals, theaters, educational outreach and community involvement. Prior to joining the Film Society, Klainberg served as the Producer of the 49th New York Film Festival and Executive Director of NewFest, New York’s LGBT Film Festival. In her new role, she will continue producing the annual New York Film Festival. Klainberg is an award-winning producer and director whose documentaries have screened at film festivals such as Berlin, Sundance, Full Frame and Frameline, and have been broadcast on networks including HBO/Cinemax, AMC, A&E, IFC, Showtime, WE and PBS. For the last three years, Klainberg has also been one of the Lab Leaders of the IFP Documentary Film Lab held in New York and in 2009 she served as a Consulting Producer for the Sundance Documentary Film Program and produced the IFP Filmmaker Forum during Independent Film Week.

Her company Orchard Films produced the 4-part docuseries INDIE SEX (2001 and 2007, IFC), which explores different aspects of sexuality in cinema; FABULOUS! THE STORY OF QUEER CINEMA (2006, IFC) a feature length documentary which explores the history of American independent gay and lesbian cinema; IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN (2004, IFC), a documentary about women in independent film; BEAUTY IN A JAR (2003, A&E) which tells the story of the American beauty and cosmetics industry; DIRECTED BY ALAN SMITHEE (2002, AMC) about the pseudonym used by film directors; and MISS AMERICA (2001, PBS/American Experience), a history of the Miss America Pageant. Klainberg is also the producer of the acclaimed independent film, PAUL MONETTE: THE BRINK OF SUMMER'S END, which won the Audience Award for documentary at Sundance, Frameline, Turin and Outfest and was released theatrically by First Run Features and broadcast on HBO/Cinemax Reel Life. MONETTE was also on the “short list” for the Academy Award in 1997 and was nominated for an IDA Award for Best Documentary and screened at The Film Society of Lincoln Center and IFP’s series, Independents Night.

Anne Chaisson will be spearheading development of corporate sponsorships across all of Film Society programs. She founded Dirty Rice Films in 2002 and has over 12 years experience developing and producing independent feature films. With director Dylan Kidd, she produced Artisan Entertainment’s ROGER DODGER (2002) and Newmarket Films’ P.S. (2004). ROGER DODGER earned Kidd a Best First Feature award at the Venice Film Festival and Best Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival. In 2004, Chaisson co-produced Magnolia Pictures’ DIGGERS with HDNet Films starring Paul Rudd and Maura Teirney.

Chaisson specializes in fund raising and event production and headed development for the Hamptons International and Nantucket Film Festivals as well as produced the annual IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards (2010-2011).  She co-founded The Reel School (1996-2000), is a member of the IFP Producers Group, New York Women in Film and Television and is the Advisory Co-Chair of the Hamptons International Film Festival.  Prior to her career in film producing, Chaisson worked in marketing for a multitude of Fortune 500 companies including Salomon Smith Barney, MasterCard International and Kodak.

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About the Film Society of Lincoln Center
Under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Richard Peña, Program Director, the Film Society of Lincoln Center offers the best in international, classic and cutting-edge independent cinema. The Film Society presents two film festivals that attract global attention: the New York Film Festival, currently planning its 50th edition, and New Directors/New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, and for over three decades has given an annual award—now named “The Chaplin Award”—to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Tom Hanks. The Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational programs and specialty film releases at its Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, 42BELOW, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts, WNET New York Public Media, the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com.

For Media specific inquiries, please contact:
John Wildman, (212) 875-5615, [email protected]
David Ninh, (212) 875-5423, [email protected]