QUICK TAKES - Feb. 18, 2009

Geoffrey Gilmore has resigned as director of the Sundance Film Festival to take on the job of chief creative officer of Tribeca Enterprises, the New York-based media company founded by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff that owns and operates the Tribeca Film Festival, Tribeca Cinemas and other ventures.

Gilmore’s departure is sure to send a quake through independent cinema, as he has presided over the nation’s most influential independent film festival for the last 19 years. During his era, the festival exploded from a sleepy, quaint film celebration in the mountains of Utah to a major juggernaut of film and marketing muscle, a launching pad for such films as “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Clerks” and “Reservoir Dogs,” and such directors as Richard Linklater, Paul Thomas Anderson and Kimberly Peirce.

Gilmore’s successor has not yet been named, a Sundance representative said Tuesday.