Film Forum Director Karen Cooper Upbeat On NYC Arthouse Market As She Prepares To Step Down After 50 Years – The Deadline Q&A
deadline.comKaren Cooper, longtime director of New York City’s indie cinema gem Film Forum, says she’s stepping down at a good time, not just for her, but for the business.
Despite all the naysayers and after slogging through Covid with the help of federal grants and weathering a slow recovery, Cooper said business is currently pretty lively at the lower Manhattan nonprofit cinema she’s run for the past 50 years.
She’s leaving her position this summer with Deputy Director Sonya Chung taking the reins July 1. The Film Forum launched in 1970 on the Upper West Side with a $19,000 annual budget to show American independent films not playing in commercial cinemas.
Cooper led it through three expansions, building it into a $6 million business with a range of programming and premieres from around the world.
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