That’s a wrap for AFI’s director

Jean Picker Firstenberg, who helped turn the American Film Institute into a Hollywood cultural landmark and a leading film school -- and generated plenty of controversy in the process -- is stepping down as director and chief executive officer in 2007.

Only the second person to lead AFI in its 40-year history, Firstenberg disclosed her retirement plans Thursday morning to AFI’s board of trustees. A formal announcement was expected to be made Thursday night, when AFI handed out its 34th Life Achievement Award in a televised tribute to actor Sean Connery at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood that will air this month.

A widely recognized figure in Hollywood circles both for her head of silver hair as well as for her no-nonsense demeanor, Firstenberg, 70, gave no particular reason for her retirement other than that “it was time.”

AFI’s stated mission is “advancing and preserving the art of the moving image.” But over the years, it became a lightning rod for critics who said it was not doing enough film restoration -- but was doing plenty to hype itself.

Firstenberg, who assumed the helm at AFI in 1980, counters such criticism, saying: “Resources have always been the challenge. You wanted to do more, but you couldn’t.... We would have liked to have done more, but we’re proud of what we have done.”

Under Firstenberg, AFI has restored signature films, including a silent version of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” made in October 1912 that had been long considered lost. It also worked with UCLA to restore Orson Welles’ three-part documentary, “It’s All True,” which was shot in Brazil in 1942.

But some film preservationists wanted more.

“I think, from my perspective in the archival world, they really aren’t players anymore,” said Jan-Christopher Horak, curator of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. “They have completely gotten out of the restoration business.”

Horak said that while Firstenberg may be controversial, he admires her ability to withstand drastic cutbacks in government grants and increasing competition for students from other film schools.

“She’s an iron lady, so all people like that are controversial,” Horak said. “She’s managed to keep it going no matter how the times have kind of treated AFI. I think, ultimately, the times have not been too kind to the organization.”

Funding cutback

During the 1990s, the federal government cut back funding to the arts. To make up the shortfall, which ran into the millions of dollars, AFI developed a TV series called “AFI 100 Years ...,” which has been a financial boon to the cash-strapped nonprofit. The show also helped raise AFI’s public profile.

Still, not all of AFI’s moneymaking schemes paid off. In 2002, the institute stumbled badly when it attempted to enter the ever-expanding pre-Oscar awards derby. With TV cameras rolling, AFI held an Oscar-like awards show at the Beverly Hills Hotel, but a number of movie stars didn’t show up and the telecast came in a dismal 72nd in the Nielsen ratings. CBS subsequently canceled the show.

“Our timing was bad,” Firstenberg admitted with a laugh. “What we did was, we pulled back. We refocused. The AFI Awards now recognize the 10 outstanding movies of the year and 10 outstanding television programs of the year. We recognize the ensembles -- the men and women behind the camera and in front of the camera -- and we invite them to a lunch at the Four Seasons. There’s no press, no television, and it feels really good.”

Despite such public setbacks, Firstenberg has cultivated many admirers in Hollywood.

Howard Stringer, the chairman of Sony Corp., who chairs AFI’s board of trustees, affectionately describes her as “part Margaret Thatcher, part Myrna Loy, and part Joan of Arc.”

Robert A. Daly, a longtime AFI board member and former chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and before that the long-standing co-chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures, says that whether it’s students on campus or corporate bigwigs, everyone respects her. “You know if you have a conversation with her about something it will be kept private if you expect it to be private.”

A search will be launched for Firstenberg’s replacement. But both Stringer and Daly said Firstenberg’s shoes will be difficult to fill.

Stringer said it amazes him how she has deftly dealt with the board over the years, especially since the board is filled with egos that “spread from here to Sunset [Boulevard].”

“There are more 800-pound gorillas on this board than there are in the Congo,” Stringer said, yet Firstenberg has a knack of cajoling and orchestrating them all for the good of AFI.

“She’s tenacious and quietly firm,” he said. “She’s tough, but also irrepressibly hard to resist. She keeps me in order. I sometimes think, ‘How did she do that? How did she get me from A to B without difficulty?’ ”

“It’s been a tremendous run,” Daly said of Firstenberg’s career at AFI.

“The AFI has gone through a lot of changes” during her tenure, Daly noted. “The government used to support it, then sort of stopped, and so it had to raise a lot of money. But whether it’s the students on campus, the graduates, the board members, or people she has to deal with at the networks or the studios, everybody likes Jean and has a tremendous amount of respect for her.”

LBJ’s brainchild

The AFI, founded in 1967 at the suggestion of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is perhaps best known for two annual television specials -- the AFI Life Achievement Awards, which honors the legends of film, and “AFI’s 100 Years ... 100 Movies” series, which seeks to ignite public interest in classic American movies.

But Firstenberg said she is most proud of four other accomplishments: AFI’s acquiring of a scenic, 8-acre Los Angeles campus; the accreditation of the AFI Conservatory; the emphasis AFI now places on digital technology; and the opening of the $25-million AFI Silver Theater and Culture Center outside Washington, D.C.

Firstenberg also made it a priority to relaunch the AFI Catalog, considered by many the definitive database of information about every American feature film ever produced, and she built on Filmex to establish the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival -- the AFI Fest -- which this fall is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Firstenberg comes from a family of movie exhibitors. Her grandfather owned real estate in five New York City boroughs and became a partner with Marcus Loew, who formed Loews Theatres and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She noted that one of her uncles, Arnold Picker, was a partner with attorneys Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin, the men who acquired United Artists in the 1950s. Her brother, David Picker, eventually became head of UA, the studio that launched the lucrative James Bond franchise.

Now, the grandmother of six said she hopes to travel and write when she retires, although she emphasized she will always support AFI.

“I’m proud about how AFI has grown and the issues we’ve taken on and the programs,” she said, then added with a laugh: “I’m not going to ever work 24/7 again.”