Jambor resigns Indie Memphis director role

After seven years at the helm of the city’s pre-eminent film organization, Erik Jambor is out as the executive director of Indie Memphis as the film festival board explores a major restructuring of its signature event and mission .

Hired as Indie Memphis’ first full-time d i re c tor in 2007, Jambor, 4 4, elevated t he nonprof it organization’s prof i le, prestige and popularity to an extent that MovieMaker magazine last year named Indie Memphis one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World.”

Even so, some board members expressed concerns that the festival had become stagnant and too large and expensive to produce.

Ja mbor said he was i ncreasingly frustrated by the demands of trying to program an artistica l ly meaningful and fun festival while also dealing with the fundraising and sponsorship concerns.

Longtime Indie Memphis treasurer Les Edwards, a cofounder of the 18-year-old festival, said a search for a new executive director will begin shortly. The new director likely will be someone with more fundraising and nonprofit administrative experience than film-festival know-how.

Jambor, who lives in Midtown with his wife, artist Robin Salant, and their daughter, said he would like to return to Indie Memphis as a programmer or “artistic director.”